Nancy in Newport, Kentucky, says friends used to refer to her young son and daughter as a pigeon pair. Doves and pigeons tend to have two chicks at a time, and at one point, it was believed that these offspring always consisted of one male and one...
Twelve-year-old Gagnon from Newport, Oregon, wonders: What’s the difference between a motor and an engine? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Motor v. Engine” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Ganyan...
Wendy from San Diego, California, is curious about the soda fountain treat known in Rhode Island and parts of Massachusetts as a cabinet. Elsewhere it’s called a milk shake, frappe, velvet, or frost. This is part of a complete episode...
When someone says He didn’t lick that off the grass, it means he’s inherited a behavior from relatives or picked it up from those around them. This phrase is particularly common in Northern Ireland. This is part of a complete episode...
Grant talks about a Jack Hitt article on dying languages in the New York Times, which points out that sometimes “the last living speaker” of a language…isn’t. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Last Living...
sausage boom n.— «Containment booms, which prevent oil from floating free on the surface, and sausage booms, which are stuffed with absorbent material to soak oil from the water, are being used around the ship, and near shore.» —“Oil...

