The game of baseball has alway inspired colorful commentary. Sometimes that means using familiar words in unfamiliar ways. The word stuff, for example, can refer to a pitcher’s repertoire, to the spin on a ball, or what happens to the ball after a...
Jeff, a junior-high band director from Lafayette, Indiana, led a spring concert as part of the Bernstein at 100 celebration featuring work by Leonard Bernstein (pronounced BERN-stine or ?bərnstʌɪn) as well as composer Elmer Bernstein (pronounced...
We often hear that English is going to hell in a handbasket. Actually, though, linguistic handwringing about sinking standards and sloppy speech has been going on for centuries – at least as far back as the 1300’s! And: language also changes to fit...
Elisa from Long Island, New York, asks whether frequent (fri-KWENT) the verb can be pronounced with stress on the second syllable, unlike frequent (FREE-kwent) the adjective. Many two-syllable English words shift stress depending on part of speech...
Digital timepieces may be changing the way we talk, at least a little. There’s Bob o’clock (8:08), Big o’clock (8:19), and even Pi o’clock. Also this week, what do you call that gesture with your fingers when you want to make an image larger on a...