Episodios

  • Episode 9 (Part Two): “Luck of the Irish,” “86,” “Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire” and more!
    Dec 15 2023



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    48 m
  • Episode 9 (Part One): “At Sixes and Sevens,” “Skin of One’s Teeth,” “Baker’s Dozen” and more!
    Nov 22 2023



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    56 m
  • Episode 8: “Clean Your Clock,” “Jury-Rigged,” “To Whale On,” “Makeshift,” “Slapdash,” “Freebird!” and more!
    Mar 27 2023

    Malcolm and Kurt demonstrate (mostly) mild annoyance with each other while puzzling over the provenance of common phrases suggested by fans of the podcast for beating on someone and doing slipshod work. All that and discussing whether there’s anything more annoying than yelling out “Play Freebird!” to a band at a live music performance.



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    57 m
  • Episode 7: “Slush Fund,” “Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread,” “Flat Out Like a Lizard Drinking,” “Footloose,” “Molson Muscle” and more!
    Dec 3 2022

    Malcolm and Kurt trade barbs and witticisms while puzzling out the derivations of common English phrases while also celebrating the 30-year anniversary of an amazing word-related hoax perpetrated by a member of Generation X against the mighty New York Times.



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    53 m
  • Episode 6: “Makin’ Whoopie,” “Copycat,” “Shag,” “Kit ’n’ Kaboodle,” “Pussyfoot” and the granddaddy of them all, “F*ck”
    Aug 12 2022

    Malcolm and Kurt trade witticisms while making their best guesses about the derivations for three synonyms of “doing it,” as well as a trio of (vaguely) feline-themed expressions.



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    56 m
  • Episode 5: Origins of football terms "touchdown," "sack" and "Super Bowl"; surprising original meanings of "nice," "broad" and "slut"
    May 3 2022

    This week Kurt asks Malcolm to tackle the origins of the American football terms  “touchdown,” “sack” and “Super Bowl,” while Malcolm challenges Kurt to come up with the original definitions of the words "nice," "broad" (meaning woman) and the often considered shameful "slut."

    All this and our hilarious takes on the old "Statue of Liberty" play, fraternizing with known masticators, just what precisely the word "Smurfy" was supposed to mean and our proposed events for the "Sex Olympics."



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    57 m
  • Episode 4: Kick the Bucket, Fly Off the Handle, Dead as a Doornail, Shuffle off this Mortal Coil & Put Up Your Dukes
    Feb 5 2022

    This week Kurt goes thematic by asking Malcolm to identify the origins of “Kick the bucket,” “Dead as a doornail” and “Shuffle off this mortal coil,” while Malcolm introduces his co-host to Cockney rhyming slang in the form of “Put up your dukes” and reveals the derivation of “Fly off the handle.”

    All this and our hilarious takes on Olympic boycotts through history, soft-pedaling bad news and “Going Shakespearean” in the heat of passion. 



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    56 m
  • Episode 3: Balls to the Wall, Mad as a Hatter, Bruce Springsteen’s “Speedball,” Bury the Hatchet, "I'm Your Huckleberry" and Butter You Up
    Jan 1 2022

    Malcolm and Kurt try to stump one another about the origins of Balls to the Wall, Mad as a HatterBury the Hatchet, and Butter You Up while exploring why the Bruce Springsteen lyric is "throw that old *speedball* by you" instead of *fastball* and reveal that Val Kilmer's Wyatt Earp character in Tombstone does NOT say "I'll be your huckleberry."

    All this and whether Malcolm is a terrible friend, why engineers and lawyers are the WORST people to do work for and how a four-way stop sign encounter can rapidly devolve into a ruinous battle of wills.



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    53 m