There’s a proper noun out there that rhymes with orange, and it’s The Blorenge, a hill in Wales. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Rhymes with Orange” Grant, I was so excited this week to learn about a...
What’s the difference between a plaster and a Band-Aid? The first term is used in England for “adhesive bandage” and the other is an American brand name that’s almost completely generified. The use of plaster for this type of bandage in Britain...
The term callow goes back to Old English calu, meaning “bald.” The original sense of callow referred to young birds lacking feathers on their heads, then referred to a young man’s down cheek, and eventually came to mean...
Step into a traditional English pub, it’ll be a while before everyone knows your name. A long while, in fact. The rules of conversational engagement are different in the UK from what you’d find in a place like Cheers. Kate Fox’s...
Cara, a real-estate lawyer in Rhode Island, was surprised by gazump, meaning to cheat a home buyer at the last minute, often by raising the price just before the contract is signed. The word turns up in the United States in the 1920s, apparently...
What does cheeky mean? How about the words twee and naff? A British ex-pat says she finds it hard to convey the nuances of these adjectives to her American friends. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “British Terms” Hi...