Lawrence from San Antonio, Texas, wonders if spelling is a factor in the different meanings of awful, which describes something negative, and awesome, which describes something positive. Spelling doesn’t come into play here; in fact, for years...
How do languages change and grow? Does every language acquire new words in the same way? Martha and Grant focus on how that process happens in English and Spanish. Plus, the stories behind the Spanish word gringo and the old instruction to...
Travis in Bozeman, Montana, wonders why awesome feels positive while awful is negative, even though both come from awe. Awful is the older word, going back at least a thousand years, when it meant “full of awe,” commanding respect or reverential...
A Vermont caller feels the word awesome is overused to the point of being almost meaningless. There’s a term for that. It’s called semantic weakening. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Semantic Weakening of...
mean adj.— «“Mean” in Hawaii slang is like “awesome.”.. I think mainland slang says “sick” now a days (at least that’s how my hubby explains it).» —“From Debbie… hahahha… I mean, Denise...