Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
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!
309 Kick the Bucket
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase, "Kick the Bucket". Bonus: Jack & Jill, General Patton, and Dan's favorite terms for dying.
CW: This episode contains irreverent talk about death. Please skip if that isn't for you right now. .
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Sh...
308 In the Limelight
This week Shauna and Dan explore what it means to be "in the limelight". Bonus: Chemical Reactions, Chess Masters, and Cerebral 70's Lyrics
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Copyright 2026 by The Readiness Corner, LLC...
307 Tickle Your Fancy
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase, "Tickle Your Fancy". Bonus: Robin Hood, Puritans, Lucille Ball on Broadway, and the answer to the age-old question... has this phrase always been a double entendre?
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306 Going AWOL
Quick Quips: This week Shauna and Dan go AWOL. Bonus: Initialisms vs Acronyms, AWOL vs Desertion, and Co-workers vs the Team Lead
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Copyright 2026 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All...
305 Rest on Your Laurels
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase "rest on your laurels". Or since the late 1700s, DO NOT rest on your laurels. Bonus: Greek Gods, Roman Funerals, and Swedish Doctors
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<...304 Living the Dream
This week Shauna and Dan introduce the Quick Quips format which will be used when a phrase doesn't fit into the regular format. This week, Living the Dream! Bonus: Irony in the 1950s, Irony in the 1990s, and Irony in the 2020s.
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303 Pull Out All the Stops
This week Shauna and Dan make every possible effort to explain Pull Out All the Stops. Bonus: Australian Football, Coughing instead of clapping, and playing the pipe organ while Rome burns
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<...Season 9 Trailer
Welcome to Season 9. It seems improbable that you have been joining us for 8 years and over 300 episodes, but here you are! Thanks for being a part of the Bunny Trails community. If you want to take your listening to the next level, join us over at Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod. You'll get instant free perks like our weekly polls and discussions on what everyone read/watched/played the past week. There are paid perks, too, if you feel so inclined. We'll talk to you next week for Season 9 of Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast!
It's free...
RETRO 187 At a Crossroads
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase, "At a Crossroads", which has a strong association with blues legend Robert Johnson. Bonus: Search engine optimization in the 1700s and cool pet names. Also, how do you pronounce gnocchi?
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RETRO 258 Christmas Spirit
It's that time of year! 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.
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RETRO 216 Snowball Effect
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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Copyright 2025 by The...
RETRO 259 Words Christmas Gave Us with Grace Tierney
This week Shauna and Dan are joined by 'Words Christmas Gave Us' author Grace Tierney to talk about Christmas, Boxing Day (St. Stephens Day if you are in Ireland - Do NOT make that mistake), and fun holiday traditions. Happy holidays from all of us at Bunny Trails!
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RETRO 136 Never Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
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 230 Pie in the Sky
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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Copyright 2025 by The...
302 Going Whole Hog
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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<...301 Walking on Eggshells
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".
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300 Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar
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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...
299 Catnap
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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Copyright 2025...
298 Tongue in Cheek
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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Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved
297 Beck and Call
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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Copyright 2025 by The Readiness...
296 Off the Rails
This week Shauna and Dan go "off the rails" looking into this interesting phrase. Bonus: The tender lyrics of Ozzy Osbourne, wild sci-fy synopses, and moonwalking in clown shoes
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Copyright 2025 All...
295 Mountain Out of a Molehill
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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Copyright 2025 All Rights...
294 Cooking the Books
This week Shauna and Dan learn how to cook the books. Bonus: Accounting Wizardry, Spoof versus Satire, and an Epic Parisian Ice Cream Brawl
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Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved
293 Salt in the Wound
This week Shauna and Dan rub salt in the wound 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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292 Nest Egg
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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Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved
291 Missing Link
This week Shauna and Dan try to discover the Missing Link. Bonus: The Piltdown Man, The TV Show Bones, and Missed Sneezes.
Also, please direct all Ultraman complaints to Shauna.
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...290 All Your Eggs in One Basket
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
Seriously, Tele Novella is such a great band.
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289 Tough Cookie
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase Tough Cookie. Bonus: The Yellow Pages, Resilient Kids, and Anthropomorphic Desserts
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Copyright 2025 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved<...
288 The Proof is in the Pudding
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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Copyright 2025 by The...
287 Night Owl
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
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286 Under the Table
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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285 Jump on the Bandwagon
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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284 Nip it in the Bud
This week Shauna and Dan explore "Nip it in the Bud." Bonus: Barney Fife, Lancelot, and the War of 1812
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Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved
283 Swansong
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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282 Chew the Fat
This week Shauna and Dan chew the fat and debunk some origin stories. Bonus: Soul-disco, teething children, and bored Cowboys
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281 Burn Your Bridges
This week Shauna and Dan burn all the bridges behind them. And sometimes boats. Or maybe they'll light a river on fire. Bonus: Failure is always an option
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Copyright 2025 All...
280 Upset the Apple Cart
This week Shauna and Dan try not to upset the apple cart. Bonus: The USA's earliest pen pals, wizardly cats, and Gudrun Lauret's disruptive creators (or possibly creative disruptors)
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279 Flash in the Pan
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase, flash in the pan. Bonus: Hubble taking pictures of long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, Epic burns of the 1600s, and Texas: the America of America.
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278 Pay the Piper
This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase, Pay the Piper. Bonus: Multicolored musicians, English History, and Horror Stories
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Copyright 2025 by The Readiness Corner, LLC - All Rights Reserved
277 Throw Down the Gauntlet
This week Shauna and Dan Throw Down the Gauntlet to see what origin story comes out on top. Bonus: Secret Societies, Wizardless Duels, and 80s movies Dan hasn't seen
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Copyright 2025...
