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A Will-o’-the-Wisp

Ruth in Cincinnati, Ohio, is curious about the lyrics to the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic “Maria” from the movie The Sound of Music. Maria, a nun who’s not quite a good fit for the abbey, is described as “a...

Tear Up Jack

The phrase tearing up Jack, which refers to “engaging in rowdy, rambunctious behavior,” has its origins in the traditional English card game known as All Fours. This game is the source of the term jack, referring to the lowest face card...

Play it By Ear or Year?

Jack in Spokane, Washington, wonders which phrase is correct when talking about improvising: play it by ear or play it by year? Although play it by ear is the original version and by far the most common one, play it by year sounds plausible enough...

A Dancer Who Walks for a Living

You dream of writing the great American novel, but to make ends meet, you spend your days writing boring corporate reports. There’s a difference between writing for love and writing for a living — or is there? Does a heyday have anything to do...

Jacked-Up

Is being jacked up a good thing or a bad thing? It depends. To jack up means “to raise up,” as with a car on a lift. But jack up also has a negative meaning, perhaps deriving from hijack or blackjack, suggesting that something’s...