It’s the art of constructive feedback: If you’re a teacher with a mountain of papers to grade, you may find yourself puzzling over which kinds of notes in the margins work best. Martha and Grant discuss strategies for effective paper-grading. And...
You pick up what you think a glass of water and take a sip, but it turns out to be Sprite. What’s the word for that sensation when you’re expecting one thing and taste something else? Also, slang from college campuses, like ratchet and dime piece...
If you’re sending out party invitations, what’s a sure-fire way to get hold of everyone? Email? Snailmail? Facebook? Texting? Twitter? Or a plain old-fashioned phone call? Different folks have different communication preferences, and accommodating...
An old book of proverbs gave us this one, which could be taken as a good thing or a warning: Wedlock is a padlock. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Wedlock is a Padlock” I was looking at an old book of Proverbs the other day and...
Did you ever wonder why we capitalize the pronoun “I,” but not any other pronoun? Also, the romantic story behind the term halcyon days, the origin of the phrase “like white on rice,” and the linguistic scuttlebutt on the word scuttlebutt. Plus, a...
The good thing about lending someone your time machine? You pretty much get it back immediately. “I know, right?!” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Lending Your Time Machine” Grant, I have an aphorism that I thought you would like...