Where the Woodbine Twineth and the Whangdoodle Mourneth

Patricia from Fort Worth, Texas, has been mystified by an expression her husband’s grandmother would use when trying to avoid answering a question about where something had gone. She’d say it’s gone where the woodbine twineth and the whangdoodle mourneth. The story behind this expression is complicated, but it’s clear that phrase where the woodbine twineth was a catchphrase in the 1870s, and whangdoodle is a catch-all term for an unknown or mythical animal. This is part of a complete episode.