Telling a bed time story
A huntsman cuts into a wolf's stomach to let this girl & her grandma escape, but the wolf lives!
OK, until the girl kills it using stones
Little Red Riding hood
Ben Franklin assured us that "Nothing is certain but death and" these
taxes
A designation for certain washing machines designed to save water & energy, "HE" stands for "high" this
efficiency
This battery mascot that's been going & going since the late 1980s has entered the OED to mean something or someone persistent
the energizer bunny
Alanis Morissette: "It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife"
ironic
Let's thumb through this tale... Title girl swims well, gets human legs... Wait, she kinda dies at the end?
the little mermaid
"Blue" this day of the week in January is said to be the most depressing day of the year; none of them are my favorite
monday
It means "bubbly"--either literally, as in Alka-Seltzer, or figuratively... as in Johnny Gilbert
effervescent
A character named Pow was a buddy of this elfin trio that represents Rice Krispies
snap, krackle, and pop
Coolio: "I'm the kinda G the little homies wanna be like, on my knees in the night, sayin' prayers in the streetlight"
gangsta's paradise
A Seussian home invasion, now that's what he'll do! / He'll mistreat a fish! Turn 2 kids' home into a zoo!
the cat in the hat
You do this when you want to stop yourself from saying something; doing it by accident can be a painful mouth injury
biting your tongue
Idiomatically speaking, it's the "grade" you get for trying hard--even if you sucked
a for effort
A flock of counting these aren't needed anymore, thanks to Serta & its mattresses
sheep
Beck: "Baby's in Reno with the vitamin D, got a couple of couches, sleep on the love seat"
loser
...& after the step-mom of these 2 kids abandoned them, they ate a local witch's house, then burned her to death; how Grimm! G'night!
hansel and gretel
the FCC suggests entering your information on this list if your phone keeps blowing up with extended warranty calls
the do not call list
It's the game-inspired term for a chain reaction, with one event triggering a series of related events
domino effect
The mascot for this banana brand was a lady banana until 1987, when Oscar Grillo depicted her as a woman in a tutti frutti hat
chiquita
Red Hot Chili Peppers: "I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day, but take me to the place I love, take me all the way"
under the bridge
Her cupboard, bare; she found her dog dead, left to buy a coffin, then found the pup laughing... sounds more like Stephen King
old mother hubbard
These uninvited insects likely make you itch; the Anopheles type can transmit malaria
mosquito
It's a German stew made from rabbit; TV's Laverne & Shirley shouted it out in their show's opening
Hasenpfeffer
Born in 1965, this mascot also goes by Poppin' Fresh & when you poke his belly, says, "Hoo hoo"
the pillsbury dough boy
Biggie Smalls: "It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up! Magazine, Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine"
juicy