Words Between Friends

Malcolm and Kurt demonstrate (mostly) mild annoyance with each other while puzzling over the provenance of common phrases suggested by fans of the podcast for beating on someone and doing slipshod work. All that and discussing whether there's anything more annoying than yelling out “Play Freebird!” to a band at a live music performance. Get full access to Culture Shlock at malcolmfleschner.substack.com/subscribe

Malcolm and Kurt trade barbs and witticisms while puzzling out the derivations of common English phrases while also celebrating the 30-year anniversary of an amazing word-related hoax perpetrated by a member of Generation X against the mighty New York Times.

Malcolm and Kurt trade witticisms while making their best guesses about the derivations for three synonyms of “doing it,” as well as a trio of (vaguely) feline-themed expressions.

This week Kurt asks Malcolm to tackle the origins of the American football terms  “touchdown,” “sack” and “Super Bowl,” while Malcolm challenges Kurt to come up with the original definitions of the words "nice," "broad" (meaning woman) and the often considered shameful "slut."All this and our hilarious takes on the old "Statue of Liberty" play, fraternizing with known masticators, just what precisely the word "Smurfy" was supposed to mean and our proposed events for the "Sex Olympics."

This week Kurt goes thematic by asking Malcolm to identify the origins of “Kick the bucket,” “Dead as a doornail” and “Shuffle off this mortal coil,” while Malcolm introduces his co-host to Cockney rhyming slang in the form of “Put up your dukes” and reveals the derivation of “Fly off the handle.”All this and our hilarious takes on Olympic boycotts through history, soft-pedaling bad news and “Going Shakespearean” in the heat of passion. 

Malcolm and Kurt try to stump one another about the origins of Balls to the Wall, Mad as a Hatter,  Bury the Hatchet, and Butter You Up while exploring why the Bruce Springsteen lyric is "throw that old *speedball* by you" instead of *fastball* and reveal that Val Kilmer's Wyatt Earp character in Tombstone does NOT say "I'll be your huckleberry."All this and whether Malcolm is a terrible friend, why engineers and lawyers are the WORST people to do work for and how a four-way stop sign encounter can rapidly devolve into a ruinous battle of wills.

Malcolm and Kurt grill one another about the origins of “Under the Weather,” "Bite the Bullet,” “No Cap,” “Milquetoast” and “Steal Your Thunder“ while Kurt also tests Malcolm's ability to guess the meaning of a foreign idiomatic expressions like “There's no cow on the ice,” “Not my circus, not my monkeys” and “Going where the Czar goes on foot.”All this and our hilarious take on Lowenbrau's famous “Tonight is kind of special” ad slogan, as always delivered with our signature joie de vivre, bonhomie and savoir faire!

Malcolm and Kurt examine and argue about the surprising provenance of a range of terms including "level best," "on tenterhooks," and "piss-poor" while also discussing pressing questions like:Why do we say "hundreds," "thousands" and "millions" but we don't say "tens?"If you know the correct pronunciation of a widely mispronounced word, which pronunciation do you use?And plenty more, all delivered with our signature joie de vivre, wit and savoir faire!