The names of professional sports teams often have surprising histories — like the baseball team name inspired by, of all things, trolley-car accidents. Plus, some questions to debate at your next barbecue: Is a hot dog a sandwich if it’s...
Coming down the pike means something is approaching or in the works, and it isn’t special legal jargon, even if Lucy in Indianapolis first heard it in law school about Supreme Court opinions. The pike is shortened from turnpike, a toll road once...
What’s the difference between a turnpike and a highway? In the 1700s, privately funded roads were constructed in the Northeast to connect commercial centers, but tolls were charged to pay for the wood planks that covered the road; this was well...
There’s a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time—feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, “What the heck does that mean?” and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about some terms that had just...
In San Diego, a man says increasingly he hears the phrase down the pike at work but suspects it was originally down the pipe. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Down the Pike” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is...