A wedding photographer says she happens to run into lots of people who are three sheets to the wind, and wonders why that term came to mean “falling-down drunk.” Turns out, it’s from nautical terminology. On a seagoing vessel, the...
What’s the right way to pronounce gyros? Have you ever heard of feeling poozley? Called something great a blinger? Use the expression one-off to mean a “one-time thing”?
A Texas family has a dispute with a prospective in-law who happens to be a chef. Is their favorite spicy chocolate cake properly known as a sheath cake or a sheet cake? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sheath Cake vs. Sheet...
If a tippler has one too many, he’s said to be “three sheets to the wind.” But why three? And why, of all things, sheets? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Three Sheets to the Wind” Martha, we’ve...
good bank/bad bank n.— «American International Group (AIG): NY Posts reports that AIG is considering forming a separate company to hold billions in securities that have dogged its balance sheet for the past several quarters. According to...
roast n.— «In musicians’ parlance, a “roast” refers to a particularly challenging gig. I am currently stuck in snowy Gatwick awaiting a plane to the Matterhorn, on the way to a prog-rock roast presided over by the...