Surf’s up! When surfers describe the waves as going gangbusters, it’s a great time out on the water. But why that word? Plus, a thesaurus of flavors serves up delicious writing about the taste of foods and spices. And speaking of flavors, the...
A traffic-light sundae is a dish of vanilla ice cream decorated with red, white, and green cherries, topped with nuts, crushed fruit, or whipped cream. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Traffic-Light Sundae” Grant, have you ever had...
Listeners continue to weigh in on the topic of what to call those impromptu, free-for-all dinners at home where everyone just cobbles together their own dish with whatever leftovers or ingredients are handy. Frances writes from Bluffton, South...
Is it ever okay to write the word it’s to indicate the possessive? Is the correct sentence “The dog is chewing its bone,” or “The dog is chewing it’s bone”? It’s easy to figure out once you know the formula: It’s = it is. Grant mentions that there’s...
In an earlier episode, we discussed linguistic false friends, those words in foreign languages that look like familiar English words, but mean something quite different. Martha reads an email response from a listener who learned the hard way that in...
Martha and Grant revisit a listener term for a particular doughnut, known as a “Bismark,” and share other listener mail about the “Bismarks” where they reside. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Bismark Doughnuts” Hey, Grant, you...