You walk into a used bookstore, or pull down an old volume at the library, and there it is: The smell of old books. If you detect notes of vanilla in that intoxicating scent, there’s a reason. Also, why some people think the word awesome is...
Did you know reading poetry improves your prose? That includes hip-hop lyrics, too. Also, how linguist can guess where you come from based on how you speak. What do you call someone who picks the chocolate out of the trail mix? Plus, champing at...
Why does everyone hate the Comic Sans? Well, maybe not everyone, but a lot of people dislike it. In fact, graphic designer David Cadavy gave a whole Ignite Chicago talk on the topic. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Comic Sans”...
You may remember the call we had from Tony in Encinitas, California. He was curious about the term for an unusual hazing ritual.
Pickle, baboon, cupcake, snorkel, pumpkin, Kalamazoo—let’s face it, some words are just plain funny. But what makes some words funnier than others? Martha and Grant consider this question with an assist from Neil Simon’s play (and movie) The...
The H1N1 virus has a lot of people wondering about pandemics vs. epidemics. Grant explains the difference. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pandemics vs. Epidemics” We received an email recently from Paul in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin...