Investigating the origins of American words, names, quotations and phrases. Over 41,000 entries.
A popular pie joke on National Pie Day (January 23), Pi Day (March 14) and Thanksgiving (November) is: Q: Why did he pie go to the dentist?A: To get a filling. The joke has been cited in print…
A joke about running the marathon was cited on reddit in November 2015: Me: "I'm thinking about running a marathon again."Her: "Wow, you have ran a marathon before?"Me:…
"You go to New York to become somebody; you to go Los Angeles to become famous" is a saying that's popular in the entertainment industry. "If you want to make money, you go to…
"The only man able to stop Michael Jordan was Dean Smith," a popular professional basketball saying goes. Dean Smith's was Michael Jordan's college coach at the University of…
"You can't judge a book by its cover" -- meaning that outward appearance isn't everything -- is a proverb that dates to at least 1929. "Never judge a book by its…
Football before 1940 was less popular than baseball and was mostly played on the college level. The National Football League (NFL) was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football…
A higher education joke asks: Is it a university with a football team, or a football team with a university? Dr. Charles Dan Procter, president of the Oklahoma College for Women (now the University…
People are attracted to wealth -- especially a rich person's relatives. "A man never knows how many relatives he has until he becomes successful in life" was cited in Mr. Punch, His…
The acronym “PIT” (Philippines + Indonesia + Thailand) stands for the economies of these three ASEAN nations and has been cited in print since at least December 2001, when the term was used by…
David Blanchett, head of retirement research at Morningstar Investment Management in Chicago, Illinois, coined the term "retirement spending smile" in 2013. Retirees usually have less…
A 2006 book about Notre Dame college football stated an uncredited adage: "Freshmen just want to play and earn a letter. Sophomores want to start. Juniors want to win. And seniors are…
Guinness is a favorite drink in Dublin, Ireland. Although Guinness is available in many countries, many people insist that only the Dublin product is the true Guinness. 'Guinness doesn't…
An old political joke has a newcomer elected to Washington, DC. The newly elected member looks around and sees all the famous politicians. "How did I get here?" the member asks himself,…
Algorithmic trading systems ("algos") use mathematical formulas to buy and sell securities. High-frequency trading (HFT) is a type of algorithmic trading (or "algo") that uses…
You can't shoot pool with a rope, just as you can't push a string and you can't push spaghetti. The "shoot pool with a rope" line has become a popular remark about male…
Academics specialize, but are often clueless in areas outside of this specialized knowledge. American humorist Will Rogers (1873-1935) pointed this out in a July 1931 newspaper column, where he…
Honey has been called "bee vomit" -- often in jest -- since at least 1982. Some honey products have had "bee vomit" on the label, and "Honey is really just bee vomit"…
Jewish children celebrating Hanukkah or Chanukah (the Festival of Lights) traditionally have received "Hanukkah gelt" (money), which the children would spend on candies or on a charitable…
A higher education joke asks: Is it a university with a football team, or a football team with a university? Dr. Charles Dan Procter, president of the Oklahoma College for Women (now the University…
"How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time," a popular saying has it. The proverb means that giant tasks can be accomplished if done a little at a time. Frank Cody, Detroit's…