MUNDANE MYSTERIES: The Origin of “Roger”

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: The Origin of “Roger”

You’ve probably heard the term “Roger that”. It’s a widespread way of providing confirmation, whether that be between truckers on their CB radios, kids playing with walkie-talkies, or even folks talking face to face. But while it’s easy to use the phrase & understand what it means, have you ever wondered where it came from?…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Just Joshing You” Mean?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Just Joshing You” Mean?

If anyone’s ever tried to give you a false answer to an earnest question, they may have followed up their response with “I’m just joshing ya!”  But who is this Josh fellow, and why do folks invoke his name when trying to pull the wool over our eyes? The phrase “just joshing you” arose out…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Is “The Grapevine” and Why Do We Hear Things Through It?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Is “The Grapevine” and Why Do We Hear Things Through It?

Whenever someone’s sharing some juicy details with you about something of questionable veracity, but they want to try & be cagey about where they got their information, sometimes they’ll say they “heard it through the grapevine.” They might say, “I heard through the grapevine John & Sarah are getting divorced,” or, “I heard through the…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES:  Where Did The Term “86” Come From?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Where Did The Term “86” Come From?

Pretty much everyone has heard of the expression “86”, which means to do away with something (like, “Yeah, 86 that order!”). But where did it come from & why? Well, there are a few schools of thought as to its origin, though none of them are actually official. Some possibilities… The restaurant business in the…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Truckers Say “10-4”

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Truckers Say “10-4”

Some truck driver slang just makes sense. Like “Bambi”, which means a deer is in the vicinity. “Go-go Juice” means diesel fuel. “Seat covers” are actually pants. But what about the phrase “10-4”. You may know that 10-4 basically means “okay” or “I got your message”, but why? Where did that come from? 10-4 came…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Are They Called “Piggy-Back Rides”?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Are They Called “Piggy-Back Rides”?

Catching a ride on the back of a pig isn’t really a thing, right? And yet, people love horsing around & giving others what are called “piggyback rides”. But why are they called “piggyback rides”? I mean, people walk on two feet, right? Pigs, on the other hand, hoof it on four. What gives? Where…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Spick & Span” Actually Mean?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Spick & Span” Actually Mean?

It’s Springtime again! And that means it’s time for “spring cleaning”, in the hopes of making your home, car, office, etc., look super clean & like new. Your goal should be to make your place look “spick & span”, you might say. But what does that even really mean, “spick & span”? The full phrase…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Do We Say We Get “The Willies”?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Do We Say We Get “The Willies”?

Getting caught in a spider web…walking through an abandoned warehouse…getting caught in a spider web while walking through an abandoned warehouse…those might make you feel uneasy, scared, or otherwise upset. Some would call that a case of “the willies”. But what are “the willies”? Who, or what, were they named after? And how did they…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Goodbye” Really Mean?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Goodbye” Really Mean?

Most of our greetings & farewells are pretty straightforward, especially ones that begin with good (like “good morning”, “good afternoon”, “good night”, etc.). But what about “goodbye”? Are you basically saying, “I hope you have a good bye”? What is a “bye”? Is it some old word once used to reference a certain time of…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Bah! Humbug!” Really Mean?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Bah! Humbug!” Really Mean?

Ever heard the phrase, “Bah! Humbug!” around Christmastime & wonder what it means? The most famous examples of the phrase come from Charles Dickens’s timeless 1843 tale, A Christmas Carol, in which the curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge regularly proclaims “Bah! Humbug!” when referring to Christmas. Since Scrooge particularly hates the otherwise happy holiday, it’s easy to…