There are 126 gallons in a butt: That’s an English wine cask unit. What kind of butt did you think I meant?
In Shakespeare’s day, a chamber pot was called “a jordan,” referring to the vials of holy water brought back from that sacred river.
Pomatumed refers to hair that is powdered, combed up and back from the forehead, and pomaded (pomatum is another word for pomade).
In his book The Elements of Eloquence, Mark Forsyth writes that there are eight types of adjectives, which should be used in this order: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, and purpose, followed by the noun. For example: “lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife,” but clearly not “lovely little silver French green whittling old rectangular knife.”
The malt liquor “Colt 45” was originally named for the gun and ammunition that shared that name. However, credit for the “45” was later given to running back Jerry Hill, who was #45 on the 1963 Baltimore Colts football team. The credit change came because of malt liquor’s association with violence in disenfranchised neighborhoods.
This article appears in September 27 • 2019.