June 15, 2017 - I have to admit that I enjoy watching the judge shows on television. I like Judge Judy, Judge Alex, Judge Mathis, and Judge Millian. If you watch them, too, then you know that after the case is settled the litigants are usually interviewed by the announcer. In many instances the loser will make the following statement, “Well, it is what it is.” Have you ever thought about that little phrase and what it actually means?

May 16, 2017 - Have you ever heard the expression “the whole kit and kaboodle” used? If you are like me, I have heard this slang expression used since I was knee-high to a duck. I think we all understand it to mean “everything”, or “all of it”. The question is more about its history. When did it originate, and from where?

May 1, 2017 - Many of you have no doubt heard a person say that he didn’t know someone else from Adam’s off ox, but you may not have stopped to consider the peculiar aptness of this folk expression. I recall my grandparents and parents would use the phrase quite often but I never thought to delve into what the words truly meant. What is an “off ox”, and who was Adam? What did this have to do with not knowing somebody?

February 16, 2017 - While down town the other day I met a friend whom I had not seen for several years.  We stopped to visit and I commented “My, you are a sight for sore eyes!”  We both immediately knew what I meant by that comment – I was pleased to see my friend.

December 19, 2016 - In December we begin to hear many radio stations play the famous, old Christmas carols that we all love to hear. Most of these carols or hymns are very old and tell the true story of the Christmas season and the real reason for the season. One of these songs is “The Twelve Days of Christmas” which predates most of the other carols as it was first published in 1780. As examples, “Silent Night” was written around 1818, while “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was penned in 1868.