Does the expression “call a spade a spade” have racist roots? Martha explains that it derives from an ancient Greek phrase, but cautions against its use nevertheless. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Call a Spade...
Ennead, anyone? If you need a word for “a group of nine things,” that one will do the trick. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Ennead” Well, Grant, I’ve been back on FreeRice.com playing their game. You...
Kent in Dallas grew up calling the groove between the nose and upper lip a berber, a childhood coinage that even a makeup-counter consultant briefly adopted. The standard anatomical word is philtrum, also called the infranasal depression. It comes...
Here’s a riddle: “Nature requires five, custom gives seven, laziness takes nine, and wickedness eleven.” Think you know the answer? You’ll find it in this week’s episode, in which Grant and Martha discuss this and other...
The word borborygmic means “pertaining to rumblings in one’s tummy or intestines.” It derives from borborygmus (“bor-buh-RIG-muss”), a term for intestinal rumbling and a vivid example of onomatopoeia. Its bubbly B sounds make borborygmic especially...
Martha talks about the hoopoe, that colorful, clownish, extremely smelly bird—with a likely linguistic connection to defrauded hedge fund investors.