Nancy in Dallas, Texas, shares a funny story about a preschooler’s misunderstanding of the expression in the meantime, meaning “in the interim.” The mean in meantime derives from a Latin medius, “in the middle,” the source also of such words as...
After Sarah moved from Wisconsin to Iowa, she sparked some momentary confusion when she asked a store clerk where his TYME machine was. In parts of Wisconsin, Florida, and Michigan there are automated teller machines, or ATMs, called TYME machines...
On Twitter, a linguist reports that she and her Russian husband had a humorous misunderstanding about the meaning of the word barefoot. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Barefoot Misunderstanding” One of the things that’s fun about...
We’ve talked before about kids’ funny misunderstandings of words. Martha shares another story from a Dallas, Texas, listener. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Kids Misunderstand Things and Make Us Laugh” We’ve talked before on the...
Remember misunderstanding certain words as a child? Maybe you figured “cat burglars” only stole cats, or assumed guerrilla fighters must be angry apes. Martha and Grant discuss childhood misunderstandings about language. Also this week, Yankee...
Martha relates a story from a listener in Valdosta, Georgia, about her four-year-old’s misunderstanding of a homophone in her expression “a little hoarse.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “A Little Hoarse” Here’s another one of...