Kennings are compound words that have metaphorical meanings, such as whale-road meaning “sea.” They’re often found in Anglo-Saxon poetry, such as The Seafarer and Beowulf, but there are modern ones as well, such as rugrats for...
Grant’s 7-year-old son has gotten into Ancient Greek, of all things. While it’s a joy to teach your kids interesting things, a child’s eagerness to learn also poses a challenge for parents. You don’t want to squelch their...
We talked about passed away versus died on a previous episode, and got a lot of responses on our Facebook page saying that phrases like “I’m sorry for your loss” don’t do justice to the reality of what happened. This is part...
Two years after his wife died of tuberculosis at the age of 25, physicist Richard Feynman wrote her an extraordinarily touching letter that remained sealed until after his death. This is part of a complete episode.
Sorry, Californians—the word dude actually comes from New York City, and goes all the way back to the 1800s. This is part of a complete episode.
One of our listeners was visiting the Orchid House at the San Diego Zoo and happened across the word fugacious, meaning “blooming only briefly.” The word can also apply to one’s mood, and shares a Latin root with...