A Charlotte, North Carolina, shares her granddaughter’s adorable misunderstanding of a word. When a breeze was blowing, the little girl would say it’s winding (rhyming more or less with “wending” rather than “minding”). This is part of a complete...
Louie from Black Hills, South Dakota, recalls the time his girlfriend fell off a paddleboard and into a lake, at which point his father declared She bit the farm! This peculiar locution is most likely his dad’s own combination of two expressions...
Family surnames often derive from occupations, locations, or physical characteristics, so Quiz Guy John Chaneski has crafted a puzzle about fictitious origins of people’s last names. For example, many folks have farmers in their ancestry, but what...
Sylvia in Bismarck, North Dakota, has fond memories of churning homemade ice cream with her family. When one family member offers to take over the task from another, they might say Want me to spell you? or Want me to spell you off? Both these...
Chris from Kittery, Maine, wonders about the colloquial expression no sirree, Bob! or yes sirree, Bob!, which is an emphatic way of saying “definitely not!” or “no way!” The sirree (sometimes spelled with one r, as siree) in this phrase suggests...
The slang phrase someone ate and left no crumbs means the person did something really well. In a previous call, a listener who works in theater noted the use of ate to mean “did something well,” as in they really ate that haircut! This is part of a...

