955. This week, we're looking at the curious origins and histories behind common idioms and expressions that use "black," like "Black Friday," "black sheep," "in-the-black," and more. Then we switch gears to explore what happens when phonetic alphabets go delightfully rogue, like in comedy bits and songs.

The Black Friday segment was written by Julia DiGeronimo, a recent graduate and a freelance writer from Northern New Jersey.

| Jack Parr phonetic alphabet comedy skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfLaY-R9kaU

| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/black-friday/transcript

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game.

| Grammar Girl books.

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

Why is Black Friday black? The NATO alphabet. Byeloveyou.

Grammar Girl: For Writers and Language Lovers.

Why is Black Friday black? The NATO alphabet. Byeloveyou.