One old sense of the word stranger means “a lone tea leaf floating in a cup of tea.” A longtime superstition holds that such a lone leaf means a stranger will soon show up at the door. In Britain, a host may offer to pour a cup of tea...
Sean in Asheville, North Carolina, wonders how to pronounce the nearby town of Leicester. Say it the way the locals do. It’s part of a family of British place names affected by vowel reduction and haplology, the omission of a sound or syllable...
The word fracas denotes a loud quarrel, but how do you pronounce it? There are several ways, in part depending in part on whether you speak British English or American English. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “How Do You...
Pam in New York City wonders if bidding someone farewell with toodle-oo or toodle-loo derives from the French expression à tout à l’heure, “see you soon.” The French connection is plausible, but the English form appears earlier than World War II...
In British English, the exercise known as push-ups in the United States goes by the name press-ups. The Spanish term is lagartijas, a lagartija being a small lizard that sometimes moves in a similar way. The English word alligator comes from the...
In Britain, to be on the razzle means to be celebrating wildly. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “On the Razzle” Do you know the expression on the razzle? No, it sounds British. It is British. If you’re on the...