Stop frittering and start reading Clay's column, now!

Today we are going to discuss the origins or various words and phrases, which always seems to entertain you people in much the same way my masters like to spend time making chains out of chewing gum wrappers.

What are the origins of fret, as in, "Don't fret about it," and fritter, as in, "Stop frittering away your time?"

"Fret" can mean a lot of things. In the sense you are asking about it comes from a Middle English word used to describe animals eating. It also was used to describe monsters and Viking invaders. The English got it from the Old French word "froter," which meant to wear away by scraping or rubbing.

It came to be used in the sense we do today by the 1550s.

"Fritter," in the sense you ask about, originally meant to fragment. It came to the way we use it around the 1720s.

What is a thunder mug?

A chamber pot or commode.

How did the phrase "pay through the nose" originate? I heard it while watching a Canadian golf match.

Well, for starters it doesn't have anything to do with golf or Canada.

Nobody seems to know for sure where it came from.

It seems to have turned up in the English language in the 17the century.

The idea I like best is to be over-charged or pay too much is like getting punched in the nose hard enough to get a nosebleed. I read that at word-detective.com

That's also where I learned that the word "exorbitant" comes from a Latin word that meant "to jump the tracks." This doesn't make much sense to me, but there you have it.

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You've heard of Reddit's Ask Me Anything. Well, what would you ask Clay Thompson, our resident guru of random knowledge? E-mail your questions to clay.thompson@arizonarepublic.com , and check back at clay.azcentral.com for his often hilarious responses.