Andrea from Reno, Nevada, submits yet another term for traveling by foot: taking the ten-toed mule. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Take the Ten-Toed Mule” Following up on our conversation about different ways to...
A woman in Reno, Nevada, wonders about the expression, “What am I, chopped liver?” Chopped liver is a traditional Jewish dish that’s always a side item, never the main course. Speaking of traditional Jewish foods, the term...
Listeners write in with suggestions for a young caller’s request for a single term to describe someone in a state of nervous anticipation. They propose aflutter, atwitter, nervousited, happrehensive, and a noun form, antrepidation. This is...
A nonprofit that promotes literacy in Reno, Nevada, held a spelling bee in which adult competitors were asked to spell words from books in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. The author made up some of those words herself. But are they really...
When you would ask the father of Chris from Reno, Nevada, something to which he thought the answer was obvious, he’d answer with jokey phrases like “Is a pig pork?” or “Is the Pope Catholic?” or “Does a bear poop in the woods?” (but with a different...
A listener in Reno, Nevada, wants to know: If one member of a long-term, unmarried couple dies, what’s a good term for the surviving partner, considering that the usual terms widow and widower aren’t exactly correct? This is part...

