In The Timbuktu Review, travel writer Wayne Curtis offers excellent advice about how to resist cliches when writing about visiting a new place. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Resisting Travel Clichés” Wayne Curtis is a wonderful...
What should you say to someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one? When a person is experiencing a loss like that, it matters less what you say and more that you show up in the first place. Non-verbal communication of your sympathy can be far...
Early 20th-century humorist Gelett Burgess is credited with coining the word blurb for “a bit of promotional language,” such as recommendations on a book jacket. To create a buzz for his 1906 book Are You A Bromide?, Burgess devised advertising copy...
While reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Sidney from Indianapolis, Indiana, stumbled across the use of the term stereotyped notice to denote a printed announcement of a meeting. It’s an example of this word’s earliest sense;...
You know those dull sports clichés like “We came to play” and “He left it all on the field”? They’re called bromides. The hosts explain the connection between the tired platitude and the sedative called potassium bromide. The answer involves a book...
Is the proper phrase toe the line or tow the line? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “”Toe the Line” vs. “Tow the Line”” Hello, you have A Way with Words? Hi. Hi, who’s this? This is Ms. Gallup at Hoover High School. Oh, fantastic...
