Leonor from Dallas, Texas, says that when she was a child, her Spanish-speaking mother and grandmother used to her after a bump or scrape with Sana, sana, colita de rana, Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana , literally, “Heal, heal, little frog’s tail...
Laura in San Diego, California, wonders about the tradition of performers saying Toi toi toi to each other backstage to wish each other a good performance. It’s possible that it derives from the ancient idea that spitting three times can ward off...
The medical term sialogogic, which means “producing saliva,” comes from Greek words meaning “to bring forth saliva.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sialogogic” A friend of mine sent me a link to a video, and part of the video...
As the OEDILF notes, exspuition is an old word for spitting, which you can do either standing or sitting. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Exspuition, an Old Word for Spitting” Here’s another limerick from the Omnificent English...
Gleek doesn’t just mean “a fan of the TV show Glee.” It’s also a verb meaning to shoot a stream of saliva out from under your tongue. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gleek” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Seth from...
