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Some college students are using the word loyalty as a synonym for monogamy. Are the meanings of these words now shifting? Plus, a biologist discovers a new species of bat, then names it after a poet he admires. Also, warm memories of how a childhood...
Daniel in Youngstown, Ohio, reports that his grandfather used an odd expression when the whole family left the house: We’re off like a herd of turtles — or a turd of hurtles! The first part of the expression is one of several similarly silly...
This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Australia, including aerial ping-pong, pumpkin squatter, and…kangarooster? They explain the connection between stereotypes and stereos, and why we call the person clearing tables in a restaurant a...
Your dining companion suddenly starts choking. Once his coughing subsides, he exclaims, “Whew! Something when down my Sunday throat!” Sunday throat? Martha explains this odd expression. This is part of a complete episode.
A caller is curious about the odd expression “to who laid the rail,” which is used to mean, among other things, “thoroughly, completely, excessively.” You can see Grant’s work on the term at the Double-Tongued...