This week Shauna and Dan look at the history of "Silent as...", such as silent as the night and silent as the grave. Dan shares a creepy story, then messes up the outro. Shauna talks XXX, which is either pornography or roman numerals. #BunnyTrails #AfterDark Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast

129 Silent as the Grave

Shauna and Dan explore why the lion is called the King of the Jungle when they don't live in jungles. Turns out, our view of what "jungle" means today may be heavily skewed by the pop culture of the late-1800s and mid-1960s. Looking at you, Rudyard Kipling. Bonus conversations about mockbusters, animated 90s movies, and the great con artist PT Barnum. #BunnyTrails Join the Community! See the show notes! Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

128 King of the Jungle

Dan is an uncultured swine and did not know what a Penny Dreadful was. Shauna educates him and explores the origins and alternative names to this popular literary phenomenon from the 1800s. Special thanks to Victorian Britain for making this episode possible. #BunnyTrails Join the community and support this educational artform! Find links to everything we do! Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

127 Penny Dreadful

This week Shauna and Dan discuss the concepts of "Keeping Score". From its Old Norse roots to the sports and marriages of today. With appearances by pretentious kitchen appliances, Durant/Durant, and bartenders with a word about P's & Q's. Catch it all on this week's #BunnyTrails! Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

126 Keeping Score

This week Shauna and Dan explore the numerous origin stories of the phrase get down to brass tacks. Does it come to use from rhyming slang or coffin nails? Or perhaps furniture making or clothing materials. Or does it come to us from an older phrase not having anything to do with brass tacks? Find out on this week's #BunnyTrails   Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

125 Brass Tacks

This week Shauna and Dan talk with author Grace Tierney about her new book, Words the Vikings Gave Us. From Bluetooth to Narwhal, the Old Norse language gave or influenced some of English's most well-known words. Plus there's talk of Vikings the TV show, the Viking role in the unicorn mythos, and Norse inspirations in video games.  #BunnyTrails Check out Grace: wordfoolery.wordpress.com  Words the Vikings Gave Us: amzn.to/3kuDbUr   Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

124 Words the Vikings Gave Us with Grace Tierney

This week Shauna and Dan talk about how the pupil is a hole in your eye, but is also sorta shaped like an apple. Kinda? Anyway, you can be the apple of our eyes by listening to the show and sharing it with others!  Also, if you are financially able, join our kick-butt club at www.patreon.com/bunnytrailspod Also, check out The Endless Knot, https://www.alliterative.net/podcast Seriously... Aven and Mark are brilliant humans and phenomenal people. Visit them, and tell them we sent you. Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

123 Apple of My Eye

From bartenders to school children, clothing to dancing, typesetting to top quality, everyone and their dog has an idea about where this phrase comes from. Shauna and Dan explore the likely origin stories to help debunk the myths and narrow down the options on this week's #BunnyTrails Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

122 Mind Your Ps and Qs

Dan is sick, so Shauna revisits an episode that originally aired in November 2018!  Ever wonder who would anyone want to beat, or flog, a dead horse? Well, wonder no more, as Shauna and Dan explore the progression from a pointless act to money owed, and eventually back to pointless act. Hint... the popularity of the phrase as we use it today has close ties to politics. Who'd have thunk it?!?  Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

RETRO 29 Beat A Dead Horse

Apparently, there has been plenty of fish in the sea since the late 1500s... which seems weird for everyone except maybe Aquaman and the Incredible Mr. Limpet. Which, coincidentally, are two references we don't even make in the episode. It's time to get back to the dating grind with #BunnyTrails! (Or don't. We love and support you either way.) Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

121 Plenty of Fish in the Sea

Shauna and Dan dip into the world of invigorating energy as they explore the phrase Young Blood. Or is that the world of inexperience? Turns out, it's both! They explore this 500+-year-old phrase with the help of hopeful politicians, angry preachers, video games, movies, and songs on this week's #BunnyTrails! Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

120 Young Blood

This week Shauna and Dan offer no apologies as they explore the phrase "Mea Culpa" and the more recent version "My Bad". Along the way, they discuss loan words, Garfield and Friends, and Albert Einstein. It's classic #BunnyTrails! Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

119 My Bad - A Mea Culpa

This week Shauna and Dan get near the bottom of this elusive phrase. Bob's Your Uncle has several origin stories, but there's always been a missing link between the most popular story and the first time it could be verified in print. Well, until now. Check out this breaking news in the world of 130-year-old phrases! #BunnyTrails Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

118 Bob's Your Uncle

From Aesop’s Fables to the Bible, Shauna and Dan look at how A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing made it into English and how we still use it today. Along the way, we learn Dan believes in aliens, mostly cause as Shauna says, "Space: There’s a lot of it." Bonus: Dan mixes up baby bears and baby wolves for no apparent reason. Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

117 - A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Shauna and Dan return from Chicago armed with numerous parts of what newspaperman Mike Ryoko called "Chicagoese". We take a good look at the origins of Calling Dibs before doing snippets of other words and phrases like Ferris Wheel, Jinx, Pipe Dream, and more. Bonus: Dan wishes he knew I-290 was gonna be called the Eisenhower. It would have saved him so many headaches. More bonuses: Italian Beef, Hot Dogs, and Gluten Free Donuts.    Copyright 2021 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved

116 Calling Dibs and Other Chicago Phrases

Welcome to our whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase. Each week, we delve into the origins of phrases to find out how they came into the English language. We tell the story of how the phrase got from its beginnings to where it is today. Shauna and Dan are two big nerds, so expect some geek culture references, random trivia facts, and loads of laughs!

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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast

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