Depending on its mood, a turkey’s skin can shift from red to blue to white, due to changes in the blood vessels between bundles of collagen. That phenomenon is reflected in the Japanese term for “turkey,” shichimencho (七面鳥), which translates as “seven face bird.” There’s a similar word in Korean. In Ireland, someone who’s arrogant or self-important might be described in one of the following two ways: If you’ve been to Tenerife, he’s been to Elevenerife or If you’ve got an elephant, he’s got the box it came in. Those are just some of the picturesque expressions that writer Adam Sharp has gathered in his book The Wheel is Spinning But the Hamster is Dead: A Journey Around the World in Idioms, Proverbs and General Nonsense. (Bookshop|Amazon). This is part of a complete episode.
What happens when you de-pluralize a book title? As members of our Facebook group discovered, if you make the plurals in the name of a book singular, you can come up with some interesting plot lines. For example, John Steinbeck’s The...
Emily from New Orleans, Louisiana, wonders about the expression Holy cow! to indicate surprise or delight. It’s one of many minced oaths, in this case a replacement for the stronger exclamation, Holy Christ! These euphemistic expressions, such...
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