Pushing the envelope4/7/2023 ![]() Quiz Guy John Chaneski wants you to think of two-word phrases in which both words end in the letters ER. In English, a stingy person may also be said to have taffy pockets, meaning they reach into their pocket, but somehow the hand never comes back out with money because the hand must be stuck there by gooey taffy. In Spanish, a cheapskate might be described as having a cocodrilo en el bolsillo, or a “crocodile in the pocket,” meaning they consider reaching for their wallet too perilous. In the 1980s, the phrase was popularized by Tom Wolfe’s book about NASA’s test pilot program, The Right Stuff. Why do we refer to “testing or going beyond limits” as pushing the envelope? In aeronautics, to push the envelope means to try to go past the edge of the aircraft’s perceived capability. In the 1996 movie Secrets & Lie s, starring Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Blethyn’s East London character says of someone unfamiliar: I wouldn’t know him if he stood up in my soup! Push the Envelope Means Go Beyond the Expected Limits Wouldn’t Know Them if They Stood in My Soup We’ve talked about redd up on the show before. Retten up is a variant of redd up, which has a similar meaning in Scots and Irish English. ![]() He had no idea what she meant, so he just lounged around while she was gone - only to find out later that by retten up, she meant “tidy up” the house. Off We Go, Laughing and ScratchingĪfter our conversation about Off we go like a herd of turtles, often said by a parent gathering kids to leave the house, Joanna in Santa Cruz, California, shares the one she heard from her father: Here we go, laughing and scratching! In 1939, Hollywood columnist Walter Winchell reported that film director Archie Mayo used that phrase to start shooting a scene instead of saying Action! Retten Up and Rett UpĪ Delaware listener recounts a funny story about visiting a friend in Maryland who asked him to retten up the house while she went to the store. ![]() ![]() It was rebroadcast the weekend of January 7, 2023. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |