Ben Zimmer published a brilliant collection of internet memes from the past twenty years in a the journal American Speech. Memes like facepalming and the O, rly? owl have allowed us to communicate otherwise unwritable sentiments via the internet...
The 2010 winner of the “Best Picture” Oscar has a Seattle woman wondering about the term hurt locker. Ben Zimmer wrote about it recently in his column at the Visual Thesaurus and we talk about it, too. Here’s the searing poem by...
Like mushrooms in fallen leaves, new words keep popping up overnight. Also, is there an English word that means “the in-laws of your son or daughter“? And what does it mean when someone says, “Well, that was odder than Dick’s...
There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some estimates, they’re dying off at the rate of one every week. What’s lost when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question and efforts to record some endangered...
A California man says that he thinks he is increasingly hearing locutions like “50 is the new 30” and “pink is the new black” and “blogs are the new resumé.” He’s curious about the origin of this X is the...
A woman wonders about a phrase from her past: “I’m going to beat you like a red-headed stepchild.” Martha and Grant discuss gingerism, or prejudice against redheads. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of ““Red...