In her newsletter Bloom Anywhere, writer and editor Gwen Moran relates a conversation with her oncologist, who discouraged her from using the term bucket list. As a result, Moran began replacing the expression bucket list with bliss list. She suggests that this little change in vocabulary is a helpful way to focus on finding joy in smaller, meaningful moments each day, rather than big-ticket (or big-bucket) items. This is part of a complete episode.
In English, you can express skepticism with the classic saying when pigs fly. In Tagalog, a similar sentiment is expressed with a phrase that translates “when the crow turns white, when the heron turns black,” and there’s a Hungarian phrase that...
Dax in Santa Cruz, California, wonders: Now that we’re into the 21st century, when will people stop saying that initial 20 when referring to a year such as 2028 the way we dropped the 19 in the term 1980s and just started referring to the ’80s? This...
Subscribe to the fantastic A Way with Words newsletter!
Your co-hosts Martha and Grant send occasional fun messages with language headlines, event announcements, interesting linguistic tidbits, and new episode links. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what’s happening with the show.
