Grant’s 7-year-old son has gotten into Ancient Greek, of all things. While it’s a joy to teach your kids interesting things, a child’s eagerness to learn also poses a challenge for parents. You don’t want to squelch their...
Today’s most popular dog names are Max and Bella. In the Middle Ages, though, dogs would answer to names like Amiable. Or Nosewise. Or even … Clench. ? Is the term redneck derogatory? Some folks proudly claim that name. They say...
It’s the Up Goer Five Challenge! Try to describe something complex using only the thousand most common words in English. It’s a useful mental exercise that’s harder than you might think. Also, if you want to make a room dark, you...
The term preventive is much more common than preventative, particularly in American English, but it’s just a matter of preference. No need to get argumentative about it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Preventive vs...
Teresa in Plano, Texas, noticed airport cancellation boards spelling the past tense of cancel both canceled and cancelled. In the United States, canceled with one l is usual, while British, Canadian, and many other English varieties typically use...
Joanne of Port St. Lucie, Florida, has a Scrabble nemesis: zax, a word that once cost her a challenge and later disappeared from the dictionary her friends checked. It is a valid Scrabble word for a roofing tool and a variant of sax, from an Old...