David Keyes

In the comic strip Li’l Abner, a gnomish, scowling hoodlum named Evil Eye Fleegle could flatten any man or woman alive by focusing one eye on his targets while pointing in their direction. That was a whammy.  When Fleegle used both eyes and two fingers, this double whammy was powerful enough to topple a skyscraper …

Publishers Weekly recently ran my essay on “Why I Write.” https://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6657139.html

Ornately decorated vehicles wended through towns where circuses were about to appear. Musicians atop this “bandwagon” blasted their instruments.  During the late 19th century politicians employed “band wagons” of their own before rallies. They said that those eager to join a campaign as it gained momentum resembled the young boys who tried to jump on …

After the Civil War, reporters borrowed “scoop” from merchants who used that verb to mean going one up on competitors. Journalists still use scoop to mean being first out with a news story.  That term has recently shape-shifted to refer to exclusive or inside information.  (“Get the scoop on Britney.”)

In the late nineteenth century goldbrick referred to a piece of cheaper metal that con men painted to look like gold. Eventually this term referred to all manner of swindles. By 1918 goldbrick was applied first to unqualified military officers, then to any soldier who didn’t do his job. In time this noun became a …

In Eleanor Porter’s 1913 novel Pollyanna, eleven-year-old orphan Pollyanna Whittier lives in the dark attic of her dour aunt’s home. Through the power of irrepressible good will Pollyanna melts the frozen heart of her bitter aunt, and lifts the spirits of all she meets. This novel and its many sequels were phenomenal bestsellers. In time …