If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling experience is so common among polyglots that linguists have a name for it. • The best writers create...
We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer involves the Boy Scouts, a baby, a craft project, and a city council meeting. • Instead of reversing...
At our recent appearance in Dallas, Texas, a listener asked about the use of fret as a transitive verb, as in “Don’t fret that child.” This usage is particularly common in the American South, and comes from the old notion of fret...
Kirk from New Braunfels, Texas, wonders about the origin of the word dad. It’s one of many names for a parent that arose simply from the sounds an infant makes when trying to communicate. This is part of a complete episode.
If you’re looking for yet another reason to buy an infant a present, there’s always Inside Out Day, which some people celebrate as the day when a baby has been out of the womb as long as they were in it. This is part of a complete...
Careful what you criticize! Not long ago, some words that sound perfectly normal today were considered gauche and grating on the ear. If the complainers had had their way, we couldn’t say a word like pessimism or use contact as a verb! Also...