40% right · 8.2% wrong across 245 questions in 213 episodes
right 40% (98)partly 44.1% (108)wrong 8.2% (20)unresolved 7.8% (19)
Episodes
- Episode 213: Banana Hierarchy
· October 10, 2026
Harper asks where 'top banana' and 'second banana' come from. The hosts guess clowns in the 1930s, which lands close: it's burlesque and vaudeville comedy slang from the 1920s-40s. - Episode 212: Long-Time, First-Time
· September 26, 2026
Coalson relays why the toilet is called 'the head'. It's nautical: ships' toilets sat at the bow, and 'head' for the front of a ship dates to 1485 with the toilet sense in print by 1708. - Episode 211: Squeegee
· September 12, 2026
Joey and Jason both wondered why we 'keep our eyes peeled'. The hosts guess the eyelid peeled open and a French or Twain-ish origin; the true source is unsettled, with 'eyes skinned' and the Robert Peel police theory floated. - Episode 210: Living That Table Life
· August 29, 2026
Harper asks why an extendable-table insert is called a 'leaf'. The hosts try tree leaves, paper leaves and bookmarks, and settle on drop-leaf tables that look like leaves when folded. - Episode 209: So Much Milk
· August 15, 2026
Coalson asks what 'beyond the pale' means. The hosts guess sickness, death or milk pails; the pale was a fenced English-controlled region around Dublin, and Shakespeare did pick it up. - Episode 208: Everyone's Got a Jut-Jut
· August 1, 2026
A bartender friend's 'cross the line' prompts a hunt for which line. The hosts float the Rubicon and the equator-crossing ceremony; no single origin exists, though 1589 print and several myths come up. - Episode 207: Ring of Fire
· July 18, 2026
Harper asks whether 'toe the line' or 'tow the line' is correct. Joey and Harper's foot-at-the-line instinct wins: it's 'toe', from British Army and Navy usage in the 1700s. - Episode 206: Occasionally a Wallaby
· July 4, 2026
After a Finding Nemo quote, Jason asks where 'seeing a man about a horse' comes from. The hosts treat it as a bathroom euphemism tied to 'piss like a racehorse'; the real story is a cover excuse for sneaking off for a drink. - Episode 205: Get Out There, Kid!
· June 20, 2026
Harper asks why an intensive short class is a 'crash course'. The hosts guess aviation or the military, and find it comes from aviation-era 'crash program' language of the 1940s and 50s. - Episode 204: Math Is Hard
· June 6, 2026
Coalson revisits a college-era question: what is a 'daisy chain'? The hosts connect it to chains of linked events, IT hardware hacks and literal flower garlands, and pin it to the 1800s rather than Shakespeare. - Episode 203: Lost Fraction
· May 23, 2026
Coalson asks about 'rigmarole'. The hosts guess French, Italian and WWI military; it traces to 'ragman roll', a 16th-century list or scroll tied to Edward I and Scottish oaths. - Episode 202: Since Fire and Water
· May 9, 2026
Coalson asks about 'soup to nuts'. The hosts debate nuts and bolts, the industrial revolution and prohibition; it turns out to refer to the order of courses in a meal and echoes a Roman 'eggs to apples'. - Episode 201: Please, God, Blind Me
· April 25, 2026
Coalson asks where 'like the dickens' comes from. Not Charles Dickens, but a euphemism for 'devil' that Shakespeare used around 1600; the hosts get half of it and lament forgetting their usual sources. - Episode 200: Eat. Prey. Love.
· April 11, 2026
Jason asks whether a buzzard is a vulture and what a condor is, then the hosts hit tangents on the Kentucky meat shower and albatrosses. A bonus bit at the end decodes the word 'cheugy'. - Episode 199: Rook-connoiter
· June 28, 2025
Ethan asks why a first-year pro athlete is a 'rookie'. The hosts bounce between cops, chess, horse racing and Native American origins; the real etymology is uncertain, possibly a shortening of 'recruit', popularized by Kipling in 1892. - Episode 198: Hide and Seek
· June 14, 2025
Jason's family wonders where 'playing hooky' comes from. The hosts guess truant officers and a Dutch connection, and the Dutch guess turns out to be right: 19th-century New York slang from a Dutch hide-and-seek word. - Episode 197: Have Some Jaguar
· May 31, 2025
The team asks why there is 'more than one way to skin a cat'. They guess big-game hunting and ancient Rome; the search finds an 1840s American print origin, Twain, and a theory about cat fur as a cheap substitute, with no clear 'why'. - Episode 196: Dare Ye Thus
· May 17, 2025
A bar patron's 'let's skedaddle' sends Coalson to the group. The hosts guess onomatopoeia and a frontier or flapper-era origin; the word is mid-19th-century American and tied to the Civil War, with the true root unknown. - Episode 195: Read-Option Father
· May 3, 2025
Jason's son asks what 'throw your hat in the ring' means. The hosts debate boxing, crime rings and Shakespeare, and learn it is a boxing phrase popularized in politics by Teddy Roosevelt. - Episode 194: No First Ditches
· April 19, 2025
Coalson asks where 'last ditch effort' comes from. Two hosts guess trench warfare and one agriculture; the answer traces to William of Orange vowing to die in the last ditch. - Episode 193: Humble Brag
· April 5, 2025
Jason asks why people say 'dressed to the nines'. The hosts float articles of clothing, buttons, eras and scales before landing on a Scottish origin, most likely tied to the nine Muses. - Episode 192: Lake Pirates
· September 14, 2024
Coalson wonders whether 'crazy as a loon' is connected to 'lunatic' and 'looney'. The hosts argue over bird vs. moon, then find the words have separate roots, though the bird phrase influenced 'loony'. - Episode 191: The More You Don't Know
· August 31, 2024
The hosts try to work out why the floors of a building are called "stories". - Episode 190: Viscosity
· August 24, 2024
A friendly dispute about whether chili is a soup, with the hosts reasoning about roux, reduction and stews. - Episode 189: The Proof Was Once Clear
· February 17, 2024
The hosts ask why accountants "cook the books" and trace it back to the 1600s. - Episode 188: From the Marlowe Collection
· January 20, 2024
The hosts try to figure out how "damnedest" became a superlative in "try your damnedest". - Episode 187: They Do Swimming
· January 13, 2024
A tour through three phrases: "feeling froggy", "mollycoddle" and "push comes to shove". - Episode 186: Big Circus
· January 6, 2024
A host's date corrects him on "tenterhooks", and the hosts discover it's a literal cloth-stretching tool. - Episode 185: Artificially Evolved
· December 16, 2023
The hosts ask why dogs wag their tails and what tails are for. - Episode 184: Two For the Price of Three
· September 30, 2023
After riding a carousel on Martha's Vineyard, a host asks if "grab the brass ring" comes from carousels, and the hosts also explain "brass tacks". - Episode 183: Placed Into the Bucket of the Known
· September 23, 2023
A roommate's TV show sparks the question of why daytime dramas are called soap operas. - Episode 182: Whistle Pig
· September 10, 2023
A groundhog digging a hole next to a fence prompts the hosts to ask whether a groundhog and a woodchuck are different. - Episode 181: Person-Sized Bison
· September 2, 2023
On a trip, the hosts ask who "Buffalo Bill" was and why the NFL team is the Buffalo Bills. - Episode 180: Boards Can Also Be Boards
· August 26, 2023
Inspired by two killer whales named Port and Starboard, the hosts ask why the sides of a ship have those names. - Episode 179: Armed with Care Bear Stare
· August 19, 2023
The hosts ask where "spitballing" comes from, and then test what ChatGPT thinks of the show. - Episode 178: No Notes
· July 8, 2023
The hosts try to work out why something that's honest is "above board". - Episode 177: Dancing Around the Truth
· July 1, 2023
The hosts ask why "just desserts" is a negative thing and find the word isn't about food. - Episode 176: Pre-Gog
· June 24, 2023
The hosts try to work out whether it's "baited breath" or "bated breath" and what it means. - Episode 175: Rhymes with Jaw
· June 17, 2023
The hosts try to figure out what a craw is and why something gets "stuck in your craw". - Episode 174: Both Feet Shod
· June 3, 2023
The hosts ask where "goody two-shoes" comes from and discover it's a one-shoed orphan. - Episode 173: Gassy Florida Man
· May 27, 2023
A children's book prompts the hosts to ask where "P.U." for a stink comes from. - Episode 172: Lean In with the Bike
· March 4, 2023
A parent giving piggyback rides asks why they're called that, and the answer has nothing to do with pigs. - Episode 171: Way to Surprise Us, Humanity
· February 25, 2023
A minister says he's at the end of his rope, and the hosts try to figure out which rope it is. - Episode 170: Money Talks
· February 4, 2023
The hosts ask why people say "sick as a dog", landing on vomiting and 17th-century attitudes toward dogs. - Episode 169: Archimedean
· January 14, 2023
The hosts ask where "whatever floats your boat" comes from and find a 1970s-80s origin with a racy edge. - Episode 168: Multi-Continental Colonization
· January 7, 2023
After a zoo visit, the hosts ask what the difference is between a jungle and a forest and how much an elephant eats. - Episode 167: Cooked Bread
· December 24, 2022
The hosts ask why a drinking salute is called a "toast" and discover it's literal. - Episode 166: Fancy Ovens
· December 3, 2022
A 12-year-old listener asks what AM and PM stand for, and the hosts tie it to noon and the Egyptians. - Episode 165: Three Straight Men
· November 26, 2022
Inspired by Kyrie Irving, the hosts ask where "too clever by half" comes from. - Episode 164: So Much Goat Transfer
· November 19, 2022
A listener asks why weddings need witnesses, and the hosts trace it back to ancient Rome and family approval. - Episode 163: Now I Want a Beer
· October 29, 2022
The hosts ask why spider webs are part of Halloween and then trace the history of haunted houses. - Episode 162: Disembodied Hand
· October 15, 2022
The hosts try to work out where "the writing's on the wall" comes from, guessing at graffiti and whiteboards before landing on the Bible. - Episode 161: Smash Stuff
· October 8, 2022
The hosts ask where the word "boycott" comes from and learn it's a man's name. - Episode 160: How Does This Get Back to Horse Racing?
· October 1, 2022
The hosts try to figure out where "off the cuff" comes from and land on a Charlie Chaplin film. - Episode 159: My Dendrology Is Trash
· September 24, 2022
The hosts ask what "old chestnut" means and where it comes from. - Episode 158: Mommy and Daddy Trees
· September 17, 2022
The hosts ask how seedless fruit exists and learn it's mostly mutations, cuttings and grafting. - Episode 157: Northern France
· September 10, 2022
A toboggan means a sled to one roommate and a hat to another, so the hosts look into the word. - Episode 156: Elongated Jig
· September 3, 2022
The hosts try to work out why "the jig is up" means a trick has been discovered. - Episode 155: Singing Mouse
· August 27, 2022
The soccer-minded hosts ask where "hat trick" and "nutmeg" come from. - Episode 154: Satirical or Idiotic
· August 20, 2022
The hosts figure out where "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" comes from and find it started as a sarcastic impossibility. - Episode 153: Carry an Extra Lid
· August 13, 2022
The hosts try to figure out why "opening a can of worms" means complicating things. - Episode 152: Animal with a Gun
· August 6, 2022
The hosts try to work out where "10-4" and "Roger" come from. - Episode 151: No Pressure
· July 30, 2022
A host's rice came out badly, and the group works out that a rice cooker's "cup" isn't a US cup. - Episode 150: Decide Your Own Life
· July 23, 2022
The hosts ask where the word "hobo" comes from and learn about hobo codes and symbols. - Episode 149: Pure Passion Project
· July 16, 2022
The hosts try to work out why people "throw someone under the bus" and are surprised by how recent the phrase is. They also mention an Indianapolis Monthly mention of the show. - Episode 148: Half Crown
· July 9, 2022
Prompted by a wife's question, the hosts trace birthday celebrations from the pharaohs to Greek candles and Roman cakes. - Episode 147: Get Me My Pipes
· July 2, 2022
The hosts try to work out why a great harvest is a "bumper crop" and learn it comes from a big wine cup. - Episode 146: I'll Never Smile Again
· June 18, 2022
The hosts ask what "with a bullet" means on music charts. - Episode 145: Crossed the Rubicon
· June 11, 2022
The hosts try to figure out why "the die is cast", first guessing metal casting and dyed clothing. - Episode 144: Why Is Anything Mosquitoes?
· June 4, 2022
The hosts ask why mosquitoes exist and whether we should kill them all. - Episode 143: Clown News
· May 28, 2022
The hosts ask where halftime shows come from, tracing them from the ABA and marching bands to the 1920s NFL. - Episode 142: Sounds Better In the German
· May 21, 2022
After an 11-year-old's ghost story, the hosts try to work out why people "get cold feet" before a wedding. - Episode 141: Easy Access
· May 14, 2022
The hosts try to figure out where "that's the way the cookie crumbles" comes from and bring back Urban Dictionary. - Episode 140: Things Fall Apart Quickly
· May 7, 2022
With the World Cup in Russia, the hosts ask how many time zones Russia has and wander into flat-earth territory. - Episode 139: All the Good Things
· April 30, 2022
The hosts figure out "crapshoot" and "dead to rights" in a double under-Google. - Episode 138: Specific Set of Skills
· April 23, 2022
The hosts try to figure out why Dalmatians became firehouse dogs and arrive at horses. - Episode 137: Foie Gras Assembly Line
· April 16, 2022
The hosts try to work out why you get your "ducks in a row" and find a recent origin with several competing theories. - Episode 136: Literal Earworms
· April 2, 2022
The hosts ask why things go "down the tubes" instead of down pipes or drains, and find the phrase is surprisingly recent. - Episode 135: Sucks More Than Water
· March 26, 2022
The hosts ask why someone is "cool as a cucumber" and learn it comes from an 18th-century poem. - Episode 134: Decorative Fancy Cakes
· March 19, 2022
A pizza shop called Upper Crust prompts the hosts to ask where "upper crust" for the wealthy comes from. - Episode 133: We're Talking Wicker
· March 12, 2022
The hosts try to work out what a "basket case" is and land on a very dark answer from World War I. - Episode 132: Everybody Poops
· March 5, 2022
The hosts try to figure out why restaurants say "86" for being out of something, and every theory is somehow about death. - Episode 131: Kazoo On Lock
· February 26, 2022
The hosts try to work out where "the whole shebang" comes from and find that lexicographers don't know either. - Episode 130: Candlestick Makers
· February 19, 2022
The hosts try to work out where "put a pin in it" comes from, guessing at sewing and cork boards. - Episode 129: Oblate Spheroid
· February 12, 2022
The hosts try to work out what a nautical mile is and why a knot is different from a regular mile. - Episode 128: Super Tiny Udders
· February 5, 2022
A spilled milkshake prompts the hosts to ask where "don't cry over spilled milk" comes from. - Episode 127: Bathtime Is So Much Fun!
· January 22, 2022
The hosts ask whether it can be too cold to snow and also cover cloud seeding and absolute zero. - Episode 126: Throw Them Off the Scent
· January 8, 2022
A story about Swedish navy sonar and fish farts leads the hosts to ask where "red herring" comes from. - Episode 125: Eccentric Gentry Men
· January 1, 2022
The hosts try to figure out the difference between a cravat and an ascot, and trace both to Croatian mercenaries and horse racing. - Episode 124: Big Little Gherkin
· December 25, 2021
The hosts trace the Christmas tree and the legendary German Christmas pickle. - Episode 123: Death and Gambling
· December 11, 2021
The hosts try to work out where "chalk it up" comes from, with scorekeeping, horse racing and dead bodies as candidates. - Episode 122: Any Old Foreign Fruit
· December 4, 2021
The hosts try to figure out why a loved one is "the apple of my eye" and learn it has nothing to do with apples. - Episode 121: Sharknado Break
· November 27, 2021
The hosts try to work out where "raining cats and dogs" comes from and conclude nobody knows. - Episode 120: Feeling Yammy
· November 20, 2021
On a road trip past bison, the hosts try to work out the difference between a buffalo and a bison. - Episode 119: Alphabets Are Fun
· November 13, 2021
After Jeopardy shows the EU's three alphabets, the hosts try to figure out where the Cyrillic alphabet comes from. - Episode 118: Remind Me to Fight You Later
· November 6, 2021
A listener confirms the "rule of thumb" debunk, and the hosts then try to figure out where "wheelhouse" comes from. - Episode 117: Hobbier
· October 30, 2021
The hosts ask how fantasy creatures like orcs and elves became standardized and then try to define a hobgoblin. - Episode 116: Index of the Rest
· October 23, 2021
The hosts try to work out where "rule of thumb" comes from and debunk a common myth. - Episode 115: Space Hangovers
· October 16, 2021
After Hurricane Ida, the hosts ask why hurricanes are named alphabetically and how barometric pressure relates to storms. - Episode 114: Opposite of Neglect
· October 9, 2021
The hosts try to work out where "egged on" comes from and discover it has nothing to do with eggs. - Episode 113: Anatomy of a Facehole
· October 2, 2021
The hosts take on the phrase "drink like a fish" and ask whether fish actually drink water. - Episode 112: Messed Up, Man
· September 25, 2021
A host's wife asks how cameras, and old film, capture color, and the hosts correctly reason out layered film. - Episode 111: Grow a Tail Like a Horse
· September 18, 2021
A spelling disagreement over "shoo-in" or "shoe-in" leads the hosts to guess at cobblers and Cinderella before horse racing again. - Episode 110: Paradigmatic Shift
· September 11, 2021
The hosts ask where "blockbuster" comes from and find it started with WWII bombs. - Episode 109: Season Dicket Holder
· September 4, 2021
The hosts try to work out why a detective is called a "gumshoe" and where "dick" comes from. - Episode 108: Sexual Drift
· August 28, 2021
The hosts ask why humans aren't furry like most mammals and walk through temperature control, sweat, clothing and sexual selection. - Episode 107: Why Am I Sticky?
· August 21, 2021
The hosts ask where "red tape" comes from and discover the tape is older than adhesive tape. - Episode 106: Bounce to the Ounce
· August 14, 2021
The hosts figure out where "bang for your buck" comes from, and why a dollar is called a buck. - Episode 105: Elementary Trigonometry
· August 7, 2021
The hosts figure out where "beeline" comes from and discover the old practice of tracking wild honeybee colonies. - Episode 104: No Soul
· July 31, 2021
After a trip to the Florida Keys, a host asks about cracker cows and whether they're the source of the slur "cracker". - Episode 103: Vegetable Bones
· July 24, 2021
A host who always thought "souped up" was "super-ed up" asks which it is and where it comes from. - Episode 102: Unkempt Lawn
· July 17, 2021
The hosts try to figure out where "get your goat" comes from, ending up at a horse-racing theory that may not be true. - Episode 101: We, Being Elephant People?
· July 10, 2021
A host asks why every animal isn't an elephant, given that they're huge, smart and have almost no predators. - Episode 100: Eternal Knowledge
· July 3, 2021
For the 100th episode, the hosts reflect on what they've learned, then look into the origin of "centaur" and the history of American coins and bills. - Episode 99: Profane Intensifier
· June 26, 2021
The hosts try to work out why the British use "bloody" as a swear word. - Episode 98: Grill That Bird
· June 19, 2021
The hosts ask whether heat lightning is actually a thing. - Episode 97: Above Our Heads
· June 12, 2021
The hosts try to work out why there are seven days in a week and how the days got their names. - Episode 96: Magic of the Game
· June 5, 2021
The hosts try to work out where "pleased as punch" comes from, after the punch drink episode, and find a violent puppet. - Episode 95: Poke You In the Eye or Something
· May 29, 2021
A listener asks where "going haywire" and "on the fritz" come from, and the hosts blame bomb wires, horse racing and Germans. - Episode 94: Impact Hypothesis
· May 22, 2021
A listener asks where all of Earth's water came from, and the hosts work through volcanoes, comets and the early solar system. - Episode 93: According to Hoyle
· May 15, 2021
A listener's wife asks why playing cards have the suits and royalty they do, and the hosts trace the deck from China to France. - Episode 92: Stumpy
· May 8, 2021
The hosts try to figure out why Reggie Miller wore number 31 and when his number was retired, ending in a mess at UCLA. - Episode 91: Specific Gravity
· May 1, 2021
The hosts try to work out why alcohol strength is measured in "proof" and whether it's related to proofing bread. - Episode 90: Germ Theory
· April 24, 2021
A mailbag episode: why the podcast is named The Undebeatables, and where the word "quarantine" comes from. - Episode 89: Crop Milk
· April 17, 2021
The hosts ask why flamingos stand on one leg and why they are pink. - Episode 88: Long In the Tooth
· April 10, 2021
The hosts figure out where "straight from the horse's mouth" comes from and add horses to their list of usual suspects. - Episode 87: Unholy Terror
· April 3, 2021
At Easter, the hosts try to work out where the Easter Bunny comes from, weighing pagan fertility festivals against "big sugar". - Episode 86: Blow My Skull
· March 27, 2021
A fan asks where the word "punch" comes from, and the hosts guess punch-in-the-face before learning it's Hindi. - Episode 85: Bulging Vessel
· March 20, 2021
A host's dad asks where "bought the farm" and "kick the bucket" come from, and the hosts find some darker answers. - Episode 84: Rad-ish
· March 13, 2021
The hosts try to work out whether horseradish is a radish and why it has that name. - Episode 83: Unless You're a Porn Star
· March 6, 2021
After a hiking trip, the hosts discuss whether you should suck the venom out of a snake bite. - Episode 82: Pie Frenzy
· February 27, 2021
The hosts try to sort out the differences between a cobbler, a crumble and a pie, ending up in the pandowdy and the grunt. - Episode 81: Address Was Directions
· February 20, 2021
A listener asks how international mail is paid for between countries, and the hosts find the Universal Postal Union. - Episode 80: Snack Sized
· February 13, 2021
The hosts discuss the numbers behind praying mantis mating and learn that sexual cannibalism is real but less common than people think. - Episode 79: Whole Bowl of Cherries
· February 6, 2021
On Super Bowl Sunday, the hosts ask why football championship games are called "bowls". - Episode 78: Ol' Silent "R"
· January 30, 2021
The hosts try to work out why February is the shortest month and trace it back to Roman superstition. - Episode 77: Babies Are Psychopaths
· January 23, 2021
The hosts ask why we yawn and why yawning is contagious, and find that science doesn't have a settled answer. - Episode 76: Megatron
· January 16, 2021
The hosts try to remember how they got around before smartphones and GPS, swapping stories about maps, TripTiks and payphones. - Episode 75: Too Hot to Handle
· January 9, 2021
The hosts try to work out where "I'll bet you dollars to donuts" comes from and discover it is older than donuts-as-we-know-them. - Episode 74: Honor Is Besmirched
· January 2, 2021
The hosts untangle "throw down the gauntlet" and "run the gauntlet", which turn out to be unrelated words. - Episode 73: The People Work Hard
· December 26, 2020
The hosts try to work out what Boxing Day is, guessing at the Boxer Rebellion and returned gift boxes. - Episode 72: Pre-Tolkien
· December 19, 2020
The hosts ask why Santa has elves and trace them back through Scandinavian folklore and 19th-century poetry. - Episode 71: Recreational Mathematics
· December 12, 2020
The hosts name Santa's reindeer from memory, then try to recall the plot of Alice in Wonderland. - Episode 70: Who Watches the Watchers?
· December 5, 2020
A host who has wondered about it for years asks where the tooth fairy comes from, and the group works through paganism, Santa and dentists. - Episode 69: Polenta in the Morning
· November 28, 2020
The hosts try to work out the difference between polenta and grits. - Episode 68: Abundance of Corn
· November 21, 2020
The hosts try to figure out where "let's blow this popsicle stand" comes from, then why the cornucopia symbolizes Thanksgiving. - Episode 67: Dogma
· November 14, 2020
A dog-walk conversation leads the hosts to ask how coyotes and hyenas relate to wolves and domestic dogs. - Episode 66: All About the Spreckels
· November 7, 2020
The hosts ask where "sugar daddy" comes from and land on a sugar heir, a 1920s slang term, and a candy. - Episode 65: Where Are the Bodies?!
· October 31, 2020
Prompted by decaying pumpkins, the hosts try to figure out the history of the jack-o'-lantern. - Episode 64: Look Inside My Basket
· October 24, 2020
The hosts try to work out how mattress sizes got named king, queen, twin and double, and learn it was mostly marketing. - Episode 63: Darth Weber
· October 17, 2020
The hosts debate whether "face the music" comes from the theater's orchestra pit or from the military, and find the origin is genuinely unknown. - Episode 62: Snail with a Housing Problem
· October 10, 2020
The hosts decide whether a slug is just a snail without a shell and then learn more than they bargained for about snail and slug reproduction. - Episode 61: Drunk Others
· October 3, 2020
A listener's mom asks what "druthers" are in "if I had my druthers", and the hosts guess it's a folksy contraction. - Episode 60: Yellow Makes You Hungry
· September 26, 2020
The hosts try to work out why red means stop and green means go, working through lighthouses, ships, cars and finally railroads. - Episode 59: Dinosaurs and Marmots
· September 19, 2020
The hosts try to work out where "in a pickle" comes from, with detours through baseball, pickleball and dinosaurs. - Episode 58: Small Potatoes
· September 12, 2020
The hosts trace "okay" back to a presidential election and a Boston abbreviation fad. - Episode 57: Copulation of Tortoises
· September 5, 2020
A cootie shot at work prompts the hosts to ask where "cooties" and the cootie shot come from. - Episode 56: Puberty of Humanity
· August 29, 2020
A host asks why old printed documents look like they use the letter F in place of S, and the group works out it was a separate character. - Episode 55: Don't Hate the Player...
· August 22, 2020
In holiday travel season, the hosts ask where "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" comes from. - Episode 54: #Blessed
· August 15, 2020
The hosts figure out where "bread and butter pickles" gets its name and whether kosher pickles have to be kosher. - Episode 53: Bombs For Good
· August 8, 2020
The hosts revisit the phrase "down to the wire", first guessing it comes from cutting bomb wires and then landing on horse racing. - Episode 52: Reverse Tourniquet
· August 1, 2020
The hosts try to figure out where "cottonmouth" (a dry mouth after drinking) comes from and come up empty. - Episode 51: I've Got a Goat Guy
· July 25, 2020
A host asks why we have lawns at all, and the group traces them from castles to suburbia. - Episode 50: Good to Know You, Sleep
· July 18, 2020
Prompted by the Hawaii eruption, the hosts try to work out how volcanoes work and whether any exist in Antarctica. - Episode 49: Fish Conception
· July 11, 2020
The hosts try to work out what an overheard "live caviar experience" in Alaska might be, and the answer remains unclear. - Episode 48: Fried Sugar Cream Pie
· July 4, 2020
The hosts try to figure out where "soda jerk" and "jerk" the insult come from. - Episode 47: And One Ring to Bind Them
· June 27, 2020
A Marvin Gaye song prompts the hosts to ask where "heard it through the grapevine" comes from. - Episode 46: Tasty to My Palate
· June 20, 2020
The hosts try to figure out why we take something "with a grain of salt", guessing at salt as currency, flavor and tips before landing on a Roman poison antidote. - Episode 45: Mittens Romney
· June 13, 2020
The hosts try to figure out why we "handle with kid gloves" and discover that kid means baby goat. - Episode 44: Smarty Pantsedness
· June 6, 2020
The hosts figure out the origins of "pipe dream" and "hair of the dog", with a detour through snowmen and Super Mario. - Episode 43: Zeal or Dazzle
· May 30, 2020
The hosts ask why zebras have stripes and learn that science still hasn't settled it. - Episode 42: Earmuffs
· May 23, 2020
The hosts take on two cat- and pitcher-themed idioms: "little pitchers have big ears" and "cat got your tongue". - Episode 41: Zero Swashbuckling
· May 16, 2020
A listener-style question about a catchphrase on an NBA podcast leads the hosts to try to figure out what Dragon Ball Z is. - Episode 40: Ship Shape
· May 9, 2020
The hosts try to work out why being sick is called being "under the weather". - Episode 39: Livestock Fraud Law
· May 2, 2020
The hosts try to figure out the origin of "let the cat out of the bag", guessing at big cats and frontier sacks. - Episode 38: Follow the Money
· April 25, 2020
The hosts speculate about the plot of The Goofy Movie, which Pacers guard Victor Oladipo says is his favorite, before looking it up. - Episode 37: Find a Tree
· April 18, 2020
The hosts try to figure out where "don't have a pot to piss in" comes from and find it is surprisingly hard to pin down. - Episode 36: Throw Another Shrimp on the Barbie
· April 11, 2020
A listener asks about the origin of "throw the baby out with the bathwater", and the hosts guess everything from ancient Greece to Oscar Wilde. - Episode 35: Normative Judgement on Human Value Based on Fandom
· April 4, 2020
The hosts ask where "bandwagon" and "jump on the bandwagon" come from, starting from Pacers bandwagon fans. - Episode 34: Tip Your Local Jester
· March 28, 2020
With April Fool's Day coming, the hosts try to figure out where the holiday came from. - Episode 33: Time Traveler Atop a Dinosaur
· March 21, 2020
A listener asks why the basketball play is called an "alley-oop", and the hosts also try to guess when and where the play started. - Episode 32: You May Succat
· March 14, 2020
Ahead of St. Patrick's Day, the hosts ask who St. Patrick really was and how the holiday became an American drinking day. - Episode 31: Drinking, Card Playing, and Conversation
· March 7, 2020
The hosts try to work out where the word "picnic" comes from, with guesses ranging from Hungarian to falconry. - Episode 30: Scuffle Hoe
· February 29, 2020
The hosts try to figure out where "juke" comes from, and whether a juke joint is related to a juke move in sports. - Episode 29: Hair-Suit Challenged
· February 22, 2020
The hosts ask why police are called "the fuzz" (and "pigs"), and find that nobody knows for sure. - Episode 28: The Angel Sniper
· February 15, 2020
After a quick question about why rain is measured in inches, the hosts try to figure out the history of Valentine's Day. - Episode 27: The Jimmies
· February 8, 2020
During the Oscars, the hosts try to name every Best Picture winner from 1990 to 2000. - Episode 26: Day of the Marmot
· February 1, 2020
Without Coalson, the hosts take listener questions: why basketball players don't kick the ball out for injuries like in soccer, and where Groundhog Day comes from. - Episode 25: Era of Exposed Ankles
· January 25, 2020
The hosts try to figure out where "having a crush" comes from, with answers ranging from Shakespeare to the Gershwins. - Episode 24: Shout Out, Firefighters!
· January 18, 2020
The hosts ask why fire engines are red and find that nobody has a definitive answer. - Episode 23: Dr. Guillotine
· January 11, 2020
The hosts try to figure out where "in one fell swoop" comes from, wandering into guillotines before settling on falconry. - Episode 22: Too Cute To Kill
· January 4, 2020
The hosts ask why rabbits have little cotton tails, guessing at balance, mating and camouflage before checking the research. - Episode 21: Old Lasagne
· December 28, 2019
A listener asks who the kids are in the game-of-the-week jingle, and the hosts then try to figure out the origin and meaning of "Auld Lang Syne". - Episode 20: Slutty Peasants
· December 21, 2019
Prompted by a holiday movie, the hosts ask why people kiss under mistletoe and what the word itself means. - Episode 19: That's Just Juggling
· December 14, 2019
The hosts try to figure out where "keep the ball rolling" comes from, guessing at sports, snowballs and dances before landing on a presidential campaign. - Episode 18: The Old Food Bucket
· December 7, 2019
The hosts try to figure out where the phrase "in the hopper" comes from, detouring through golf and tennis ball hoppers before finding the real source. - Episode 17: I Yam What I Yam
· November 30, 2019
After Thanksgiving, the hosts try to figure out whether yams and sweet potatoes are actually different. - Episode 16: We're Huge in Liberia
· November 23, 2019
After a listener correction about the middle finger, the hosts untangle panthers, jaguars, cougars and mountain lions, then ask where Thanksgiving comes from and who else celebrates it. - Episode 15: Flippin' Jacksons
· November 16, 2019
Prompted by news about Sweden, the hosts try to work out what they know about the country, its size and population, and how Scandinavia differs from the Nordic countries. - Episode 14: Give the Big Bird
· November 9, 2019
The hosts look into the origin and meaning of the middle finger. - Episode 13: Early to Bed, Early to Rise
· November 2, 2019
The hosts dig into the history of daylight saving time, including Indiana's late adoption and the role of railroads in standardizing time. - Episode 12: Soul Cakes
· October 26, 2019
With Halloween near, the hosts try to work out where the holiday comes from before checking. - Episode 11: Illumination Game
· October 19, 2019
A listener asks about the 2004-05 Houston Rockets, billed as the best team never to escape the first round. The hosts reconstruct what they can from memory. - Episode 10: Das Peeps
· October 12, 2019
The hosts try to name the Seven Wonders of the ancient world and the modern world from memory, scoring 8 of a possible 14 between them. - Episode 9: Microminiaturization
· October 5, 2019
The hosts look into where the phrase "in a nutshell" comes from and which nut it is. - Episode 8: Put That In Your Pope
· September 28, 2019
The hosts trace the odd origin of "humble pie", then try to name every Pacers Most Improved Player. - Episode 7: That Escalated Quickly
· September 21, 2019
With the Pacers playing in London, the hosts take on London-themed questions: author Jack London and the meaning of the nursery rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down". - Episode 6: Like a Chorizo
· September 14, 2019
A host's question about llamas vs. alpacas leads to a side debate on what makes an animal domesticated. - Episode 5: Massive and Complex
· September 7, 2019
A listener asks for the tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states and how much shorter it is than the tallest in Alaska. The hosts reason their way to a surprisingly close answer. - Episode 4: Three Snorts To the Wind
· August 31, 2019
After a shout-out to another basketball podcast, the hosts try to work out where "three sheets to the wind" comes from, then drift into a tangent about yacht rock. - Episode 3: Lighting the Internet on Fire
· August 24, 2019
The hosts debate why dogs have wet noses, then try to count how many active NBA players came straight out of high school. - Episode 2: Swirling Liquid Metal Oceans
· August 22, 2019
The hosts work through the most-Googled questions in the three states they live in, then take on mountain ranges and what Jupiter is made of. - Episode 1: Avocados and Marijuana
· July 28, 2019
The hosts launch the Undegooglables segment: take questions people have Googled, guess the answers, then check Google. Topics range from omelettes to etymology to oceans.
Browse by topic
animals (39)food (24)geography (13)history (179)language (159)politics (6)pop-culture (17)science (39)space (2)sports (18)technology (3)