Nancy Gabriel from Ithaca, New York, recalls her father’s no-nonsense responses to minor injuries when she was a child: After making sure she was really all right, he’d say, It’s far enough from your heart; it won’t kill you. Other times he might...
A listener in Unadilla, New York, says her husband, whose family is French-Canadian, uses the phrase That burns my onions when something irritates him. There are several kitchen-related metaphors used to express anger, including that steams my...
Martha shares a funny story about her five-year-old great-niece, who misunderstood the name of her adopted home state, California. Then again, Unicornia does have a nice ring to it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Republic of...
Paul in Batavia, New York, recommends The Door-to-Door Bookstore (Bookshop|Amazon), a novel by Carston Henn, translated from German by Melody Shaw, which includes a wonderful description of a book with a perfect final paragraph that you nevertheless...
Sigrin writes from Albany, New York, that she misheard our earlier conversation about the expression shaving yak hair meaning “performing a monotonous, tedious task.” At first she thought we said shaving gnat hair, which she figures is an equally...
Arthur in New Bern, North Carolina, wonders why we say something that isn’t difficult is as easy as pie when making a pie is a whole lot of work. This phrase most likely refers to the ease of eating a pie, not making one. This is part of a complete...