Debbie from Keokuk, Iowa, shares a funny story about her family’s tradition of speed-cleaning the house if guests were coming over. Her mother would declare, “Quick, guys! Whited sepulchre approach!” Her use of the term whited sepulchre alluded to Matthew 23:27, the Bible verse in which Jesus calls out hypocrites, saying that they are “like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” In antiquity, for centuries, the expression whited sepulchre was used in English to mean “a hypocrite.” Other humorous expressions for frantic last-minute cleaning include, making a lasagna, mummification, scoop-and-shove, and white tornado. This is part of a complete episode.
A Winter Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon) by Paul Anthony Jones includes some words to lift your spirits. The verb whicken involves the lengthening of days in springtime, a variant of quicken, meaning “come to life.” Another word, breard, is...
Rosalind from Montgomery, Alabama, says her mother used to scold her for acting like a starnadle fool. The more common version of this term is starnated fool, a term that appears particular to Black English, and appears in the work of such writers...
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