Professional dog walkers call a dog obsessed with carrying sticks a branch manager. Another dog who grabs the other end of the stick and helps carry it around is jokingly called an assistant branch manager. This is part of a complete episode...
If you take up texting and social media late in life, there’s a lot to learn! A twenty-something wants advice getting her dad up to speed on memes, Instagram, and animated images. Plus, when you’re on a long road trip, what do you call...
Sean in New York City is curious about the expression the business end, as in the business end of a gun. It’s simply “the end of an object that fulfills its function or purpose,” such as the business end of a shovel, the business...
Don from Munday, Texas, is fond of the phrase You can put your boots in the oven, but that don’t make ’em biscuits, which is a way of saying that even if you call something by a different name, that doesn’t change its essential nature. A...
Iris from Cave Junction, Oregon, wonders about the expressions get on the stick, meaning to get going, and piping hot, meaning extremely hot. While some have associated the phrase get on the stick with an automotive gearshift, sometimes known as a...
Carrot and stick originally meant reward plus punishment, not a carrot forever dangling from the same stick. Steve in Dennis, Massachusetts, asks about the familiar cartoon of a donkey chasing a carrot tied just out of reach, but the older...