Why do we call a peanut a goober? The word comes from the Bantu languages of East Africa. This is part of a complete episode.
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Why do we call a peanut a goober? The word comes from the Bantu languages of East Africa. This is part of a complete episode.
According to Gobsmacked: The British Invasion of American English (Bookshop|Amazon) by Ben Yagoda, the word smarmy, meaning “unctuous” or “ingratiating,” may come from a 19th-century magazine contest, in which readers sent in...
Mary Beth in Greenville, South Carolina, wonders: Why do we say four-oh-nine for the number 409 instead of four-zero-nine or four-aught-nine? What are the rules for saying either zero or oh or aught or ought to indicate that arithmetical symbol...
I remember this phone call. It’s been almost a decade, and I’m still just as in love with the English language as I was then. I was so happy to have a chance to be on this show. My father loaded several seasons of it onto my first MP3, and I listened to them almost every day. I’m glad to know that I can always come back and listen to them again.