RAY: The other day, one of the neighbors and I were having a little conversation.
TOM: One of the few neighbors that still talks to you?
RAY: There's always the new guy on the street. He was asking about the radio show. It took him a while, but he finally got around to asking how much preparation we do in advance of every show. And, I had to tell him, we don't do much preparation at all.
He said, "Oh, in that case, every week, you're pretty much wingin' it." And, I said, "Well, not exactly."
Which, conveniently, leads me to this week's puzzler question. Where does the term "wingin' it" come from and what does it mean?
Remember last week's puzzler?
THE CAPTURED SPY
RAY: David Thorndike had been operating as a spy behind the German lines. As the son of an English father and a German mother, he was perfectly suited for the job. His knowledge of the language, German culture, music and history were unsurpassed.
And yet he was not above suspicion. He was watched carefully, but never a false move did he make. As the war wore on and invasion plans materialized, he became encouraged, even euphoric, that soon the war would end and he would return to jolly old England.
Then one day he was in Berlin, lost in his thoughts, thinking about his return to merry old England. He was standing there on a busy street corner, ready to cross the street, and he feels a tug on his sleeve and a pistol in his ribs. He's been discovered. How did they know?!
ANSWER
RAY: As he was stepping off the curb, he looked to the right. And that's the direction that the cars would be coming from if you were in England.
__________________
The Principle of Least Interest: He who cares least about a relationship, controls it.
In the U.S. I always look to the right, because I've seen a lot of bicycle riders riding along the curb in their left side against traffic, so they were the most immediate danger to someone crossing.
__________________
The Principle of Least Interest: He who cares least about a relationship, controls it.
In the spy one, when it said he was being watched and was arrested as he was about to cross the street, I guessed that it was because he looked the wrong way first, but since the answer was posted already, I didn't comment on it.
I look to the right as well, but it's the direction you tend to look first that matters: left, right, then left again.
