Your telephone is for talking, right? Or is it? We’re guessing it’s been a while since you sat next to a telephone waiting for it to ring. In fact, maybe you’re one of those people who HATE to see that voicemail message light...
Some New York City street names also denote whole industries, such as Wall Street and Madison Avenue. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Industry Street Names” Out of all the New York language that I know, I think the...
When is it okay to correct someone’s grammar? A listener from Madison, Wisconsin, says a friend went for a parent-teacher conference only to notice that a sign in the classroom read “Things your thankful for.” Should the teacher be...
OMG, text messaging! It’s destroying the English language, corrupting young minds, turning us into illiterates. It’s probably shrinking the ozone layer, too. Or is it? In his new book, Txting: The Gr8 Db8, David Crystal offers a...
drunk bus n.— «As a staggering girl’s stiletto heel punctures your ankle and the guy next to you throws up all over himself, the humid air becomes filled with an earsplitting, slurred version of the JMU Fight Song. Welcome to the Night...
Before “Recombobulation Area,” “Discombobulate” Joined 1830s American Joke Words Like “Absquatulate”
At Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport, a post-security sign reading “RECOMBOBULATION AREA” plays on discombobulate, meaning to confuse or throw into disorder. Rissa from Madison wondered where discombobulate came from after seeing it while...