Grant has the latest headlines from the world of language, including the debate over the name of the home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Is Beijing pronounced bay-JING or bay-ZHING? Also, a recent court decision concerning an offense that’s...
Grant dishes up the latest language headlines from around the world, including names so weird they sparked legal action. Two New Zealand parents really did name their daughter “Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii.” Also, what’s wrong...
brouse n.— Note: A variant spelling of, and derived from, the verb “browse.” The Oxford English Dictionary has this term dated to 1552. «Hiram said the winter of 1833 was bad for working out so they didn’t get much of the...
Tim in Indianapolis, a rugby referee, asks whether American football’s touchdown comes from rugby. Rugby does appear to be the source. The Oxford English Dictionary has an 1864 rugby example that predates American football, depending on how one...
What’s the trouble with using the expression “drink the Kool-Aid” to connote blind, unquestioning obedience to a politician? A caller is bothered by the grisly origin of the phrase—a reference to the 1978 mass suicide in Jonestown...
Martha discusses another word she happily tripped over in the dictionary: spanghew. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Spanghew” We were talking earlier about weird words that had stumped us the first time we encountered...