Parsing the demon-tongue of shake-your-groove-thang-ism.
July 20, 1995
News & Stories
Alexander Theroux's grammar of rock and roll
"Hell in a handbasket" came from "Heaven in a handbasket"
Dear Matthew: Where the heck did the phrase “going to hell in a handbasket” come from? It doesn’t make sense to us and has been bad for business. — Handbasket Makers of America, La Jolla …
July 20, 1995
What saves flies in my car
Dear Matthew Alice: Say I trap a fly in my car when I go down the highway doing 65 mph. Why doesn’t the fly get smashed against the back window, assuming flies can’t fly 65 …
July 20, 1995
Popcorn smells — real and fake
To Whom It May Concern: Why can the smell of popped popcorn, whether popped fresh or burnt, be smelled farther away than other foods? Is there a fact behind this question, or is it just …
July 20, 1995
DNA: San Diego's tiniest snitch
“People don’t realize that when they’re hitting somebody, blood transfers onto whatever they’re using — not the first time, but by the time you come back like this” — he mimes a baseball bat coming down on a skull.
July 20, 1995