Barkeep, give me a juice box, neat!
By Library Answer Person On August 26, 2010 · Leave a Comment · In Culture, Food, Language, Library resources
I’ve done a little research and haven’t found the answer to my question, so please help. Where do all the bar/alcohol terms we use come from (like straight, neat, on the rocks…)? And more importantly, are you a rube if you still use them or a rube if you don’t?
Neat?! Who are you, Sinatra? [...]
Why is Rutgers University nicknamed “Slutgers”? [3578A]
(A) Is it? I thought they were the Scarlet Knights.
(B) Play nice.
What are you going to do with all that junk, all that junk inside that trunk? [3574A]
[written in answer space: ima get get get get get you drunk]
Thanks for your assistance, Scribbler. But don’t forget work; She’s gonna make make make you work. OK, I was going to launch into a vituperation on [...]
Which name is cooler, Wonjo or Woojou? [3567C]
Neither really trips off the tongue. You could try them on for size with your friends, but nicknames that don’t develop organically tend not to stick.
Quantum of Solace
By Library Answer Person On July 31, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Entertainment, Language, Lobby Book
What is the meaning of the title of “Quantum of Solace”? [3550B]
[written in answer space: Surely, the smallest possible unit of solace, about as much as you might attain from a weak smile from a stranger after you slip on the street]
Answer Person concurs.
will you please explain to me what is “armchair philosophy”?
I’m sure that the designers for the La-Z-Boy company refer to their work using this term. It also refers to a sort of casual and untrained philosophy. You can look upon this in a positive populist manner, or as the work as an amateur (depending, [...]
Why do Phillipino [crossed out and corrected to Filipino by someone else] people have last names that sound Hispanic, like Hernandez, for example?
[in the same pen as the spelling correction:] A: B/c the Phillipines was once a Spanish colony and their people “got busy.” [3355B]
As the purple-pen person suggests, they were for [...]
What is a girasse? [3354B]
Girasse is a conjugation of a verb in a Romance language. In Portuguese, for instance, girar is roughly along the lines of “to turn around,” and the asse ending creates the first person subjunctive imperfect form, such as “I would have turned,” “I would have been turning,” ‘If I had [...]
I'll hold up my end
By Library Answer Person On March 16, 2007 · Leave a Comment · In 2007, Language, Lobby Book, Quotations
What is the origin of the phrase “I’ll hold up my end”? [3351C]
If you’re carrying a heavy load with another person (e.g., a sofa), each of you is likely to be holding one end of the load, which can’t be carried by one alone. To AP, holding up your end can be extrapolated to [...]
What is the etymology of the Polish name, Chwialkowski? [3344A]
As you probably know, the ending -owski in Polish is a suffix to tack onto a noun like an occupation, town, or father’s name. Chwial or Chwialk may be a strange form of another word, or a variant spelling (maybe it got messed up [...]
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