In Japanese, an irresistibly cute baby might be described with an expression that translates as “Even if I put it in my eye, it wouldn’t hurt.” It’s a form of what psychologists call cute aggression, or the overwhelming urge to squeeze, crush, or...
Taylor in Casper, Wyoming, carefully prepared her three-year-old son to meet his great grandparents for the first time. He misunderstood the great, and calls them Grandma and Grandpa Grape. Naturally, so does the rest of the family. Grant observes...
Following up on our earlier conversations about what to call grandparents who move house in order to be nearer their grandkids, Martha proposes trailing grandparents, patterened after the term trailing spouse, which refers to a situation where one...
A Virginia listener says that often when she’d leave the house, her grandfather would tell her Remember you belong to the land of the blue hen’s chicken. What in the world did that mean? The feisty blue hen is the state bird of Delaware. This is...
A Minnesota couple thinks there should be a word in the English language for the act of grandparents who relocate to the town where their grandchildren live, specifically to be near the little ones. They propose the word grandate. This is part of a...
Rachel in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, wonders: Why do some longtime married couples refer to each other as Mother and Father? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Why Do Some Married Couples Refer to Each Other as “Mother” and “Father,” Even...