In this week’s episode, “It was bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.” Martha and Grant discuss their favorite first lines from novels. Also this week, palmer-housing, beanplating, meeting cute, bad...
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...
A fifth-year senior? That term is so 2007. These days, college students just refer to that extra year of school as taking a victory lap. Grant shares this and other examples of campus slang collected by University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill...
A Marine stationed in California says that growing up in North Carolina, he understood the expression fixin’ to or fixing to to mean “to be about to.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Fixin’ To”...
“Anymore, I play golf instead of tennis.” Grant explains that this grammatical construction is known as the “positive anymore.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Positive Anymore” Hello, you...
After passing by an establishment featuring adult entertainment, an Asheville, N.C., man began wondering: When did the word adult come to refer to “material not suitable for children”? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...