Hillary in Woodstock, Vermont, says she’s always pronounced mayonnaise as MY-oh-nayz. Is that pronunciation legit? The original French name of this cold, creamy sauce has never fully transitioned into English, so there are at least 15 different...
What do you say when you’re in a restroom and someone knocks on the door? Many people answer Ocupado!, which has made its way from bilingual signage–including old airline seat cards from the 1960’s–to common speech. This is part of a complete...
Books that make great gifts for language-lovers, the difference between a nerd and a geek, and talk about a new term, poutrage, and what do you call the crust in the corners of your eyes after a night’s sleep?
What is the proper use and pronunciation of the French term coup de grâce? Grant and Martha explain how the term has been twisted, both in pronunciation and meaning. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Coup de Grâce” Hello, you have A...
In the novel Jane Eyre, characters sometimes speak whole sentences in French. A high school English teacher says her students wonder if there’s a term for inserting whole sentences from another language into fiction. Grant talks about the use of...