The term land of Nod, a joking reference to sleep, has its origins in the biblical Nod, to which Cain was exiled after murdering his brother Abel. Jonathan Swift first used it that way in his 1738 work, A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious...
T.H. White’s The Once and Future King offers excellent advice about how to fight off despair: learn something. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Learning Fights Off Despair” You’re listening to A Way with...
“Time to get kip” means “time to get some sleep.” Kip goes all the way back to an old Dutch word that means “brothel.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Kip Means Sleep” Hi...
A San Diego woman says her mother always tucked her into bed with the comforting wish, “Sweet dreams, and rest in the arms of Morpheus.” This allusion to mythology evokes a time when people were more familiar with Greek myth, and the...
Martha reads Jessica Goodfellow’s poem about the sound of water, “Chance of Precipitation,” which first appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “”Chance of...
Lyricists take note: sweven is another term for a dream, which should come in handy when looking for words that rhyme with heaven, eleven, Devin, or leaven. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sweven” I came across a...
