Suppose you take off your sandals and then carry them while holding the straps in your hand. In that case, is it correct to call those straps handles? Phil in Omaha, Nebraska, has a longstanding dispute with a friend over that question. You might say you’re utilizing the straps as handles because the straps are meant to keep the shoes on your feet, but you’re using them to perform a different function. It’s not a question of semantics, but intention. This is part of a complete episode.
The so-called “lifestyle influencer accent” you hear in videos on TikTok and YouTube, where someone speaks with rising tones at the end of sentences and phrases, suggesting that they’re about to say something important, is a form of what linguists...
Meg in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, gets why the state highway department encourages drivers to use their blinkers when changing lanes, but placing a digital sign at the Sagamore Bridge that reads Use Ya Blinkah is, well, a lexical bridge too far. Meg’s...
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