Appraise The Phrase

Everybody thinks medieval pubs had cups with whistles baked into them. You blew the whistle, you got a refill. It's a great story and somebody made it up.On this episode, Mario and Twenty are joined by Myron to trace the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of "wet my whistle." The whistle was never an object. It was your throat; a usage running through Beaumont and Fletcher, where you could "cut your whistle," and all the way back to Chaucer in 1386. The cup came later, invented backwards to explain a phrase people no longer understood. Mario's term for it is retroactive prop invention.Then there's the H. "Whet your whistle" shows up in Thomas Flatman's Belly God in 1674 and never leaves, because whet sounds more literate than wet — a 350-year hypercorrection that people still defend today.Also: the requirements for a proper swig, why nobody can agree on what a thumbs-up means, the dietary guidelines dropping their actual numbers, medieval life as imprisonment by civilization, and a Dictionary of Misinformation entry that will change how you sit in meetings.0:00 The Departed, Cranberry Juice, And A Phrase We Might Have To Retire0:44 The ATP Intro Theme1:33 Myron's In The Building1:58 Spoke Too Soon About The Sports Teams8:39 The Requirements For A Proper Swig9:24 Preferably Over 32 Ounces11:45 Ain't Nobody Going Out For Cranberry Juice14:03 Myron Has Been In The Store Too Long16:41 Unveil The Origin: Chaucer, 1386 (Content Warning)18:00 "So Was Her Jolly Whistle Well Wet"22:25 The Northern Clerks And Tolkien's Paper On The Reeve's Tale26:41 Rules We Enforce And Don't Follow27:57 Text Me, Don't Call Me29:00 Don't Read My Texts In A James Earl Jones Voice29:08 The Thumbs-Up Problem33:20 Emoji Etiquette In The Group Chat34:24 Confirm The Meaning: Beaumont And Fletcher, "Cut Your Whistle"36:39 Thomas Flatman's Belly God, 167437:19 Wet vs. Whet: 350 Years Of Trying To Sound Smarter39:25 The Dietary Guidelines Dropped The Actual Numbers43:39 Myron Amends His Take46:07 The Myth: Cups With Whistles Baked In47:05 Twenty: Medieval Life Was A Prison49:10 Retroactive Prop Invention50:56 "Am I Gonna Have To Stop Saying Wet My Whistle?"52:43 Myron's Hit List: It Is What It Is53:51 Why Won't You Explain Your Real Reasoning?56:16 Capacity, And Having Your Own Stuff Going On59:25 Using A Phrase To Avoid Confrontation59:52 Pop Culture Impact: The Top Four1:01:47 #1 Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade1:02:19 The Appraisal1:07:30 Dictionary Of Misinformation: Meeting Minutes1:09:50 Shop, Credits, And Where To Find UsREFERENCED IN THIS EPISODEGeoffrey Chaucer, The Reeve's Tale (c. 1386) · John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse (1530) · The Towneley Plays · Beaumont and Fletcher · Thomas Flatman, Belly God (1674) · Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742) · J.R.R. Tolkien, "Chaucer as a Philologist: The Reeve's Tale," Transactions of the Philological Society · Michael Quinion, World Wide Words · The Departed (2006) · To Have and Have Not (1944) · Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)COMMENT: Wet or whet — which are you, and are you prepared to defend it? And settle this for us: what does a thumbs-up actually mean?ATP SHOP: every phrase gets a grade. Some of them get a mug.appraisethephrase.com/shopTHE BRACKET: the board is filling up. Tournament comes March 2027.Subscribe to Appraise The Phrase on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheUnderdogAppraise The Phrase official site: appraisethephrase.comCheck out our other ATP produced shows: appraisethephrase.com/communityFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theappraisethephraseshowFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@appraisethephraseFollow us on X/Twitter: https://x.com/TheATPShow

On this episode of Appraise The Phrase, Mario and Twenty trace the origin of "in the nick of time" and explains how it started out as pudding time.It starts in 1546 with John Heywood's book of proverbs, where arriving "in pudding time" meant showing up right as dinner started — because in the 16th century, pudding was savory, closer to sausage than dessert, and it was served first.Then pudding drifted to the end of the meal, and the phrase stopped making sense. The phrase never changed. The world did.Enter the nick: a notch cut into a tally stick, the wooden receipts the English Exchequer kept for centuries. And in 1834, when officials finally burned the obsolete sticks in the furnaces beneath the House of Lords, they burned down Parliament with them. The thing that gave us the phrase went up in smoke. The phrase survived.Also: Merriam-Webster watching too much Indiana Jones, referential collapse, the leap second being abolished right now, what you still say about yourself that stopped being true, and why we all keep the bags under the sink.0:00 Indiana Jones, Janice, Drake, And The Nick Of Time0:51 The ATP Intro Theme1:37 What's Good: Football Season Is Here2:34 The Dolphins, Malik Willis, And Quarterback Fit9:07 Yes, This Is Still A Word Show10:28 Today's Phrase: In The Nick Of Time13:14 Twenty: This Phrase Is Janice From Accounting15:03 Confirm The Meaning: Merriam-Webster vs. Cambridge16:01 Trim The Fat: What A Definition Should Actually Do16:53 Merriam-Webster Has Been Watching Too Much Indiana Jones19:03 Unveil The Origin: Before The Nick, There Was Pudding Time20:44 1546: John Heywood's Book Of Proverbs21:46 Pudding Was Sausage — And It Came First22:53 How Pudding Became Dessert And Broke The Phrase24:55 Referential Collapse: When The World Leaves A Phrase Behind26:00 What Do You Still Say About Yourself That Stopped Being True?30:37 Performative Caring In The Social Media Era31:37 Mario: I Still Tell People I'm An Athlete33:43 Twenty Has Been Avoiding Fences On Purpose36:29 The Tudors Want Something Sharper: Golding, Ovid, And "Nick"37:58 What Even Is A Notch? The Exchequer's Tally Sticks39:13 So The Teachers Were Wrong40:05 The Leap Second Is Being Abolished42:12 What Would You Let Drift, And What Would You Never Let Go?46:42 1834: The Nick Burns Down Parliament49:05 Turner Painted It From A Boat On The Thames49:24 Infrastructural Afterlife: A Fossil Metaphor49:54 What Have You Held Onto Past Its Usefulness?50:38 Keep The Bags Under The Sink, Throw Away The Boxes52:27 Pop Culture #4: Every Film Called In The Nick Of Time53:22 #3: The In The Nick Of Time Clock In Newport, Wales53:51 #2 Charles Dickens / #1 Turner's The Burning Of The Houses Of Lords And Commons54:59 The Appraisal: Impact56:04 Speed57:30 Preference59:58 Dictionary Of Misinformation: Typhoid Mary1:00:30 ClosingREFERENCED IN THIS EPISODEJohn Heywood, A Dialogue Conteynyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue (1546) · Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia (1732) · Arthur Golding's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses (1565–67) · Caroline Shenton, The Day Parliament Burned Down (2012) · J.M.W. Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1835) · Charles Dickens, speech to the Administrative Reform Association (1855) · IERS Bulletin C · Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) · Wanted (2008)COMMENT: What do you still say about yourself that stopped being true? And what are you holding onto long past its usefulness — bags under the sink count.

Everybody knows what it means. Almost nobody can tell you where it came from...and that turns out to be the whole story. #OnTheBackBurner #Etymology #WordOriginsOn this episode of Appraise The Phrase, Mario and Twenty unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of ""on the back burner,"" the youngest phrase this show has ever appraised. Before gas, American stoves didn't have burners at all. They had eyes — removable lids over a single firebox — so cooks were back-burning constantly, by physics, with no words to describe what they were doing. The concept sat around for a century waiting on the technology to name it.Then the gas range arrives in the 1920s and the phrase still doesn't show up until 1945, with Oxford holding out until 1963. Why the lag? Because a thing has to get boring before it can become a figure of speech.Also: the two twists that make this phrase strange — a name that may run backwards, and an American metaphor whose earliest written evidence sits in the Times of London. Plus gas stove bans in San Francisco, Colorado, New York and Virginia, what you were doing for years before you had a word for it, the gap-filling friend, and a Dictionary of Misinformation entry about what robins are actually doing on your lawn.Then we grade it. It does not go well.Value is in the eye of the appraiser.0:00 If Billy Don't Say It, It Ain't No Phrase0:57 The ATP Intro Theme1:45 What's Good: The Holiday We Won't Timestamp5:08 DC Heat vs. Southern Heat7:08 When Great Directors Have To Explain Their Own Movies8:10 Today's Phrase: On The Back Burner9:26 Twenty's Take: Not My First Choice, But It Gets The Job Done10:15 Mario's Take: Why It Feels Like Disrespect12:17 A Question For The Chefs: Are The Burners Actually Weighted?13:13 Confirm The Meaning: Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, Collins14:25 Priority vs. Importance18:00 The Youngest Phrase We've Ever Done18:36 Unveil The Origin: When Stoves Didn't Have Burners20:29 No Word For It Because There Was Nothing To Name21:00 The Lexical Gap21:47 What Were You Doing For Years Before You Had A Word For It?22:04 Twenty: Humor As A Defense Mechanism25:32 Older Generations Didn't Have ""Depression."" They Had Melancholy26:25 The Happiest Beat About Fighting Off Depression29:47 The 1920s: The Appliance Arrives, The Phrase Doesn't30:53 Gas Companies Lose Lighting And Move Into The Kitchen32:30 1945 To 1963: Why The Phrase Took 30 Years To Land33:22 Metaphor Lag: A Thing Has To Get Boring First34:20 Gas Stove Bans: San Francisco, Colorado, New York, Virginia37:13 Should A Restaurant Kitchen Be Told To Go Electric?39:53 Take Your Ass Outside And Grill40:38 Twist One: The Name May Run Backwards42:37 Twist Two: An American Phrase First Printed In London44:01 Is This Phrase An Industry Plant?45:19 Back-Formation And The Missing Paper Trail46:45 The Plan-Making Friend And The Gap-Filling Friend50:22 Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself53:13 Pop Culture Impact: Only A Top Three This Time54:49 #2 The Burner Branch: Burner Phone, Burner Account, Burner Email55:40 #1 The Wire, Season 3, Episode 7: ""Back Burners""57:09 The Appraisal: Impact58:58 Speed1:00:50 Preference1:01:26 This Phrase Is Boston Market1:02:09 Dictionary Of Misinformation: Birds Do Not Listen For Worms1:04:50 Closing Thoughts1:05:08 Shop, Credits, And Where To Find UsREFERENCED IN THIS EPISODEMerriam-Webster · Cambridge Dictionary · Collins Dictionary · Oxford English Dictionary · Cambridge English Corpus · The Times of London · The Wire, ""Back Burners,"" S3E7, aired November 7, 2004 — teleplay by Joy Lusco Kecken, story by David Simon & Joy Lusco Kecken, directed by Tim Van PattenCOMMENT: Lefties — do you actually use the front left burner? And what's something

Everybody pictures a locomotive. Everybody is wrong. On this episode of Appraise The Phrase, Mario and Twenty unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of "train of thought" — a phrase that shows up in Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan in 1651 and John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1690, roughly 165 years before locomotives existed. The railroad imagery in your head? That's folk etymology doing what folk etymology always does: replacing the real reason with a better story. Along the way: why every major dictionary fumbles the definition, what "brain rot" and "train of thought" have in common as conceptual metaphors, how ideological sedimentation means you're often repeating arguments you weren't alive for, and why AI reasoning is the modern version of the same problem. Plus Twenty loses his actual train of thought live on the mic, which may be the most on-topic thing to ever happen on this show. Also discussed: Damon Darling getting banned from Walmart for buying strangers' groceries, the I, Robot Sonny conspiracy, the Mandela Effect hill we will die on, and why red Kool-Aid is not strawberry. Then we appraise it. Power grade, Speed grade, Preference. And we close with the Dictionary of Misinformation on the Thanksgiving turkey you think the pilgrims ate. Value is in the eye of the appraiser. 0:00 Sherlock Holmes' Deductions, AI, And Someone Else's Train Of Thought 1:08 The ATP Intro Theme 1:52 What's Good: Back To School And Breaking The Monotony 4:19 Today's Phrase: Train Of Thought 4:41 Twenty's Take: You Only Say It When You've Lost It 6:10 Mario's Take: The Phrase Paints A Picture 7:25 Confirm The Meaning: Merriam-Webster vs. Cambridge vs. Dictionary.com 10:15 Why "A Path Of Reasoning" Can't Be The Definition 10:44 Unveil The Origin: "Train" In The 14th Century Meant To Drag Or Trail 12:50 Conceptual Metaphors And Brain Rot (Oxford's 2024 Word Of The Year) 13:50 Twenty Loses His Train Of Thought On An Episode About Train Of Thought 14:59 Brain Rot Confessions: Instagram, Love Island, Love Is Blind 20:11 Walmart Banned Damon Darling For Buying People Groceries 22:36 1651: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, And The First Recorded Use 23:57 Ideological Sedimentation: Inheriting Arguments You Never Had 26:16 I, Robot: "Can A Robot Write A Symphony?" "Can You?" 27:00 The Sonny Conspiracy: The Actor They Refused To Promote 31:45 Why AI Gets Things Confidently Wrong 32:14 Believed With Our Whole Chest: Y2K, The Mayans, And Flying Cars 36:24 1690: John Locke, Association Of Ideas, And "Food For Thought" 38:43 Train Of Thought Predates The Railroad By 165 Years 40:11 "Sounds Like A Train To Me": How The Locomotive Got Its Name 41:52 Edison Slander, Tesla, And The Prestige 45:28 Institutional Formalization And Gen Z Slang Creep 47:30 Folk Etymology: When The Better Lie Wins 48:55 The Mandela Effect And The Shazam Hill We Will Die On 50:55 Confidently Wrong: Red Kool-Aid Is Not Strawberry 53:47 Pop Culture #1: Pixar's Inside Out 54:44 #2: Sherlock Holmes And Guy Ritchie's Slow-Motion Deductions 58:14 #3 The Greatest American Hero / #4 The Lost Train Of Thought 59:28 The Appraisal: Power Grade And Impact Grade 1:01:36 Final Grade 1:02:37 Dictionary Of Misinformation: The Thanksgiving Turkey Myth 1:04:41 The Watch List And Closing Thoughts 1:05:48 Shop, Credits, And Where To Find Us REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODEThomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651) · John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) · David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739) · Pixar's Inside Out (2015) · Sherlock Holmes (2009, dir. Guy Ritchie) · I, Robot (2004) · The Prestige (2006) · Slumdog Millionaire (2008) · The Greatest American Hero, "Train of Thought" (1982) · The Lost Train of Thought, The Seems series (2009)COMMENT: Which pop culture moment captures a train of thought best — Inside Out or Sherlock? And what's a folk etymology you defended with your whole chest before you found out it was wrong?

"Help! I'm in a nutshell!" — Austin Powers already knew this phrase was funnier taken literally. We trace "in a nutshell" back almost 2,000 years to a claim that might just be one of history's oldest fake news stories. Mario and Twenty unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of "in a nutshell." The trail starts with a wild secondhand claim: Pliny the Elder wrote that Cicero once said the entire Iliad was copied onto parchment small enough to fit inside a nutshell...a claim scholars now treat as an ancient game of telephone more than a fact. From there it survives centuries of translation and rebranding: a 1387 English translation by John Trevisa, a 1579 pamphlet trashing the theater world by Stephen Golson, and finally Shakespeare himself, who dropped it into Hamlet in 1603 — "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I had bad dreams"... cementing it forever. Along the way: three dictionary definitions (Cambridge, Dictionary.com, Vocabulary.com), a confession from both hosts about whether they actually live by the phrase they're covering, a deeply personal debate about where bias sneaks into things that are supposed to be neutral, and one host's non-negotiable stance on mayonnaise. Then it's Power Grade, Speed Grade, and a Preference Grade twist that neither host saw coming — plus a Dictionary of Misinformation segment busting the myth behind "no love lost." 0:00 Austin Powers In A Nutshell Opener 0:48 Intro Theme & Catching Up 9:36 Introducing "In A Nutshell" 10:43 Confession: Do We Even Live By This Phrase? 14:41 Confirm The Meaning: Dictionary Definitions: Cambridge, Dictionary.com, Vocabulary.com 19:44 Unveil The Origin: Cicero, Pliny the Elder & the Iliad-in-a-Nutshell Claim 26:00 Story Time: Reflection - The Story That Can't Get Distorted 28:19 The Mayonnaise Biopic Bit 32:58 Unveil The Origin: Literary Lineage - John Trevisa's 1387 Translation 37:24 Unveil The Origin: William Shakespeare Enters the Chat 39:39 Story Time: Reflection - Where Bias Sneaks Into "Neutral" Things 43:19 Story Time: Reflection - The Modest Thing That Does the Heavy Lifting 50:07 Unveil The Origin: The Line That Made It Famous: Hamlet, 1603 52:29 Cultural Impact: A Novel, a German Brand & the Elevator Pitch 54:34 Assess The Value: Power Grade 56:31 Assess The Value: Speed Grade 56:54 Assess The Value: Preference Grade - A Twist Ending 58:33 Dictionary of Misinformation: "No Love Lost" 1:01:02 Outro & Shop LINKS Subscribe to Appraise The Phrase on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheUnderdog Appraise The Phrase official site: appraisethephrase.com ATP Shop — mugs & merch: appraisethephrase.com/shop Check out our other ATP produced shows: appraisethephrase.com/community Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4jLFx2WLEslKF3BHWWvIlv?si=367e5762bdb9464a Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/appraise-the-phrase/id1570186367 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theappraisethephraseshow Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@appraisethephrase Follow us on X/Twitter: https://x.com/TheATPShow Previous Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmMMLmEcgaa3C1d_wZrZuWAJGB_mYQraB&si=Igvwjz9UT5dbnx7T Episode Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@AppraiseThePhraseClips ABOUT APPRAISE THE PHRASE Appraise The Phrase is a weekly podcast from the Underdog Podcast Network where the hosts unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of the everyday phrases and idioms we all use without ever asking where they came from. Each episode ends with a Power Grade and a round of the Dictionary of Misinformation, debunking a popular word-origin myth. New episodes every week. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next one.

Where does ""wet my beak"" actually come from? We trace it from a 19th-century Sicilian grain custom to The Godfather — and yes, we get into He Got Game too. #AppraiseThePhrase #Etymology #WordOrigins #WetMyBeak #TheGodfatherMario and Twenty unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of ""wet my beak."" The trail starts in 19th-century rural Sicily, where grain farmers were expected to give estate guards a little extra at harvest — ""fari vagnari lo pizzu,"" literally ""to wet the beak"" — the imagery being a bird dipping in to drink, not gorging itself. That custom got carried across the Atlantic and turned into something sharper: Mario Puzo used the exact Sicilian phrase in his 1969 novel The Godfather, putting it in the mouth of the extortionist Fanucci as he shakes down a young Vito Corleone. Coppola's Godfather Part II dramatized the same scene in 1974 — and the guys dig into whether the custom's original ""fairness"" survived the trip from grain tithe to mafia protection money.Along the way: three dictionary definitions (Free Dictionary, Wiktionary, Urban Dictionary), a debate about whether extortion can ever be ""earned,"" a Power Grade and a Speed Grade, and a Dictionary of Misinformation segment busting the myth of who actually ""invented"" the wheel. Stick around for the He Got Game breakdown — once you hear how the guys connect Uncle Bubba's ""let me wet my beak"" line to this phrase, you won't hear it the same way again.0:00 – He Got Game Uncle Bubba Opener1:20 – Intro & Catching UpConfirm The Meaning10:34 – Introducing ""Wet My Beak"" + Dictionary DefinitionsUnveil The Origin18:25 – Origin: 19th-Century Sicilian Grain Custom30:31 – Literary Origin: Mario Puzo's The Godfather (1969)34:19 – Is Extortion Ever Fair? A Real Debate45:44 – Cinematic Origin: The Godfather Part II (1974)Storytime29:16 – The ""I Can't Stress This Enough"" Delivery Bit50:45 – Personal Reflection: The Pettiest Toll You've Ever CollectedAssess The Value55:55 – Power Grade58:04 – Speed Grade59:53 – He Got Game, Revisited1:02:05 – Dictionary of Misinformation: Who Invented the Wheel?1:04:11 – Outro & ShopLINKSSubscribe to Appraise The Phrase on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheUnderdog Appraise The Phrase official site: appraisethephrase.com ATP Shop — mugs & merch: appraisethephrase.com/shop Check out our other ATP produced shows: appraisethephrase.com/community Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4jLFx2WLEslKF3BHWWvIlv?si=367e5762bdb9464a Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/appraise-the-phrase/id1570186367 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theappraisethephraseshow Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@appraisethephrase Follow us on X/Twitter: https://x.com/TheATPShow Previous Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmMMLmEcgaa3C1d_wZrZuWAJGB_mYQraB&si=Igvwjz9UT5dbnx7T Episode Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@AppraiseThePhraseClips ABOUT APPRAISE THE PHRASEAppraise The Phrase is a weekly podcast from the Underdog Podcast Network where the hosts unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of the everyday phrases and idioms we all use without ever asking where they came from. Each episode ends with a Power Grade and a round of the Dictionary of Misinformation, debunking a popular word-origin myth.New episodes every week. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next one.

"Talk is cheap" wasn't born as a comeback — it started as a 1692 sermon line from a Puritan preacher. We trace it from theology to P.T. Barnum's bankruptcy lecture tour to Linus Torvalds' Linux mailing list.On this episode of Appraise The Phrase, Mario and Twenty unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of "talk is cheap." They trace it back to John Bunyan's 1692 devotional "The Saints' Knowledge of Christ's Love" ("I know words are cheap, but a drum of grace is worth all the world"), through Thomas Chandler Haliburton's 1843 novel "The Attaché" and its blunt Yankee clock-peddler narrator Sam Slick, to P.T. Barnum's 1858 lawyer joke — delivered the same year he turned his own bankruptcy into a paid lecture tour that helped pay off nearly half a million dollars in debt.They compare Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, and Wiktionary definitions, debate how "talk is cheap" differs from "actions speak louder than words," and rank the phrase's pop-culture footprint — Keith Richards' "Talk Is Cheap" album (a jab at Mick Jagger), Bob Marley, Henry Rollins' spoken-word records, Miley Cyrus, Linus Torvalds' "talk is cheap, show me the code," Cesar Chavez's labor speeches, Marco Rubio's 2016 debates, and Mark Zuckerberg's build-first ethos — before handing out a final Power Grade. Then it's on to the Dictionary of Misinformation, busting the myth of the elephant graveyard.0:00 DMX Ruff Ryder's Anthem, Wilt Chamberlain 100 Pt Game, Man On The Moon Opener0:47 Appraise The Phrase Theme1:14 Welcome to Appraise The Phrase 6:11 Today's Phrase: "Talk Is Cheap" Confirm The Meaning6:46 Breaking Down the Meaning 10:55 Dictionary Definitions (Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, Wiktionary) Unveil The Origin14:12 Origin: John Bunyan's 1692 Sermon 27:55 1843: Sam Slick & "The Attaché" 37:37 1858: P.T. Barnum's Bankruptcy Lecture Tour 41:32 The Folk Proverb Era (Whiskey & Farms) Storytime24:54 Reflection: Living Your Values 30:18 Ranking the Pop Culture Impact 32:40 Modern Uses: Torvalds, Chavez, Rubio, Zuckerberg Assess The Value44:04 The Phrase Grades: Rating Talk Is Cheap48:11 Dictionary of Misinformation: Elephant Graveyards 49:45 Outro & CreditsLINKSSubscribe to Appraise The Phrase on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheUnderdog Appraise The Phrase official site: appraisethephrase.com ATP Shop — mugs & merch: appraisethephrase.com/shop Check out our other ATP produced shows: appraisethephrase.com/community Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4jLFx2WLEslKF3BHWWvIlv?si=367e5762bdb9464a Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/appraise-the-phrase/id1570186367 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theappraisethephraseshow Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@appraisethephrase Follow us on X/Twitter: https://x.com/TheATPShow Previous Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmMMLmEcgaa3C1d_wZrZuWAJGB_mYQraB&si=Igvwjz9UT5dbnx7T Episode Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@AppraiseThePhraseClips ABOUT APPRAISE THE PHRASEAppraise The Phrase is a weekly podcast from the Underdog Podcast Network where the hosts unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of the everyday phrases and idioms we all use without ever asking where they came from. Each episode ends with a Power Grade and a round of the Dictionary of Misinformation, debunking a popular word-origin myth.New episodes every week. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next one.

Where did "bigger fish to fry" actually come from — and does it even hold up? We trace the idiom from Cervantes to a 1900s dime novel.On this episode of Appraise The Phrase, Mario and Twenty unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of the idiom "bigger fish to fry." They start with Sancho Panza in Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605–1615), move through English diarist John Evelyn's 1660 journal entry ("I have other fish to fry" — not published until 1818, over a century after his death), and land on the early-20th-century American novel that's actually responsible for the "bigger" version we use today: Edward Stratemeyer's "True to Himself, or Roger Strong's Struggle for Place."Along the way, they compare Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, and Collins definitions, debate whether the phrase is a personality trait or just a circumstance, and run through pop-culture parallels — the Andy Warhol diaries, Charles III's coronation echoing the English Restoration, Steve Jobs' return to Apple, and the Access Hollywood tape — before handing out a final Power Grade. Then it's on to the Dictionary of Misinformation, where they debunk the myth behind Cinderella's glass slipper (spoiler: it was never supposed to be glass).If you're into word origins, etymology, idioms, and the stories behind the phrases we use without thinking, this one's for you.0:00 – Independence Day (1996)0;47 - Appraise The Phrase Theme2:43 – Movie Talk: The Odyssey & The Return6:32 – Introducing Today's Phrase: "Bigger Fish to Fry"Confirm The Meaning 9:22 – Dictionary Showdown: Merriam-Webster vs. Cambridge vs. CollinsUnveil The Origin17:41 – Origins in Cervantes' Don Quixote & Sancho Panza26:53 – 1660: John Evelyn's Diary & the First "Fish" Version30:23 – The English Restoration & the Royal Society40:12 – How "Bigger" Entered the Phrase (Stratemeyer's Novel)Story Time19:30 – Personal Reflection: Our Own Verbal Tics31:18 – Pop Culture Parallels: Warhol, Charles III, Steve Jobs, Access Hollywood42:40 – Personal Reflection: Suspicion, Priorities & Growing Up Assess The Value46:39 – Phrase Grades: Rating "Bigger Fish to Fry"Dictionary of Misinformation51:32 – Cinderella's Glass Slipper53:49 – Outro & ShopLINKSSubscribe to Appraise The Phrase on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheUnderdogAppraise The Phrase official site: appraisethephrase.comATP Shop — mugs & merch: appraisethephrase.com/shopCheck out our other ATP produced shows: appraisethephrase.com/communityListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4jLFx2WLEslKF3BHWWvIlv?si=367e5762bdb9464aListen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/appraise-the-phrase/id1570186367Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theappraisethephraseshowFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@appraisethephraseFollow us on X/Twitter: https://x.com/TheATPShowPrevious Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmMMLmEcgaa3C1d_wZrZuWAJGB_mYQraB&si=Igvwjz9UT5dbnx7TEpisode Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@AppraiseThePhraseClipsABOUT APPRAISE THE PHRASEAppraise The Phrase is a weekly podcast from the Underdog Podcast Network where the hosts unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value of the everyday phrases and idioms we all use without ever asking where they came from. Each episode ends with a Power Grade and a round of the Dictionary of Misinformation, debunking a popular word-origin myth.New episodes every week. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next one.