— WHO, WHEN & HOW —
I've always been obsessed with the why behind the things we say. You can look up a word in a dictionary, but where do you go when a strange phrase pops up in the middle of a sentence? This is the vault where I finally get to share what I've dug up — the who, when, and how behind everyday idioms.
Curator's note
When I was a kid, my friends and I used to sit around wondering what we'd do if we ever struck it rich. Most of them wanted a Corvette or a Thunderbird. Me? I told them I'd hire my own personal research department. I was a "nerd" before there was a name for it.
— Bob, mental junk curator
A Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that became the ultimate blueprint for hidden potential.
Medieval jousting favors, a lady's silk token, and a warning from Shakespeare's Iago.
Aesop's fox, a vine just out of reach, and 2,500 years of ego-preservation.
A failed WWII rubber substitute that bounced its way into a pink plastic egg.