Jason in San Antonio, Texas, is curious why the term salamander is applied to small heater on a construction site. In ancient lore, the mythical beast called a salamander was impervious to fire. Later salamander was applied to various heating...
Judson from Texas asks about the phrases long suit and strong suit, after seeing long suit used where he would expect “strong suit.” Both come from card games such as bridge and whist: a long suit is a hand with several cards of the same suit, while...
A woman in Bowling Green, Kentucky wonders: How did the phrase wet behind ears come to describe someone who’s inexperienced? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Wet Behind the Ears” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
In English, if someone’s terrified, we might say they are shaking like a leaf. In Spanish, the phrase is temblar como un flan, or to tremble like a flan, the dessert dish. The Spanish phrase darle la vuelta a la tortilla literally means to...
A man in Orlando, Florida, asks if there’s a word for slowly circling a parking lot in search of a space for your car. Slang terms for this include sharking and sharking for parking, and sometimes such drivers are jokingly called vultures...
In cycling slang, on the rivet refers to putting out maximum effort, and derives from the way cyclists lean all the way forward on the hard bicycle seat, which traditionally has a flat rivet in the very front. This is part of a complete episode...