A descendant of the legendary Hatfield family of Appalachia remembers her grandmother saying, “Wish in one hand and tacky in the other, and see which fills up first.” She wonders about the origin of this advice, and what the word tacky...
A Brazilian has been researching why actors use the unlikely expression “break a leg” to wish each other well before going on stage. He suspects it’s a borrowing of a German phrase that means, “May you break your neck and...