The expression If you don’t chance your arm, you won’t break your neck makes use of the sense of break your neck meaning “to go all out.” The break your neck part may refer to having success from giving all your effort. Chance your arm, meaning...
John from Bremerton, Washington, is puzzled by a radio announcer’s use of the hortatory phrase Powder River! Let ’er buck! The rollicking, rootin’-tootin’ story of this phrase is told in Western Words: A Dictionary of the American West, an acclaimed...
When an Austrian candy maker needed a name for his new line of mints, he took the first, middle, and last letters of the German word pfefferminz, or “peppermint,” to form the brand name PEZ. He later marketed the candies as an alternative for...
Where’d we get the expression “to get someone’s goat”? A caller suspects it comes from a Sicilian folk tale. But does it? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Get Your Goat” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello, this is Joyce. I’m...