Alan from Austin, Texas, asks: How do y’all punctuate the contraction of you all? Is it y’all or ya’ll? You’d think it’d follow the pattern of she’ll and we’ll, but y’all is an exception to the rule. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
A Texas family has a dispute with a prospective in-law who happens to be a chef. Is their favorite spicy chocolate cake properly known as a sheath cake or a sheet cake? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sheath Cake vs. Sheet Cake”...
When a proper Southern lady fans herself and exclaims, “I do believe I have the vapors,” what vapors is she talking about, exactly? A caller from Austin, Texas wants to know the origin of this term. Just how did it come to apply to a whole range of...
An Austin teenager wants to know why we refer to a girl who behaves boyishly as a tomboy. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Tomboy” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hey, I’m sure my sister would disagree. Who is this? Get her on...
This week Puzzle Guy Greg Pliska presented a quiz called Categorical Allies. He gave a word and Martha and Grant had to come up with the second word that was in the same category as the first and began with the same two letters that the first one...
Speaking of the more recent past: When you played hide-and-seek as a child, did you yell “Ollie, Ollie Oxen Free”? Or “Ally Ally in Free”? Or maybe “Ally Ally Ump Free”? “Ole Ole Olsen Free”? Or something else? A caller in Montevideo, Uruguay, is...
