Why Does ‘Spick-and-Span’ Mean ‘Really Clean’?
‘Spick’ doesn’t mean ‘clean.’ And ‘span’ doesn’t mean ‘clean.’ So what’s going on here?
‘Spick’ doesn’t mean ‘clean.’ And ‘span’ doesn’t mean ‘clean.’ So what’s going on here?
Is it coleslaw or cold slaw? Deep-seated or deep-seeded? There are right answers, but the wrong ones seem kind of right in their own right.
One theory suggests that we call liquor 'spirits' because of alcohol’s association with one spirit in particular: the Holy Spirit. But there are other theories.
What is a placebo? Technically, a Latin phrase meaning ‘I will please.’ It’s also a Catholic prayer and a clever insult.
The origin of ‘towhead’ has roots in 14th-century England, when ‘tow’ often referred to textile fibers.
Attention neigh sayers: The idiom has little to do with playing with our food and more to do with equine diets.
The tongue-in-cheek—and superstitious—saying "break a leg" has several possible origins in the theater world.