John from Orlando, Florida, shares a story about a trip to Capetown, South Africa, where he discovered that the phrase I’ll be with you now meant something more like “Wait a minute.” The expression now now, deriving from an...
In much of the United States, the phrase I’ll be there directly means “I’m on my way right now.” But particularly in parts of the South, I’ll be there directly simply means “I’ll be there after a while...
The exclamations “I’ll be John Brown!” and “I’ll be John Browned!” have a sticky history, going back to view that the abolitionist John Brown was doing something damnable by arming a slave revolt. This is part of...