Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
@bunnytrailspod.bsky.social
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Join Shauna and Dan every Wednesday for a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase. Two nerd researchers delve into the story of phrases - from how they came into the English language to how they are used today. bunnytrailspod.com
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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast @bunnytrailspod.bsky.social · 7d
RETRO: Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! Shauna and Dan deep dive into the holiday phrase, Christmas Spirit. The feeling, not the ghosts. Bonus: Curmudgeonly old men, spirits pitching the Christmas spirit, and the great bagel vs donut debate.

www.bunnytrailspod.com/2025/12/retr...
RETRO Episode 258: Christmas Spirit
Christmas Spirit is the general "good vibes" of positivity and happiness that happens around Christmas time. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
www.bunnytrailspod.com
bunnytrailspod.bsky.social
RETRO: Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! Shauna and Dan deep dive into the holiday phrase, Christmas Spirit. The feeling, not the ghosts. Bonus: Curmudgeonly old men, spirits pitching the Christmas spirit, and the great bagel vs donut debate.

www.bunnytrailspod.com/2025/12/retr...
RETRO Episode 258: Christmas Spirit
Christmas Spirit is the general "good vibes" of positivity and happiness that happens around Christmas time. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
www.bunnytrailspod.com
December 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
bunnytrailspod.bsky.social
This week Shauna and Dan explore the history of the snowball effect. Bonus: Snowpersons, Science Fiction Matriarchs, and Snake Oil Sales Folk. Double Bonus: Air travel tips!

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RETRO Episode 216: Snowball Effect
The snowball effect is when something gets bigger or more urgent as it progresses at an ever increasing rate. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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December 17, 2025 at 2:25 PM
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RETRO: Shauna & Dan are joined by 'Words Christmas Gave Us' author Grace Tierney @wordfoolery.bsky.social to talk Christmas, Boxing Day (St. Stephens Day if you are in Ireland), and fun holiday traditions. Happy holidays from all of us at Bunny Trails!

www.bunnytrailspod.com/2025/12/retr...
RETRO Episode 259: Words Christmas Gave Us with Grace Tierney
Words Christmas Gave Us by Grace Tierney is available everywhere you get books! She is at wordfoolery.wordpress.com Bunny Trails: A Word History Pod
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December 10, 2025 at 6:02 PM
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Shauna and Dan talk about the ancient phrase, never look a gift horse in the mouth. Bonus: What would $200,000 in 1912 be worth today, Can you really tell the age of a horse by looking at its teeth, and the best ice cream flavor

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RETRO Episode 136: Never Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
Never look a gift horse in the mouth means that you should not criticize a gift you have been given. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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December 3, 2025 at 5:54 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan explore the surprising origins of pie in the sky. Bonus: Workers rights, Great British actors, and the biggest meal of the day

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November 27, 2025 at 12:23 AM
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This week Shauna and Dan go whole hog to bust some myths and find some cookout tips. Bonus: Bucking porkchops, extreme ironing, and how to tell a fiddle from a violin

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Episode 302: Going Whole Hog
Going whole hog means you are in it to win it, you are all in, you are totally committed. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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November 19, 2025 at 2:57 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan tread upon eggs as they explore the modern version of this phrase, walking on eggshells. Bonus: Magical friendship eggs, Dan's sunscreen for the eyes, And Shauna's fear of trial by jury. Also, we are bringing back "sinistrously".

www.bunnytrailspod.com/2025/11/epis...
Episode 301: Walking on Eggshells
Walking on Eggshells means to be careful about what you say or do to avoid offending or angering someone. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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November 12, 2025 at 9:40 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan find out if you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Bonus: Learning new languages, Riding narwhals, and Canada's No. 1 prospector

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Episode 300: Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar
To catch more flies with honey than vinegar means you will have better results being nice to others than being mean. Bunny Trails: A Word History Pod
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November 5, 2025 at 1:03 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan take a catnap. Bonus: Sleep Momentum, Star Trek IV: Spock and Whales, and THE MODS ARE ASLEEP - EVERYONE POST OWLS! Bonus Bonus: Antnaps

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Episode 299: Catnap
A catnap is a short rest, usually taken during the day time. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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October 29, 2025 at 11:12 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan explore having your tongue in your cheek, or the simplified version, tongue in cheek. Bonus: General irreverence, New Zealand's parliamentary insults, and Tongue-based assistive devices

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Episode 298: Tongue in Cheek
Tongue in cheek means something is done in an irreverent, exaggerated, insincere, or mocking way. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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October 22, 2025 at 7:46 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan learn what it means to be at one's beck and call. Bonus: Reincarnation, Dan's anxiety, and restaurants recommended by tire companies

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Episode 297: Beck and Call
To be at one's beck and call means to be immediately available for their every whim. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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October 15, 2025 at 8:59 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan go "off the rails" looking into this interesting phrase. Bonus: The tender lyrics of Ozzy Osbourne, wild sci-fi synopses, and moonwalking in clown shoes

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Episode 296: Off the Rails
To go off the rails means to deviate from the expected course - to do something abnormal. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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October 8, 2025 at 1:13 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan try not to make a mountain out of a molehill: Bonus: Celestial Scorpions, Time Management Skills, and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

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Episode 295: Mountain Out of a Molehill
To make a mountain out of a molehill means to make a little thing into a really big deal. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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October 2, 2025 at 9:50 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan learn how to cook the books. Bonus: Accounting Wizardry, Spoof versus Satire, and an Epic Parisian Ice Cream Brawl

www.bunnytrailspod.com/2025/09/epis...
Episode 294: Cooking the Books
Cook the books means to make changes to the accounting of a company for financial gain or ruin. Can be a broader use. Bunny Trails: A Word History Pod
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September 24, 2025 at 5:25 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan rub salt in the wounds to see how it feels. Well, not literally, because they both know it hurts. Bonus: Stubborn spouses, iocaine poisoning, and the tingly tarantula of Trinidad

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Episode 293: Salt in the Wound
To rub salt in the wound means to make a bad situation even worse, often about a person's feelings. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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September 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan explore the varieties of Nest Eggs. Bonus: Common-sense furniture, Satan sitting on a sin's spawn, and Shauna's hot ninja take

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September 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan try to discover the Missing Link. Bonus: The Piltdown Man, TV's 'Bones', and Missed Sneezes.

Also, please direct all Ultraman complaints to Shauna.

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Episode 291: Missing Link
A "Missing Link" is some yet unknown thing that connects two other things. Often used in evolutionary processes. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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September 3, 2025 at 5:11 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan put all their eggs into one basket and ask if that is a good plan or not. Bonus: Kobe Bryant, GI Joe, and Coin-Operated Medieval-Western Songs

www.bunnytrailspod.com/2025/08/epis...
Episode 290: All Your Eggs in One Basket
To put all your eggs in one basket means to risk all of your time, effort, or property in one venture. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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August 27, 2025 at 12:09 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase Tough Cookie. Bonus: The Yellow Pages, Resilient Kids, and Anthropomorphic Desserts

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Episode 289: Tough Cookie
A tough cookie is a person who is able to handle difficult situations or is resilient. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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August 20, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan set out to see if the proof really is in the pudding. Bonus: Codfish Sherlock, Architectural Swansongs, and Puddings of the World

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Episode 288: The Proof is in the Pudding
The Proof is in the Pudding means the evidence of something is in its testing through usage. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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August 13, 2025 at 2:09 PM
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This week Shauna admits to being a Night Owl as your hosts delve into the history of the phrase. Bonus: Cyclical fashions, Ginormoustest moons, and Dan knows more about owls than even he realized

www.bunnytrailspod.com/2025/07/epis...
Episode 287: Night Owl
A night owl is a person who prefers to be active late at night instead of in the morning. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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July 30, 2025 at 2:34 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase under the table. The secret or clandestine one, not the drinking to excess one. Bonus: Book bans, French Culinary School, and friendly, neighborhood food merchants fighting demonic forces in Poland

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Episode 286: Under the Table
Under the table means doing something in a secret way - not meant for others to see. Sometimes illicit activity. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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July 30, 2025 at 2:32 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan 'Jump on the Bandwagon' for books, songs, and sportsball. Bonus: Beanie Babies, Pogs, Humbuggeries, and James Cash Penny

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July 16, 2025 at 3:40 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan explore "Nip it in the Bud." Bonus: Barney Fife, Lancelot (not that one), and the War of 1812

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Episode 284: Nip it in the Bud
Nip it in the bud means to stop or suppress something when it first starts. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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July 9, 2025 at 12:59 PM
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This week Shauna and Dan sing our swansong. Once again, we should have saved this type of phrase for the end of our show, but we have many more episodes still to come. Bonus: Merry madrigals, da Vinci's note books, and parodic poems about parting

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Episode 283: Swansong
A swansong is a final performance, action, or effort - usually of an artist or important person. Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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July 2, 2025 at 7:05 PM