Yvette, a biology professor in Bismarck, North Dakota, wonders why some words are more pleasurable to say than others. Among her favorites: ovoviviparous, which describes animals whose eggs hatch inside the mother’s body or shortly after being deposited, and the name of the smoky jungle frog, Leptodactylus pentadactylus. The natural rhythm within certain words often helps make them pleasing to say, as do alliteration, rhyming, and reduplication of letters or syllables. This is partly what makes tongue twisters fun to repeat. Try this one: Ted had said that Ed had edited it. This is part of a complete episode.
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
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