Pickthank, now an archaic and literary term, denotes a sycophant who curries favor. This is part of a complete episode.
Albany beef is a slang term for sturgeon. There was a time when this fish was so plentiful in the Hudson River along the New York town of Albany that bartenders served sturgeon caviar free with drinks. This is part of a complete episode.
A woman in Reno, Nevada, wonders about the expression, “What am I, chopped liver?” Chopped liver is a traditional Jewish dish that’s always a side item, never the main course. Speaking of traditional Jewish foods, the term...
For the book lover on your gift list, Grant recommends the mix of magic and science in All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. He also likes the work of Firoozeh Dumas: It Ain’t So Awful Falafel, about an Iranian teenage girl living...
This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy had corned beef and cabbage, this little piggy had none. At least, that’s the way a caller from Sebastian, Florida, remembers the children’s rhyme. Most...
“Mind the grease” is a handy phrase to use when you’re trying to sidle through a crowd. It’s found in 1909 volume of English slang called Passing English of the Victorian Era. Speaking of greasy, in those days something...