on a roll

role |rōl|

noun

an actor's part in a play, movie, etc.

• the function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation

ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from obsolete French roule 'roll,' referring originally to the roll of paper on which the actor's part was written.

play |plā|

ORIGIN Old English pleg(i)an [to exercise,] plega [brisk movement,] related to Middle Dutch pleien 'leap for joy, dance.'

story |ˈstôrē|

noun ( pl. -ries)

ORIGIN late Middle English : shortening of Latin historia 'history, story,' a special use in Anglo-Latin, perhaps originally denoting a tier of painted windows or sculptures on the front of a building (representing a historical subject).

stage |stāj|

ORIGIN Middle English (denoting a floor of a building, a platform, or a stopping place): shortening of Old French estage 'dwelling,' based on Latin stare 'to stand.' Current senses of the verb date from the early 17th cent.

fact |fakt|

noun

ORIGIN late 15th cent.: from Latin factum, neuter past participle of facere 'do.' The original sense was [an act or feat,] later [bad deed, a crime,] surviving in the phrase before (or after) the fact. The earliest of the current senses ( [truth, reality] ) dates from the late 16th cent.

metaphor |ˈmetəˌfôr; -fər|

noun

ORIGIN late 15th cent.: from French métaphore, via Latin from Greek metaphora, from metapherein 'to transfer.'