The term highway robbery has its roots in the late 17th century, when traveling in and out of town by night could be particularly dangerous. Highway robbers would leap out of the darkness, point a weapon at the occupants of an approaching carriage...
You walk into a used bookstore, or pull down an old volume at the library, and there it is: The smell of old books. If you detect notes of vanilla in that intoxicating scent, there’s a reason. Also, why some people think the word awesome is...
If you say they went “all the way around Robin’s barn,” it means they took a long, circuitous route. A San Antonio, Texas, listener wants to know: Who is Robin and why did he build his barn in such an inconvenient place? It’s probably a reference to...
We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say fambly instead of family, perazackly for exactly, or coinkydink for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things wrong...
Robin Hood budget n.— «Now the government is talking about raising taxes for some to help pay for pension increases, but at this point at least they’re only talking about slugging higher income earners. (They’re dubbing it a “Robin Hood Budget,”...
Ruth, a minister in Pennsylvania, grew up hearing by way of Robin Hood’s barn and around Robin Hood’s barn for taking a long, scenic, or indirect route. The image likely draws on the ficitonal Robin Hood’s life in Sherwood Forest, with his “barn”...
