Are we a proverb culture anymore? In a largely urban society, we’re not likely to immediately recognize the meaning of the saying between hay and grass, meaning “weak” or “feeble.” This is part of a complete episode...
Pie charts were invented by the Scottish engineer William Playfair, but the name for these visual representations of data came later. In other countries, this type of graph goes by names for other round foods. In France, a pie chart is sometimes...
If someone is two plums short of a Happy Meal—or more commonly, two french fries short of a Happy Meal—they’re they’re not playing with a full deck. In fact, such good-natured teases are sometimes called fulldeckisms. This is part of a...
In the Kiswahili language, the dead go into two categories: sasha for the recently departed, and zamani for spirits not known by anyone living. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Categories of Deceased in Kiswahili...
The Pope has several Twitter feeds — and one of them’s entirely in Latin! But how do you adapt an ancient language to the modern world of selfies and hashtags? Plus, pit bull lovers are giving their dogs a linguistic makeover;...
Finns say their word sisu meaning “guts” or “fortitude” characterizes their national identity. Does your culture have such a word, like the Portuguese term saudade, perhaps? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...