Joan from McKinney, Texas, wonders about the origin of the disparaging term knucklehead. It’s a mild insult, and as with blockhead and bonehead, it suggests that someone’s head is so full of blocks, bones, or knuckles that there’s no room for brains...
Scott in La Jolla, California, grew up hearing older relatives say something like hock me a chinik when kids were noisy, pestering, or full of questions. That family phrase traces to the Yiddish Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik, with many variants, all...
In baseball slang, three blind mice denotes the three umpires on the field. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Three Blind Mice in Baseball” So Grant, when it comes to baseball, do you know what three blind mice means...
The slang threat “I’ll butter your necktie!” was made famous by the 1950 film Harvey. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “I’ll Butter Your Necktie!” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello, my name is...
Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game called Aye Aye, Captain about phrases with that long “I” vowel sound. For example, a colorless synonym for a fib would be a white lie, and another name for a mafioso might be a wise guy. This is part...
A caller who grew up in New Jersey remembers hearing a neighbor use the expression Hak mir nisht ken tshaynik whenever she wanted to shush someone. He’s sure the phrase is Yiddish, but he’s never been able to figure out the literal...
