Everyone knows you don’t start a sentence with but. But why? Also, how voice recognition technology is changing the way we think and write and what English sounds like to foreigners. Plus, where cockamamie comes from, oddly translated movie...
What’s so special about the phrase Sit on a pan, Otis? It’s an example of a palindrome — a word or phrase that’s spelled the same backwards as it is forwards. This year’s contest known as the Oscars of the palindrome...
Take a sheet of paper. Fold it in half. Then fold it in half again. That’s called a French fold. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “French Fold” One theory of language suggests that there should be a word for every...
How did the word gay go from meaning lighthearted to homosexual? Also, why are elementary schools sometimes called grammar schools? Plus, imeldific, gone pecan, random Scrabble words, and the difference between borrow and lend. And the etiquette of...
The idiom safe and sound tells the story of the English language in three words: safe comes from French, and sound is a Germanic word with the same root as Gesundheit, meaning “health.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Why do the Brits pronounce the H in herbal? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Silent “H” in Herbal” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, guys. This is Kyle calling from Denton, Texas at the University of...