In the United States, the boxlike contraption that carries passengers between floors in a building is called an elevator. In Britain, it’s called a lift. Clearly, folks in those two countries are just raised differently. This is part of a...
Robert in Dover, Delaware, grew up hearing different ways to say aunt, from the version that sounds like ant to the same broader vowel as in haunt common in parts of the East Coast. In most of the United States, aunt rhymes with ant. The other...
What’s the most common street name in the United States? Hint: It’s not Main Street or Third Street. It’s also not First Street. You’ll find the answer, along with lots of other fascinating information, in The Address Book:...
Scott from Valdosta, Georgia, remembers his father using the phrase in a goat house looking for wool referring to “searching in a place where you won’t find what you’re looking for.” This is part of a complete episode...
Is the term hooligan an anti-Irish slur? Probably not, although it does come from the name of one of several British gangs operating in London in the late 1800s. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origins of the Word...
When Melissa was growing up in Tacoma, Washington, she’d walk to the corner store, where she’d pick up a corn dog and a bag of jo jos, a term for soft potato wedges with the skin left on. Researcher Barry Popik has dug up a story that...