Whoever wrote “The Book of Love” neglected to include the handy emoticon <3, which looks like a heart if you turn your head sideways. Grant and Martha talk about how that bit of affectionate shorthand can function as a verb, and about...
A Texas listener came across the word Boche in a biography of a French statesman, and wants to know: What does it mean, exactly?
Hi from Martha and Grant! In our latest show, we talk about games that first made us realize that goofing with words and letters is fun. Martha recalls discovering the "F U N E X" word puzzle and Grant describes doing anagrams and...
A Wisconsin man says he learned an expression that sounds like quixibar from his father to describe something confusing or befuddling. But he’s never heard anyone else use it. Is it unique to his family? This is part of a complete episode...
Martha shares listener email about linguistic “false friends,” those perplexing words in other languages that look like English words, but mean something completely different. A case in point is the detergent popular in the Middle East...
A caller from Veroqua, Wisconsin, is fascinated by hoarfrost and wonders about the origin of its name. Grant explains its relation to the English term hoary. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Hoarfrost” Hello, you have A...