Jack in Spokane, Washington, wonders which phrase is correct when talking about improvising: play it by ear or play it by year? Although play it by ear is the original version and by far the most common one, play it by year sounds plausible enough...
An eight-year-old from San Diego wonders about the origin of the term bullseye. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Bullseye Origin” Hello, you have a wait with words. Hello, my name is Jack. I’m calling from San...
Jack in Madison, Wisconsin, wondered in the half-awake hours whether fillet and flay share an origin. They don’t. Fillet, also pronounced like French filet, comes through Old French from Latin filum, “thread,” the source of filament. Flay is...
