TagTelevision in the United States

Bippy

Where’d we get the expression “You bet your sweet bippy!”? It’s from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, a zany television show from the late 1960s. The word bippy, by the way, means “butt.” The phrase “You...

Hand Over Fist

Why do we say someone is making money hand over fist? Does it have to do with two competitors putting one hand over the other on a baseball bat to determine who’s up first? Or does it have to do with pulling a rope? This is part of a complete...

Costanza wallet

Costanza wallet n. a bulging, overstuffed billfold or wallet. Etymological Note: After the character George Costanza in the the twelfth episode, The Reverse Peephole, of the ninth season of Seinfeld, which aired on January 15, 1998. In the episode...