TagStomach

Stomach Steinway

Did you ever take lessons to play the stomach Steinway? You know, the accordion? That’s another bit of musicians’ slang sent in by a listener, along with the term bunhead, which means “a ballet dancer.” This is part of a...

Jockey Box

A bartender wonders about the origin of the term jockey box. In his world, a jockey box is a metal container for ice. However, in some parts of the western U.S., a jockey box is the glove compartment of a car, and much earlier, the term referred to...

gold-beater’s skin

gold-beater’s skin  n.— «As a conservator, if we saw a tear like this, we’d look to parchment repair, a very similar organic material.…They use something called gold-beater’s skin—the lining of a cow’s stomach—very, very thin...