Q. We may be sheltered in place, but we can still dream about where we’d like to go when travel is safe again. Where do Canadians dream about voyaging? . A. One dreamy vote here for Harbour Island in the Bahamas – pink sand, gentle turquoise waves, white picket fences,

Q. Where did the phrase ‘no truck’ originate? As in: “I have no truck with back room business deals.” . A. I want or have no truck with X. That is, I want no part of this. I refuse to be involved. How on earth are trucks relevant here? What

Q. Wakanda Forever! Now is as good a time as ever to get re-steeped in the MCU. Which words do key Avengers characters say most? . A. Someone has, of course, done the math. In 2018, data scientists Dr. Elle O’Brien and Matt Winn analyzed scripts and character word counts

Q. Was or, gasp, is there such a thing as toast water? . A. One thing is clear: toast water is all over Victorian to early 20th Century recipe and potion books. Albert A. Hopkins starts our toast post with his 1919 guide: ‘Home Made Beverages. The Manufacture of Non-Alcoholic and

Q. Where can we see great photos of jazz legends in action? . A. One fantastic resource is The National Jazz Museum of Harlem, founded in 1997. An affiliate of the Smithsonian, NJMH now boasts two remarkably gifted musicians as Co-Artistic Directors: pianist, composer, and Late Night with Stephen Colbert

Q. How is it that some people are so good at mimicking day to day sounds – popping corks, robot vacuums, espresso machines, car alarms? . A. We have certainly heard remarkable mimicry in our animal friends. As we see in the David Attenborough-narrated video below, the incredible lyre bird

Q. Where does the phrase ‘last hurrah’ come from? . A. This well-used idiom is rooted in a 1956 Edwin O’Connor novel entitled, yup, The Last Hurrah. In it, 72-year old career politician Frank Skeffington decides he’s going to take one more run – one final attempt, a last ditch

Q. It’s chilly at night; we’re bundled up in our houses. If ever there was a time for hot chocolate.. or is it cocoa? What’s the difference? . A. While both can be deliciously warming, hot cocoa is made from ground, roasted cocoa beans with sugar, while hot chocolate is

Q. As our attention moves to the world of lifelike robots, we owe a nod back to those who spend their days and weeks crafting old school mannequin heads. Who does that? . A. Their eyes fix on nosy visitors. Given their torsoless state, some of these display heads look

Q. We English speakers say some strange things. Which of our expressions are most likely to get lost in translation? . A. As we prattle on, it’s easy to forget how many baffling idioms we use in our complicated language. What must those new to English think when we drop off-topic,