Listeners have been sharing some of their personal Scrabble rules, including new uses for the blank tile. For example, one variation allows for the tile to be removed and reused, so if Grant were to play the blank tile as an “E” and Martha has an...
When President Barack Obama had the Oval Office redecorated in soft browns and beige, The New York Times headline read: “The Audacity of Taupe.” The hosts discuss how puns work, and what makes them clever. Martha recommends John Pollack’s new book...
Katie in Boston, who grew up near Buffalo, knew the plastic-string camp craft as boondoggle, while friends in Boston called the material or activity gimp and others called it lanyard. Boondoggle appears to have arisen in scouting near Rochester, New...
Martha shares some Argentine idioms, including one that translates as “What a handrail!” for “What a bad smell!” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Argentine Handrail Idiom” Grant, I’m looking at this list of idioms that you were...
“You knucklehead!” Where’d we get an epithet like that? Grant tells the story about the wartime cartoon that helped popularize the term. Check out the adventures of R.F. Knucklehead in LIFE magazine. More about cartoons used for war-time education...
Grab some popcorn, slip into a folding seat, and you’re ready to watch the coming attractions. But if they’re shown before the main feature, why in the world are movie previews called trailers? Enjoy these old movie trailers at Turner Classic Movies...