Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has been pondering the -ly often found at the of adverbs, and that inspired him to craft a puzzle about words that seem to be adverbs, but aren’t. For example, what fake adverb is suggested by this clue: Like a sudden charge...
Nate in Tucson, Arizona, says his grandmother from Nova Scotia used to express surprise with the exclamation dear me suz! It goes back to the 1820s and is likely a form of dear me, sirs! Variants include suz alive, law me suz, oh suz alive, and law...
Bob from Mount Airy, North Carolina, says that while growing up in Michigan, he and others said Brr! in cold weather. But where he lives now, he often hears people exclaim Oosh! As noted in Gratitude for Shoes: Growing up Poor in the Smokies...
Susan from Seattle, Washington, has observed her toddler granddaughter starting to exclaim Uh-oh! when something goes amiss. Is that something she picked up from adults, or do adults pick it up from children? By 18 months, children have already...
Responding to our chat about tchotchkes, or “knick knacks,” a listener says they have heard such trinkets called piff-paff in England. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Piff-Paff” We got an email from Whitney Quisenberry, who was...