How To Do Everything The Breakfast Rule
Mar 4, 2026
Keith Houston, author and punctuation historian, explains punctuation history and how new Unicode characters get proposed. Peter Sagal, long‑time radio panel stalwart, shares behind‑the‑scenes stories about the show's 'Breakfast Rule' and vivid editing choices. They discuss grossness limits, a famously cut colonoscopy bit, and whether language needs new possessive marks.
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The Breakfast Rule For Broadcast Grossness
- The Breakfast Rule is a simple editorial test for grossness on air.
- If a story would disgust you while you're eating breakfast, producers cut or question it, illustrated by Wait, Wait's internal review process.
Cutting A Joke For Visual Grossness
- A taped joke about colonoscopy prep and 'my diarrhea vacation' nearly aired but editors cut a final line.
- Peter Sagal played the edited bit; the removed punchline involved the vivid image 'salad coming out of your butt,' which Lorna rejected.
Visual Detail Trumps Topic In Editing
- Editors weigh how visual an image will be for listeners, not just the topic itself.
- Lorna White flagged 'salad coming out of your butt' as too visual because it could gross out breakfast-eating listeners.