A Dutch door is split horizontally so the bottom half can stay latched while the top half swings open. It’s also called a stable door or half-door, and the barn association helps explain the informal name Mr. Ed door. That nickname points to the...
When two people are walking side-by-side holding hands but briefly separate to go around an obstacle on opposite sites, they might say “bread and butter.” This phrase apparently stems from an old superstition that if the two people want...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski brought us a puzzle based on one of his favorite party games: Taboo. If he gave you a series of terms that all match up with a certain word — like car, clock, burglar, and siren — what word would you say goes with them? This...
To be like Ned in the primer, meaning “troublesome” or “rambunctious,” refers to an old series of children’s books—also known as primers—about Ned and Nancy, a mischievous boy and a straitlaced girl. This is part of a...
Is there a word you keep having to look up in the dictionary, no matter how many times you’ve looked it up before? Maybe it’s time for a mnemonic device. And: a listener shares a letter from Kurt Vonnegut himself, with some reassuring...
Why call it a doggy bag when it’s really for your husband? Grant and Martha talk about the language of leftovers and why we eat beef and not cow. And how old is the typical public-library patron? Plus, in Afghanistan, proverbs are part of...