Our conversation about orts, that term well-known to cruciverbalists for “random bits of leftover food,” prompts listeners to share memories of ort buckets in the dining hall at summer camps, and instructions to keep them as free as...
Jennifer, an elementary-school teacher in Tallahassee, Florida, loves saying the term chockablock, meaning “closely packed together,” and wonders about its etymology. Chock can refer to a kind of wedge used to hold something in place...
In nautical lore, Fiddler’s Green is the mythical place where dead mariners go to enjoy a life of leisure, with plenty of song, dancing, flirting, and rum. It may be tempting to connect this expression with mariners’ term fid, or a...
Will from Lexington, Kentucky, has a long-running dispute with his girlfriend. Is it appropriate to call the machine that launders your clothing a clothes-washing machine rather than just a washing machine? And why do we call the machine that cleans...
A flat tire is a slang term for the result of stepping on someone’s heel so that their shoe comes loose. This is part of a complete episode.
“Do you think I came in on the noon balloon?” is a colorful alternative to “Do you think I was born yesterday?” The phrase pops up both in the columns of the late sportswriter Frank Finch and the 1967 novelty song...