Psychological research shows that when it comes to letters of the alphabet, people tend to like their own initials, perhaps because of a sense of ownership. This phenomenon is called the name-letter effect. This is part of a complete episode...
Busman’s holiday is time off spent doing something closely related to one’s work, not necessarily clocking in on a day off. Tracy in Pleasanton, California, remembers using it to describe her father, who worked for TWA at San Francisco airport and...
Howdy! Recently we talked about why some puns seem clever, while others fall flat as a pancake. Also, what’s the difference between “luggage” and “baggage”? What do you call someone who doesn’t eat fish? Plus, a royal quiz, “the die is cast,”...
Martha describes a funny linguistic misunderstanding she had while trying to read Harry Potter in Spanish. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Harry Potter en Español” Grant, we were talking earlier in the show about that point in...
likear v.— «Recientemente se observó en un post del Ángel que Likear es un homógrafo en Tijuana pero eso no posible en Los, Califas pues. En Tijuana se da la variante de Likear (wachar), Likear (de gustar=like) y Likea (likear=gotearse). Pero en...
chichitachi n.— «Juan Díaz, residente en el Campo de Gibraltar, aporta algunas voces del Spanglish de la comarca. Por ejemplo, chinga (=chewing gum, chicle), ovatay (=over time, horas extraordinarias). En la misma línea de chiquichanca, añade...