If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new tongue. But does this milestone mean you’re actually fluent? And a couple’s dispute over the word regret: Say you wish you’d been able...
Fans of the popular British baking show know that you don’t want your many-layered cake to concertina, or “collapse like an accordion.” The verb concertina, in this sense, derives from the name of an accordion-like instrument. This...
Dallas, who lives in Eugene, Oregon, wonders why we use number one and number two as euphemisms for “pee” and “poo.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Number One and Number Two for Pee and Poo”...
A member of our Facebook group posted a photo of a box that left him completely puzzled until he realized that if you look at the word spoons upside down, it spells suoods. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Suoods Upside...
Patricia in Crescent City, California, grew up hearing fussbudget, so fussbucket for a teething child sounded both wrong but oddly sensible. Fussbudget, meaning someone ill-tempered, overly critical, or full of fuss, goes back at least to 1870. The...
On our Facebook group, a listener posted a photo of a doubletake-worthy sign. in her local grocery, which reads, “We Now Offer Boxes to Bag Your Groceries.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Boxes to Bag...