Simon Ager’s site Omniglot.com is stacked with full-deckisms from around the world. In English-speaking countries, someone who’s not quite with it is said to be “two sandwiches short of a picnic.” In Germany, however, this is...
Grant recommends two blogs about writing well and copyediting: Merrill Perlman writes The Language Corner blog for the Columbia Journalism Review, and Philip B. Corbett of the New York Times reports on actual grammatical and usage mistakes in that...
A Japanese idiom, referring to someone who takes credit for another’s work, translates as “doing sumo in someone else’s underwear.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Japanese Idiom” You’re...
Multiple modals, as in the phrase “I thought y’all may would have some more of them,” have their own logic and are well understood by many in the American South. The Database of Multiple Modals compiled by Paul Reed and Michael...
The Century Dictionary contains a list of amended spellings from the late 1800s that only creates more of the confusion it set out to alleviate. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Amended Spellings from 1800s”...
Martha offers excellent writing advice from the former editor of People magazine, Landon Y. Jones. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Writing Advice from an Editor” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m...