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Man’s Best Friend Paraprosdokian

“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” This kind of sudden, surprising turn in a sentence is called a paraprosdokian. Martha and Grant trade some examples. This is part of a...

Dried Fruit Names

Dry a grape and it becomes a raisin, dry a plum and it turns into a prune. Why don’t we just call them dried grapes and dried plums? This is part of a complete episode.

Faux Amis

Beware of false friends, those words that don’t translate the way you’d expect. For example, the word “gift” in German means “poison,” and the Spanish word “tuna” means “the fruit of the prickly...

Wacky Names for Colors

Bavarian Chalet. Mushroom Basket. Moose Point. Who in the heck comes up with the names of paint, anyway? Must be the same people who get paid to give names like Love Child, Sellout, and Apocalypse to shades of lipstick. Martha and Grant discuss...

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