Nancy from Berthold, North Dakota, used the expression two bits to mean “25 cents.” Her adult daughter had heard neither that expression nor the saying Shave and a haircut, two bits or the cheer Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar. The story behind two bits goes back to colonial times in the United States, when a very large, thin coin known as the real, Spanish for “royal,” was literally cut into eight pieces, each literally known as a bit. It’s the same reason that you’ll hear about pirates and their pieces of eight. This is part of a complete episode.
A listener named Lita who grew up in Cuba shares her favorite Spanish idiom for “working hard”: sudando tinta, or literally, “sweating ink.” This is part of a complete episode.
Sarah Jane in Tucson, Arizona, recalls hearing the phrase out where God lost his galoshes for any far-flung, hard-to-reach place. Similar phrases include where God left his overshoes, where Jesus lost his sandals, where Jesus lost his cap, where...
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