August 2009 We post the interesting and kooky things we find while looking for the answers to reference questions. I was especially tickled by the entry on mattresses in the furniture section of I Love it When You Talk Retro. It seems that before the insides of mattresses were monitored by any sort of law, …
reviews-retro
Weblog van Marc De Coster
August 2009 Does anyone know the meaning of “ping-pong diplomacy” or the origin of the “Stockholm syndrome”? In case many of the history lessons from high school have been erased from your hard drive, fear not: you don’t have to go back to school. There are good books for refreshing your memory. Every American that …
Daily Mortgage Rates
November 5, 2009 Review of I Love It When You Talk Retro: Hoochie Coochie, Double Whammy, Drop a Dime, and the Forgotten Origins of American Speech (Hardcover) When our daughter-in-law’s parents turned 60 last December, my husband and I sent them a box of memorabilia from our common youth containing a “Don’t Trust Anyone over …
LARGEHEARTED BOY
February 10, 2010 This is the sort of book that either makes you really fun or really boring at parties, depending on what sort of parties you go to.
FROM THE BRAIN OF CJHANNAS
October 30, 2010 Talking Retro I always enjoy when people recommend books to me, but for some reason it always takes me forever to get around to reading those titles. Ralph Keyes’ “I Love It When You Talk Retro” is a prime example. My friend Jaclyn turned me onto it, probably a year ago, but …
INVISIBLE THEME PARK
June 28, 2010 Retro Words I Love I love antiquated words. Some of the best stories about the origins of words come from a book called I Love It When You Talk Retro, by Ralph Keyes. • The word “widget” comes from a 1924 play called Beggar on Horseback, by George S. Kaufman and Marc …