One folksy way to take leave after a visit is to say, It’s time to put the chairs in the wagon. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Put the Chairs in the Wagon” Grant, I love collecting expressions of greeting and leave-taking. We...
Saucered and blowed is an idiom meaning that a project is finished or preparations are complete, but it’s not that odd—Bill Clinton’s used it. It derives from the rustic practice of spilling boiling-hot coffee into a saucer and blowing on it to cool...
The word victuals is pronounced like “vittles” and refers to cooked foods and shares a Latin root with vitamin and vitality. Sometimes it’s spelled vittles, a form often associated with more informal or rustic speech. This is part of a complete...
Is there a term for the way words feel when they’re spoken that has nothing to do with their meaning? The word “suitcase” feels nice to say, unlike rural. “Cellar door” certainly has a different quality than “moist ointment.” Mouthfeel is an oft...
Ever heard a school bus called a school hack? Grant and Martha explain the etymology of hack, beginning with hackney horses in England, then referring to the drivers of the horse-drawn carriages, then the carriages themselves, and finally the...
Need a good Scrabble word? Grant shares some of his favorites. Also, why do we call those classic screwball films madcap comedies? And what does it mean to walk in a crocodile? Plus mondegreens, naval slang, learned vs learnt, and “No way, Jose!”...