Online recaps of Mad Men or Breaking Bad can be as much fun as the shows themselves. So why not recap classic literature — like, say, Dante’s Inferno? A literary website is doing just that. And, you’ve heard about the First World and the...
The enviable poker position known as the catbird seat belongs to the last player to bet, who can see everyone else act first. Mike, a poker player in Alabama, wants to know how the phrase got there. Baseball broadcaster Red Barber said he first...
The term cheap-john can refer to a miserly fellow, and also to a pawnbroker’s shop. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Judge Wants To Spit” You remember when we were talking about that expression, order in the...
The Phantom Tollbooth, the beloved children’s book by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer, turns 50 this year. There are two new 50th anniversary editions of the book. As Adam Gopnik notes in a New Yorker magazine article, the book...
Hi, all — In this week’s archive edition, we discuss not-so-smartphones, “Erin” vs. “Aaron,” “who” vs. “whom,” what happens when you “overegg the pudding,” and what it means to...
C-r-r-r-r-reeeeeeeeaaaaaak! Last weekend, we reached into the AWWW vault and pulled out an oldie but goodie, featuring “death eatin’ a cracker walkin’ backwards,” “graveyard shift,” “saved by the...