Like mushrooms in fallen leaves, new words keep popping up overnight. Also, is there an English word that means “the in-laws of your son or daughter“? And what does it mean when someone says, “Well, that was odder than Dick’s hatband!”?
Obamamania, Obamabot, Obamathon, Obamamentum— the list of variations on the name “Obama” goes on and on. Is there an English word that means “the in-laws of your son or daughter”? And what does it mean when someone says, “Well, that was odder than...
What do you call the parents of your son’s or daughter’s spouse? They’re your child’s in-laws, but what are they in relation to you and your spouse? A caller who spent years in Latin America says Spanish has a specific term for this: consuegro...
autogestion n.— «The ideas of worker ownership and worker self-management (also known as autogestion) are hardly new or even unusual; there are hundreds of such places in Latin America, thousands across the world, and they even enjoyed something of...
Some native Spanish speakers prefer the term Hispanic, while others adamantly insist on Latino. The hosts discuss the origins of these words, and a bit about the controversy over their use. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Hispanic...
It’s the wacky title of a new book by language enthusiast Elizabeth Little which has Martha and Grant talking about whether Coca-Cola and Chevy ran into cultural translation problems when selling products abroad. Did the Chevy Nova really sell...