“What’s your name?” “I’m Puddin’ Tame, ask me again and I’ll tell you the same!” This and other rhymes, such as “What’s your number? Cucumber!” derive from French, English, and American...
If you’re a fan of yard sales, you’ll love this game from Puzzle Guy John Chaneski. Suppose you go yard-saling, but only at the homes of famous people. The items you find there are all two-word rhymes. At the house of one powerful...
If someone’s gone pecan, they’re doomed, defeated, and down on their luck. This idiom, common in New Orleans, probably caught on because of its rhyme. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gone Pecan, A Southern...
Schoolyard rhymes like “Johnny and Mary sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G” and “Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider” travel from child to child, often with local tweaks. They can be silly, rude, or cruel, but their singsong meter helps children...
Just in time for the new movie season, Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game involving one-word movie titles that have won Best Picture Academy Awards. For example, which Oscar-winning film is titled with a man’s middle name that means “for...
In their song “The Old Apartment,” The Barenaked Ladies sang, “crooked landing / crooked landlord / narrow laneway filled with crooks.” “Crooked” there is an example of a polyseme, or one word that has multiple...