Rowan in Ottawa, Ontario, says her Irish mom used a puzzling word to indicate a sort of restless discontent not caused by anything in particular. It may be neamhchinnte, which means “uncertain” or “indecisive.” This is part...
James from Trabuco Canyon, California, learns that there’s a proper way to spell the letters of the alphabet. The letter J is spelled jay and H is spelled aitch. His own name would be spelled out as jay aye em ee ess. The letter Y is spelled...
A listener in Williamsburg, Virginia, wants to know the correct pronunciation of the condiment known as Worcestershire sauce. The proper pronunciation involves what linguists call haplology, the loss of a syllable next to a similar-sounding one...
Americans pronounce the letter Z like “zee,” while those in other English-speaking countries say “zed.” That’s because Noah Webster proposed lots of Americanized pronunciations and this is one of the few that stuck...
Considering that the first alphabet goes back as far as 1600 BC, it’s pretty remarkable how little has changed. Robert Fradkin, a classics professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert Fradkin illustrates this point with helpful...
Riddle time! What English word can have four of its five letters removed and still retain its original pronunciation? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Letter Removal Riddle” Hey Grant, I have a word riddle for you. Oh...