What would you serve a plumber who comes over for dinner? How about … leeks? The hosts play a word game called “What Would You Serve?” Also, can you correct someone’s grammar without ruining a new relationship? And is there...
A Little Rock, Arkansas, caller has been going out with a Chinese woman. Her English is pretty good, but he wonders about the most polite way to correct a minor grammar mistake without ruining a new relationship. This is part of a complete episode.
Why is it that what you say to your family and what they hear are different? If you say “no,” your child hears “maybe,” and if you say “maybe,” she hears “ask again and again,” and “yes” is...
How do you pronounce the word llama? A caller who learned in school that Spanish “ll” is pronounced like English “y” thinks it’s a mistake to pronounce this animal’s name as LAH-ma. Is he correct? This is part of...
zombie economy n.— «Yuen Pau Woo was the economist responsible for Japan in Singapore’s central bank when the Japanese bubble—helped by a run-up in real estate prices that made Park Ave. co-ops look affordable—caused the world’s second...
meteorwrong n.— Note: Also sometimes spelled “meteowrong.” «Nicklin said many people often mistake common terrestrial rocks for the kind that fall from outer space. He refers to them as “meteorwrongs...