Andy from Kensington, Maryland, wonders about the word sycophant. Among the ancient Greeks, a blackmailer or someone who maliciously prosecuted others was a sykophantēs, a word that comes from the Greek sykon, meaning “fig,” and phainein, “to show.”...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents a Common Bonds challenge. The object is to find one word that connects three others. For example, if the three words are cannon, leaf, and change, what single word connects them all? This is part of a complete episode...
Among biologists, a frog’s croak is known as an advertisement call. It’s a male frog’s way of making himself known. A Wisconsin listener says children in her area learn that this sound is jugarum, jugarum. Poet and editor Willard Espy...
How do you pronounce integral? Is the stress on the first or second syllable? Both ways are correct, although mathematicians and scientists who work with higher math more often stress the first. Stressing the second syllable reflects a well...
David from Matthews, North Carolina, grew up using the term cheese toastie for a type of grilled cheese sandwich. Cheese toasties are familiar in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, particularly around the cities of Decatur and Springfield. In the UK...
What’s the official state fish of Hawaii? It’s the humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa. The name translates as “little triggerfish with a small snout like a pig,” puaʻa being the Hawaiian word for “pig.” The triggerfish is named for the large spine on its back...
