Long before Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the Little House on the Prairie (Bookshop|Amazon), she worked as a journalist, chronicling life in the Ozarks. In one of her early writings, Wilder refers to what she calls “the famous question”: How old is...
Do you live around here or ride a bicycle? This goofy saying goes back to at least the 1920s. It’s a handy icebreaker for those fond of Dad jokes, as is this one: Does your mother have any children that lived? This is part of a complete episode...
Zack in Santa Barbara, California, is curious about what’s happening when someone interjects the expression Right? in the middle of a sentence or explanation without allowing time for the listener to respond. Expressions like Right? and You know...
MaryAnne from Dallas, Texas, says that sometimes when she or her siblings asked her father how much he spent on something he’d answer A buck three-eighty. It’s one of many similar expressions that allow the speaker to give an approximate answer or...
When writing his doctoral dissertation, John in Bardstown, Kentucky, used an upside-down question mark after a comment to indicate he was being sarcastic. Is there a punctuation mark that serves this function? Over the centuries, several have been...
Jacob in Dallas, Texas, remembers his grandfather used to talk about someone having a come-apart, meaning “having a breakdown” or “freaking out.” It’s not a common phrase, but it’s widespread enough that it appears in newspaper archives at least as...