Vartan Gregorian, the academic, philanthropist, and indefatigable fundraiser, raised millions to support the New York Public Library, and eloquently described why libraries are an indispensable, inspiring part of any community. This is part of a...
Linguist Deborah Tannen has done extensive research into contrasting conversational styles, particularly the contrast between high-involvement speakers, whose interruptions signal great enthusiasm and engagement, and high-considerateness speakers...
Dan from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is a jogger wants a word to say when coming up behind someone so as not to startle them. Pass on your left? Beep beep? Excuse me? Or is it better to make a non-verbal noise, like shuffling your feet or clapping your...
Inspired by our conversation about the language of leave-taking and the Southern expression Y’all come go home with us, Claire in Durham, North Carolina, calls to reminisce about her experience as a teenager in Mexico and the extended good...
To give someone a wide berth means to provide ample room. This phrase is nautical in origin, where it means “the distance ships give each other to avoid crashing.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “To Give a Wide...
When Audrey was growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the late 1990s, it seemed that everyone around her used the word jawn as an all-purpose substitute for other words, as in I took my jawn to the jawn and we had a bunch of jawns...