Punctuation is more than a set of rules. In her book On the Mark: From Periods to Interrobangs, How Punctuation Remade the World (Bookshop\|Amazon), writer Florence Hazrat traces the history of those dots and squiggles, showing how they convey tone...
What’s the common bond that links the names Vanessa, Cedric, and Pamela? They’re all names coined by famous authors. Vanessa was invented by Jonathan Swift as a pet name for his lover Esther Van Homrigh.The 16th-century poetSir Phillip Sidney coined...
Book recommendations and the art of apology. Martha and Grant share some good reads, including an opinionated romp through English grammar, a Spanish-language adventure novel, an account of 19th-century dictionary wars, and a gorgeously illustrated...
Mike in Jacksonville, Florida, is curious about the phrase There’s no use in keeping the dogs and doing the barking yourself. His dad would use it when delegating a chore to one of his kids. As early as the 1500s, the proverb Don’t keep...
The wittily named Index, A History of The by Dennis Duncan (Bookshop|Amazon) is a comprehensive and engaging history of that part of books most of us take for granted. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Index, A History of...
Nine-year-old Evie calls from Texas to ask about the origin of the phrase raining cats and dogs. This idiom alludes to the cacophonous nature of a heavy downpour. Around the world, expressions about torrential rain also connote the idea of a noisy...
