Lydia in Portland, Maine, was texting someone about having seen an opossum, but wasn’t quite sure how to write that out with the article. Is it a or an opposum? Like most Americans, she drops the initial unstressed syllable, making it sound like...
Cute, which comes from acute, once meant “shrewd and perceptive”–“sharp,” in other words–rather than “adorable.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of Cute” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, Martha. My name is Steve from...