Wordcels Puzzle celebrates the words and expressions that have infused American English. Each day an expression is featured giving its meaning, history and showing its ties to culture and the moments that made the expression stick as part of the language.
Even for native speakers there may be one expression each day that is new and worth learning. Some expressions that are old hat, may have an interesting history, like this one. Each day, one expression is the featured expression of the day.
In Latin, notarius means shorthand writer or clerk. A ‘notary public’ today is a...
With child is a literal phrase of Germanic origin meaning having a child with, o...
“Party hard” means intensely, excessive, and often reckless partying, characteri...
Rarefied air has two meanings: The literal meaning is gas, typically at high alt...
The phrase on ‘bended knee’ dates to medieval times, from knights kneeling befor...
A Trojan horse is a deceptive scheme or object that appears harmless but contain...
Fish sticks were born in the 1950s as a way to sell more fish in the United Stat...
Funny business refers to suspicious, deceptive, or dishonest activities—somethin...