top and tail
v.— «The big surprise at the moment is the success of Seven’s The World Around Us on Sunday nights hosted by Lisa McCune. It’s really “topped and tailed” in TV parlance. She just reads some scripts in a studio in front of a flat that can take a digital graphic. An editor and producer “tops and tails” the segments and intros and the end. And off it goes to rate between 1.2 million and 1.6 million viewers on Sunday night.» —“TV shock—original programming works” by Terry O’Dial Crikey (Australia) May 26, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
The adjectives canine and feline refer to dogs and cats. But how does English address other groups of animals? Plus, cabin fever has been around much longer than the current pandemic. That restless, antsy, stir-crazy feeling goes back to the days...