Spondulix, also spelled spondulicks and spondolux, is a slang term for money. Mark Twain used it in Huckleberry Finn, although it had been around for a while before that. The word may derive from the Greek word spondylos, meaning...
As Mark Twain observed, “The compliment that helps us on our way is not the one that is shut up in the mind, but the one that is spoken out.” Martha describes a compliment challenge her friends are taking up on Facebook, with happy...
To go at something bald-headed means “to rush at something head-on.” The same idea informs the phrase to “I’m going to pinch you bald-headed,” which an exasperated parent might say to a misbehaving child. The more...
Mark Twain famously said that he’d never write “metropolis” for 7 cents when he could write “city” for the same fee, and it stands as good advice for writers looking to make economical word choices. This is part of a...
It used to be that you called any mixed-breed dog a mutt. But at today’s dog parks, you’re just as likely to run into schnugs, bassadors, and dalmadoodles. Also, if someone has a suntan, you might say he’s brown as a berry. But...
My postillion has been struck by lightning is one of many lines found in foreign language phrase books that have no real purpose. Mark Twain complained about the same thing in his essay, “The Awful German Language.” This is part of a...