Jared in Kaiser, Oregon, wonders about his father’s response when someone asks how he’s doing: I’m staying off the front page and I’m staying off the back page. Although this specific phrase isn’t widespread, it may have to do with the old adage that a woman’s name should appear only three times, referring to her birth, her wedding, and her death. Traditionally, the back pages of newspapers have been the place for obituaries or crime news. This is part of a complete episode.
Inkhorn terms are bloated, fancy, show-off words formed by cramming Latin and Greek roots into English. The name references little bottles made from animal horn that 14th-century English scribes used to carry their ink. Lexicographer Henry...
Kylie Ryan, an elementary-school teacher in Seattle, Washington, remembers that when she played hide-and-seek as a child, the call for everyone to come in was alle alle oxen free. Are there other versions? Yes, and because these sayings were not...
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