Mimi in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, wonders about a phrase her grandmother used to express disbelief or indignation: Good grief and little fishes! Far more common is the phrase Ye gods and little fishes! or simply Ye gods! These expressions all serve as...
A San Diego, California, listener wonders if the expression far out originally had to do with surfing. This expression describing something excellent or otherwise impressive originated in the world of jazz, where far out suggested the idea of...
The Twitter hashtag #Bookswithalettermissing has proved to be a popular one. We discussed some great examples in an earlier episode. But why not take a letter off the author as well? As in, Animal Far by George Owell, the story about an animal that...
Grant explains the meaning of the new slang term “far center,” and Martha tries to revive an antiquated term meaning “a corrupt politician,” snollygoster. This is part of a complete episode.
synch license n.— «Barring an exception under copyright law, the use of a sound recording and/or composition in a film requires a license from the owner (or owners) of the copyrights. Thus, for example, for the film Donnie Darko to...
OMG, text messaging! It’s destroying the English language, corrupting young minds, turning us into illiterates. It’s probably shrinking the ozone layer, too. Or is it? In his new book, Txting: The Gr8 Db8, David Crystal offers a...
