The German phrase Der Bus hält an jeder Milchkanne literally translates as “The bus stops at every milk can,” and refers to a bus that stops at every little out-of-the-way town. This is part of a complete episode.
If you make a beeline for something, you’re taking the shortest route possible. You’re also mimicking bee-havior! After a bee has visited enough flowers to gather nectar, she flies straight back to the hive. And: Even a word like...
Carl in Sebastopol, California, was reminded of his childhood on New York’s Lower East Side while ready Harry Golden’s book For 2 Cents Plain (Amazon), the title referring to how customers ordered a plain glass of seltzer. For a little...
Stunt performers in movies have their own jargon for talking about their dangerous work. In New York City, the slang term brick means “cold,” and dumb brick means “really cold.” Plus: the East and Central African tradition...
Mick in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, shares that a co-worker from Texas used to advise him when lifting heavy objects to heave carefully because You don’t want to strain your milk. The origin of this expression is uncertain, although it may...
Tim from Jacksonville, Florida, gets teased for the way he says the word milk, which he pronounces as melk and the word eggs, which he pronounces as aigs. It’s not uncommon for what linguists call lax vowel lowering to occur, and these...