Science journalist Laura Spinney’s new book Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global (Bookshop|Amazon) shows how lots of languages as diverse as Hindi, Italian, and English all stem from a single prehistoric ancestral tongue. A basic word for the...
A Minnesota couple thinks there should be a word in the English language for the act of grandparents who relocate to the town where their grandchildren live, specifically to be near the little ones. They propose the word grandate. This is part of a...
Connie in Santee, California, is curious about a term she read in Isabel Wilkerson’s acclaimed history of the Great Migration out of the Jim Crow South, The Warmth of Other Suns (Bookshop|Amazon). A shotgun house is a narrow house, the width of one...
In an interview with the literary journal Callaloo, the poet Jay Wright tells a story about giving a poetry reading and then explaining his work in response to a question from a young member of the audience. This is part of a complete episode...
Is the term expat racist? Journalist Laura Secorun argues that the word expat implies a value judgment, suggesting that Westerners who move to another country are adventurous, while the term immigrant suggests someone who likely moved out of...
If something’s still right touchous, that means it’s still a painful area, be it a bruise on the leg or an emotional sore spot. No touching what’s still right touchous! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Touchous” Hello, you have A...
