Snowboarders flailing their arms in the air might be the last folks who still wind down the windows. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Winding Down the Windows”
I picked up a phrase from the snowboarding competition at the Winter Olympics this year, winding down the windows.
What is that?
That’s when you’re on the snowboard and your arms are flailing to keep your balance.
Nice.
It’s called winding down the windows, which is really interesting, right? Because who winds down windows anymore?
Nobody. But that gesture is so, there’s nothing else that you do that’s like that except ride a snowboard.
Yeah. And so I started looking into that because I was thinking, who says wind down the windows?
Well, the Brits do. Because we say roll down the windows here if we say anything, right?
So there’s some cross-cultural contamination there.
Yeah.
Nice. But I like that. Also, there’s something about keeping your balance. It literally works, right?
Yes. Yes.
Winding down the windows, 877-929-9673 is the number to call to talk about language.
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