Susan from Eugene, Oregon, remembers school physical education in 1960s California, where teams wore pinnies: colored canvas, apron-like garments, two squares with straps, pulled over the head and tied at the sides. The gym-class term is a clipped...
Lois in Newfoundland, Canada, asks about the phrase pain in the pinny, meaning “stomach discomfort.” Pain in the pinny, or more commonly pain under the pinny, refers to a pain under one’s pinafore, or apron, the word pinafore originally denoting a...
Gopal from Greenville, North Carolina, wonders why we use the phrase my two cents after expressing an opinion to indicate that we’re open to discussion about it. Since the 16th century, the term twopence has been used to mean a “paltry, trifling...
Here’s something to think about the next time somebody says “A penny for your thoughts.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Penny for Your Thoughts” Here’s a question for you. When someone asks you a penny for your thoughts and you...
What did you call the cliques in your high school? Were you a member of the nerds, the jocks, or maybe the grits or the heshers? Also, what’s the meaning of the phrase “rolling in the deep”? Why do we say something’s turned up like a bad penny? And...
Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game called Word Scouts. In order to earn your badge, you’ll have to know the architectural term Bauhaus and the flower that’s also a past tense verb. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word Scouts...
