Mike in Jacksonville, Florida, is curious about the phrase There’s no use in keeping the dogs and doing the barking yourself. His dad would use it when delegating a chore to one of his kids. As early as the 1500s, the proverb Don’t keep...
How do you pronounce the word aunt? In most of the United States, it’s pronounced to sound just like the word ant. This is part of a complete episode.
A wet dress rehearsal is a run-through of all the processes required before a rocket launch, up until, but not including, liftoff. What makes this simulation wet is that the rocket’s fuel tanks are filled, then drained once the countdown clock...
A former Texan wonders if only Texans use the terms Mamaw and Papaw instead of Grandma and Grandpa. This is part of a complete episode.
stump n.— «In place of two Silverstein behemoths, each designed by a British lord and soaring 79 stories, the PA would erect a pair of short, squat buildings no taller than four or five floors—coined “stumps”—that could be...
hi mom n.— «Just before Thanksgiving, 2004, a Fox News producer with whom I’d worked a number of times in Kabul and Bagram showed up on Bagram Air Field to shoot what military PA people call “Hi Moms”—the little snippets of...