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...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski says his wife, the poet Jennifer Michael Hecht, has pointed out that there are some people who shouldn’t be classified as ne’er-do-wells, because every once in a while, they do manage to do something right. Perhaps, she says...
A couple is not necessarily the same as a pair; it can certainly mean more than two, and it’s always dependent on context. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Couple vs. Pair” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Yes, this is Noah...
Carol in Denton, Texas, wonders whether a drawer can hold six pairs of socks or six pair. Pairs is by far the more common plural in standard use, especially when counting separate sets. But six pair of socks is also heard, particularly when the...
An Indianapolis listener has a copy of a wedding poem that refers to the thrice-happy pair. Is a thrice-happy pair three times as happy as anyone else? Martha explains that the idea goes all the way back to Roman poetry. Here’s an example from a...
A physicist is curious about the term learning curve. He pictures it as a pair of axes. But if that’s the case, what’s X and what’s Y? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Etymology of Learning Curve” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
