| Chrysti on: Bark up the Wrong Tree
Bark up the Wrong Tree |
| When someone tells you that you’re barking up the wrong tree, it’s a way of saying that you’re making a false assumption, or you’ve been mislead in your search for something. The idiom to bark up the wrong tree was inspired by... more |
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| Chrysti on: Sundae
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| The first place that ice cream was produced and consumed in North America was in the state of Maryland in 1702. Then, few people had heard of this concoction, but two hundred years later, at the turn of the 20th century, ice cream parlors were spring... more |
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| Chrysti on: Morpheus |
| In the Greek mythological tradition, Morpheus is the god of dreams. Coursing the skies on dark, silent wings, Morpheus nightly visits mortals in their sleep, appearing to them in various guises as dream figures, and bringing the sleepers comforting o... more |
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| Chrysti on: Flak |
| If media headlines are accurate indicators of trends, a lot of politicians are “taking flak” lately. “Obama Takes Flak for Bringing Troops Home.” “Tim Pawlenty Takes Flak over GOP Debate.” “Perry’s Job Creation Funds Draw Flak from Left, Right,” ar... more |
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| Chrysti on: Growler II
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| Brewpub habitués often wonder about the origin of growler, an industry term referring, today, to a refillable, two-quart glass container for take-away beer consumption. Early 20th century growlers were simple galvanized metal pails to be fille... more |
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| Chryst on: Growler |
| Attention homebrewers, brewpub and microbrew aficinados: how many times have you wondered about the origin of the word growler? For those of you unfamiliar with the industry, a growler is a two-quart glass container for microbrewed beer design... more |
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| Bio-foam mattress |
| Make an investment in yourself and the environment by making an organic, non-toxic choice for your bedroom. The Keetsa Plus has an iCoil mattress with a body-conforming memory foam layer on top. iCoils are independent coils that support every part of... more |
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| Chrysti on: Esperanto |
| Esperanto is what linguists call a “universal artificial language.” When he conceived Esperanto in the 1870s, Dr. Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof, a Polish ophthalmologist, hoped his invented language would provide a linguistic bridge between people of all... more |
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| Chrysti on: Nepenthe |
| Edgar Allen Poe’s poem The Raven weaves the tale of a young man, lonely and grieving his deceased lover, who admits a tame raven into his chambers one cold December evening. Grateful for the company, the man speaks to the bird, and it replies ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Dot Your I's |
| Have you ever been admonished to dot your i’s and cross your t’s? This is your well-meaning teacher or father or grandmother’s way of telling you to not only write properly and clearly, but also to pay close attention to your work and complete... more |
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| Chrysti on: Stove Up |
| My hard-working dad occasionally complained of achiness after a long day at work. Hours spent in the tractor seat, working on heavy equipment, or wielding a shovel left him sore and gimpy; a condition he called being “stove up.” The expression is com... more |
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| Chrysti on: By the Skin of Your Teeth
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| When you hear the expression by the skin of my teeth, what comes to mind? Most likely it’s the notion of a narrow escape, a disaster barely averted. It’s a common English expression. But what happens when you examine this phrase up close? B... more |
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| Chrysti on: Mum's the Word |
| When we ask someone to refrain from divluging a secret, we might say “remember, mum’s the word,” or “keep mum about this, now.” It turns out that mum is a term someone coined to represent the sound the human mouth makes with its lips completel... more |
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| Chrysti on: Silver Lining |
| In 1915, Ivor Novello and Lena Gilbert Ford composed the wartime song Keep the Home Fires Burning. One of the tune’s verses says: There’s a silver lining / Through the dark clouds shining / Turn the dark clouds inside out / Till the boys co... more |
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| Chrysti on: Aphrodisiac |
| In ancient Greek tradition, Aphrodite is the goddess of love. Daughter of the sky father Uranus and the earth mother Gaia, Aphrodite had many paramours. She married the fire god Hephaestus but dallied with such Olympian luminaries as Adonis, Ares, He... more |
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| Chrysti on: Toast
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| The verb toast is of considerable antiquity. Its first English citation is 1398, when toast meant, “to burn as the sun does, to parch or heat thoroughly.” The ancestor of this word is the Latin torrere, meaning “to parch,” a verb that is also... more |
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| Chrysti on: Skinflint |
| Skinflint is a nickname for one who is excessively stingy and cautious with money. This moniker has several synonyms: tightwad, cheapskate, hoarder, penny-pincher. Skinflint, however, has an especially miserly ring to it; add to that i... more |
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| Chrysti on: Volcano |
| In the pantheon of ancient Roman gods, Vulcan was the mighty blacksmith to the deities. Deep in the bowels of Mt. Etna, on the island of Sicily, Vulcan built a great forge where he created armor for the warrior gods, fashioned a golden throne for Jun... more |
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| Chrysti on: Like Gangbusters |
| Someone who comes on like gangbusters is enthusiastic, forceful, and perhaps even aggressive. A gangbuster musical or theatrical performance is an energetic success. But what exactly is a gangbuster, and what makes the allusion so winni... more |
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| Chrysti on: Eye for an Eye |
| Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The reason I can’t follow the old eye for an eye philosophy is that it ends up leaving everybody blind.” King was referring, of course to the oft-quoted biblical law of fair judgment given to the nation of Isra... more |
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| Chrysti on: Pot and Kettle |
| When someone accuses another of a misdeed or wrongdoing, but is himself guilty of the same thing, that's the pot calling the kettle black. This expression began showing up in English documents in the early 1600s, but the sentiment is timeless.... more |
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| Chrysti on: Robin |
| Though it’s the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin, the robin is at home everywhere in North America. From the open plains to suburban lawns, these familiar birds enjoy a diet of beetles, cutworms and earthworms, as well as seasonally ... more |
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| Chrysti on: The Cat Has Nine Lives |
| Cats have always been admired for their grace, agility and stealth. But the centuries-old English proverb a cat has nine lives reveals something else about the nature of these animals: they are remarkably resilient. Cats are famous for surviv... more |
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| Chrysti on: Baby Ruth
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| Americans have been carrying on a love affair with the candy bar for over a century. In 1903, Milton Hershey introduced the all-chocolate Hershey bar and sold it for a nickel. The Goo Goo Cluster came next in 1912, followed in 1920 by the Oh Henry! T... more |
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| Chrysti on: Tantalize |
| Tantalus was a king of ancient Phrygia, a region situated in modern day central Turkey. Some legends give Tantalus immortal status; other accounts tell us he was simply a mortal man beloved of the Greek gods. A frequent guest at the Olympian banquet ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Midas Touch
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| Someone with a Midas touch has a talent for turning any venture into a success. This allusion comes from the legend of King Midas of ancient Phrygia, known today as Turkey. The story opens with the mighty god Dionysus granting King Midas a wis... more |
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| Chrysti on: Cloud Nine
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| For decades now, American English speakers, when blissfully happy, have claimed to be on cloud nine. Though this is a common expression, accounts of its origin are delightfully mottled. One version has the US Weather Bureau arranging cloud for... more |
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| Chrysti on: Make Hay While the Sun Shines |
| Make hay while the sun shines is a proverb that adjures us to take advantage of opportunity — to act while conditions are favorable. This proverb is of course rooted in agriculture. After hay is cut, it needs to be stacked or baled while it is... more |
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| Chrysti on: Dog in the Manger
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| The stories of the tortoise and the hare and the boy who cried wolf are attributed to the illustrious Aesop, the Greek fabulist with a genius for telling animal tales with human morals. Aesop’s fables have been repeated through the oral traditions of... more |
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| Chrysti on: Meander
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| Each word, like each person, has a unique life history. Many of these histories can travel through some rather unusual territory. Such is the case with the serviceable verb meander, meaning “to wander aimlessly.” Let’s take a look at the word’... more |
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| Chrysti on: Cry to the Bank
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| What does it mean to cry all the way to the bank? This sarcastic American catchphrase comes with a couple of interpretations. Someone who cries all the way to the bank has made a lot of money and is indifferent to criticism of his weal... more |
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| Chrysti on: Animals on our Tongues
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| Humans and animals have coexisted on this planet for millions of years. Willingly or not, animals have served humans in countless ways over the millennia as sources of food, clothing, traction, sport and companionship. They also provide metaphor for ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Aftermath
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| Every word has a secret life hiding behind its dictionary definition. Aftermath has a particularly intriguing history; one that takes us to the fragrant hay meadows of ancient Britian. Aftermath means “consequences, results, after-effec... more |
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| Chrysti on: Cold Turkey
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| In 1969 former Beatle John Lennon recorded a single called Cold Turkey. The lyrics say: “My body is aching / Goose-pimple bone / Can’t see no body / Leave me alone / Thirty-six hours / Rolling in pain / Praying to someone / Free me again / Cold turke... more |
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| Chrysti on: Military Euphemism
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| It’s human nature to linguistically sanitize unpleasant, frightening or offensive words with euphemisms. Examples of euphemistic words are deceased for dead and gosh darn for “God damn.” Military and government language is a gold mine o... more |
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| Chrysti on: Tomboy
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| Have you ever wondered why an athletically inclined girl is sometimes called a tomboy? Let’s break this word down, starting with the last syllable first. Boy has been a term for “young male” or “lad” since the 1300s. And Tom, sho... more |
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| Chrysti on: Read the Riot Act
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| In 1714, British Parliament passed the Riot Act, a law that discouraged unruly mobs from public protest. What was rendering mobs unruly in those days was general dissatisfaction with the newly-crowned King George I, who was not a fellow Briton, but a... more |
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| Chrysti on: Sparrow
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| Sparrow is the generic name for a variety of small, common birds found the world over. These hardy little creatures have adapted to almost every type of environment, flourishing in prairie, marsh and desert. Even one of the New Testament gospe... more |
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| Chrysti on: Draconian
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| The adjective draconian means harsh or severe, rigorous. For example, many have recently argued that the imposition of life sentences for juvenile criminals who never committed a murder is draconian. Though this term was first recorded ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Eustachian and Fallopian
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| Some words which refer to the anatomy are descriptive. Molar, for example, is from the Latin mola, meaning “grindstone,” and solar plexus is derived from sol, Latin for “sun,” and plexus, meaning “something woven.” This term crea... more |
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| Chrysti on: Chump
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| From the catalog of abusive English slang comes the word chump, meaning “sucker, dupe, easy mark.” Though a bit dated, this moniker is interesting for two reasons. The first is its origin. When it appeared in print in the early 1700s, chump... more |
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| Chrysti on: Bird Insults
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| Humans have long admired birds for their beauty, and envied them for their freedom of flight. Paradoxically, we’ve also included certain bird names in our arsenal of verbal insults.
For example, dodo, a Portuguese slang term, was the c... more |
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| Chrysti on: Avocado
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| The avocado tree is native to Mexico and Central America, and its fruit has been a vital constituent of the local diet there for thousands of years. When the Spanish penetrated the heart of the Aztec empire in the early 1500s, they found this unfamil... more |
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| Chrysti on: Toboggan
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| If you grew up in the snowy northern tier of North America, you’ve probably ridden a toboggan, the long, flat runner-less sled with its characteristic curled wooden nose. Today the toboggan is mainly used for winter recreation, but it was originally ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Skyscraper
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| Most people’s 21st century visions of a skyscraper would probably include such architectural behemoths as the Sears Building, rising 1450 feet above the streets of Chicago, or the even taller Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. An example of a... more |
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| Chrysti on: Pecking Order
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| Anyone who has ever been part of a corporation, organization, or club has discovered their place in the pecking order — the social or institutional hierarchy. One’s position in the pecking order might be predicated on job title, age, size, or ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Get Your Goat
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| Has anyone ever annoyed you to the point of ‘getting your goat?’ Now here’s an expression in search of itself. The idiom to get someone’s goat, so familiar to American English speakers, has never been reliably traced to its origin, but several... more |
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| Chrysti on: On a High Horse
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| Have you ever been told to get off your high horse by someone who considered you conceited, snotty or pretentious? Even though the opinions about your conceit may have been accurate, you weren’t literally “riding” any “high horse,” so why then... more |
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| Chrysti on: Wild Goose Chase
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| The expression wild goose chase is a common verbal formula used to describe a convoluted and pointless quest. On the surface, the cliche wild goose chase seems simply to reflect the folly of trying to pursue and capture a wild goose. We... more |
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| Chrysti on: Gussied Up
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| When you prepare to attend a swanky event, do you merely dress for the occasion, or do you gussy up? Gussied up is a casual way to describe someone formally attired with the appropriate footwear, hair-do, cuff links... more |
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| Chrysti on: Grammy
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| The first Grammy Award ceremony was held on May 4, 1959. The album of the year was Henry Mancini’s Music From Peter Gunn, and Perry Como won best male performance of the year with “Catch a Falling Star.”
The Grammy, an award presented a... more |
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| Chrysti on: Taino terms |
| When Columbus came ashore on the West Indian islands in October of 1492, he and his crew encountered the Taino people, native inhabitants of modern day Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Bahamas. The Taino were fishers, subsisting on lobster, turtle ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Polka
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| In the 1960s, it was the twist. Back in the 20s, the Charleston. But these fads were mere blips on the dance radar compared to the polka craze that endured for sixty years, holding dancers and musicians in its thrall from 1840 to the turn of the 20th... more |
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| Chrysti on: Hooker |
| Although the word hooker has been cited as a synonym for prostitute since at least the mid 19th century, no one can claim with certainty where the term originated. Several theories have emerged over the decades. The scholar and poet ... more |
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| Chrysti on: couch potato |
The term couch potato has been with us long enough now that a dictionary editors recognize it as a permanent member of our lexicon. The august OED says a couch potato is “a person who spends leisure time passively or idly sitting around, es... more |
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| Chrysti on: Bumper Crop |
| A farm community that gathers a bumper crop considers itself fortunate indeed, because such crops yield higher than average harvests. Why do we use this expression to refer to an abundance of produce? <
>In the 18th and 19th centuries, t... more |
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| Chrysti on: Busy as a bee |
| It’s easy to grasp the simple, folksy observation behind the expression busy as a bee. Bees, famous for their industry, work endlessly gathering pollen, tending to the queen, and cooling and cleaning the hive. What is astounding about this phrase is ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Cold Feet
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| Runaway brides and nervous homebuyers who back out on the deal are said to have gotten cold feet. No one is sure what inspired this idiom, but below are some theories. With its current meaning, the expression has been in common use since the 1... more |
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| Chrysti on: Bang for the Buck
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| When you get the biggest bang for your buck, you know you’ve gotten your money’s worth, or an optimal return on some kind of investment. Most American English speakers, during the course of a normal lifetime, will hear and / or use this expres... more |
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| Chrysti on: High Muckamuck
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| Chinook Jargon is a trade language developed among natives of the American Pacific Northwest. Consisting of some 500-1000 words drawn from several native languages of the area, Chinook Jargon facilitated commerce in food and goods between the ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Tongue in Cheek
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| Have you ever spoken with your tongue in your cheek? Probably not literally…but figuratively? Anyone with any wit at all makes slyly jesting remarks from time to time, comments we English speakers call tongue-in-cheek. Just what does thrusting... more |
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| Chrysti on: PEZ
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| PEZ candies in their signature character dispensers have been a favorite in America’s confectionary cupboard for decades. Since 1955, candy lovers have been popping fruit-flavored PEZ pellets out of the flip top heads of Snoopy, Daffy Duck, Fred Flin... more |
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| Chrysti on: Tupperware
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| They were touted as “…the most sensational products in modern plastics.” They were available in “frosted pastel shades of lime, crystal, raspberry, lemon…” Best of all, they were indestructable. The seven-ounce polyethylene bathroom tumblers were t... more |
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| Chrysti on: Jumbo
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| On a spring day in 1865, hundreds of Londoners lined up for their first look at an elephant. The celebrated pachyderm was Jumbo, a four-year-old African bull elephant who arrived at the London Zoo on June 26, 1865. During his 17 year residency at the... more |
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| Chrysti on: Hermaphrodite
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| Hermaphroditus was one of the many handsome young gods in the Greek pantheon. His name was a combination of those of his famous Olympian parents, Hermes and the love goddess Aphrodite. Hunting in the woods one day, Hermaphroditus discovered a shimmer... more |
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| Chrysti on: Connect the Dots
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| Connect the dots is a classic paper and pencil children’s game. In an exercise that is part art project and part counting lesson, the player draws a line between a sequence of numbered dots, and as they are connected in order, a hidden pattern emerge... more |
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| Chrysti on: On Tenterhooks
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| Many of our most common expressions have long outlasted the circumstances or technologies of their inspiration. Such is the case with the cliché in the limelight, which derives from the bright stage lighting produced by burning a block of calc... more |
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| Chrysti on: Hopscotch
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| Hopscotch is considered a children’s game, but it’s thought to have originated in the military training regime of Roman legionaires. To improve their conditioning and agility, Roman soldiers, in full battle array, hopped up and down a 100-foot path o... more |
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| Chrysti on: Dromedary and Bactrian
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| Camels come in two varieties: the one-humped, the dromedary, and the two-humped, also known as the bactrian. Both species have been used as beasts of burden and valued for their meat, milk and hides for thousands of years. The dromedary, indigenous t... more |
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| Chrysti on: Mollusk |
| Mollusk is the common name for members of a phylum of animals with soft-bodies often encased in a hard shell. The most familiar mollusks are snails, clams, oysters, abalone, squids and octopuses. Humans eat some of these creatures, or find uses for t... more |
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| Chrysti on: Scotch Tape
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| Historically, the English have looked upon their northern Scottish neigbors as somewhat backward and miserly. This attitude has generated some fairly nasty national slurs, such as “Scotch fiddle,” an itch caused by mites on the body. Some of these s... more |
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| Chrysti on: Blue Plate Special II
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| Last time in this space we examined the origin of blue plate special, the anchor of 20th century American diner menus. Fast and affordable, blue plate specials were typically served on a plate divided into three sections: one for the meat, another f... more |
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| Chrysti on: Blue Plate Special |
A standard item on traditional diner menus was the daily blue plate special, a good square meal of meat, potatoes and vegetables, typically served on one plate divided to hold the individual servings. Blue plate specials were priced (depending on ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Turn Over a New Leaf
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| When we make plans to abandon a bad habit or reform old, undesirable ways, we sometimes proclaim, “I want to turn over a new leaf.” How did the rotation of a leaf become associated with positive change? Well, the expression relies not on turning tree... more |
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| Chrysti on: Life is a Bowl of Cherries
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| Life is just a bowl of cherries. This breezy catchphrase translates: “Don’t be too serious; life is sweet and enjoyable.” While many of our familiar expressions have foreign and ancient origins, this one is red, white and blue 20th century American. ... more |
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| Chrysti on: Back to Square One
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| “Go back to square one” is a common expression in both British and American English. While there’s no clear consensus on the idiom’s origin, most sources advance the following three possibilities.
One associates going back to square one with B... more |
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| Chrysti Smith on: Peeping Tom |
| Many U.S. states have enacted “Peeping Tom” laws based on principles of invasion of privacy. The Peeping Tom statutes, which vary from state to state, essentially forbid voyeurism, eavesdropping, or the electronic recording of someone’s image without... more |
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| Chrysti on: Take the Bull by the Horns
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| When summoning the courage to tackle a difficult or even dangerous situation instead of avoiding it we often call it taking the bull by the horns. In this expression, the horns of the bull represent the unpleasant circumstances that we sometim... more |
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| Chrysti Smith on: "Humbug"
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"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!” cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew...
‘Bah!’ said Scrooge, ‘Humbug!’
‘Christmas a humbug, uncle!” said Scrooge’s nephew. ‘You don’t mean that, I’m sure?’
Scrooge, having no b... more |
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