What’s an unexpected term for tollbooths? How about … Bill Gates? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Also Penny Lane?” Here’s another unparalleled misalignment that I really like toll booths and Bill Gates. Oh toll bill booth gates...
Mike in Glasgow, Kentucky, wonders about a catchphrase used in British comedies: I go to the foot of the stairs. The Oxford Dictionary of Catchphrases (Amazon) compiled by Anna Farkas and several books by catchphrase collector Nigel Rees both point...
The phrase don’t worry, it’ll be a pig’s foot in the morning is meant to comfort or reassure a child who’s stubbed her toe or scraped her knee or suffered some other minor injury. This expression is especially common in Northern England. This is...
Veronica, who grew up in Liverpool, England, has noticed that kerfuffle is a favorite term among American journalists talking about political situations, though it’s much more common across the pond. This word for a disturbance or a bother comes...
needlex
n.—Gloss: A needle exchange program. «Liverpool did not have the world’s first needlex.» —“Needle Exchange in the USA” by Maias Metafilter Aug. 16, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
laugh like a drain v. phr.— «My dad was a huge Peter Sellers fan. If you’re in for two minutes, you’re in for two hours at my house. And it was always a nice truce. Because my dad was from Liverpool—he didn’t have a bad temper, but he was like a...
