Methylphenidate, a mild stimulant used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy, was first synthesized in 1944 by Italian chemist Leandro Panizzon. He named it for his wife Marguerite, who went by Rita, which is why methylphenidate is more commonly called Ritalin. 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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