TagIrving, Texas

Addressing as “Son”

Particularly in the African-American community, the affectionate term son is often used for more than just young male offspring—most anyone can be addressed as son. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Addressing as “Son”” Hello, you...

Dead On

The idiom dead on, meaning “precisely,” might sound morbid, but it makes sense. It’s a reference to the fact that death is certain and absolute. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Dead On” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this...

Brung vs. Brought

Mike from Irving, Texas, has a co-worker who regularly uses brung instead of brought. Is it okay to say “he brung something”? The word brung is a dialectal variant that has existed alongside brought for centuries. It appears in the informal phrase...

U-Turn in Other Languages

If you’re driving and need to turn 180 degrees, you make a U-turn. But what do you make if you speak a language that doesn’t include the letter “U”? If you’re a Hindi speaker, what do you call wearing a V-neck sweater in an A-frame house? This is...