Rasoul from Mashad, Iran, writes to ask why in English the phrase fat chance actually means “little or no chance” — a slim chance, in other words. Fat chance is an ironic usage, much like the phrase big deal which is often used to mean just the opposite of itself. This is part of a complete episode.
After an international team of scientists and staffers spent six months at a research station in Antarctica, their accents changed ever so slightly, according to an acoustic analysis by German researchers. The slang terms they shared include dingle...
Is the booty as in shake your booty related to a pirate’s booty? The booty that means “derriere” is an alteration of botty, which is itself an alteration of bottom. The booty that means “loot” or “plunder”...
Is “fat chance” really the same as “big deal” and “smart move”? The latter two can be positive or negative depending on tone, but was “fat chance” ever really used to mean “a good chance”?