Why is it harder to talk if we don’t move our hands? Even when we’re talking on the phone we feel the need to gesture to aid communication. A new book offers a look at the relatively new field of gesture studies. And: Ever wonder why we describe the...
How do you pronounce pecan? Is it pee-KAHN or PEE-kan? And why are there different pronunciations of the name of this nut? The word pecan was borrowed into English more than once, and from numerous Native American languages that had variations on...
If someone’s gone pecan, they’re doomed, defeated, and down on their luck. This idiom, common in New Orleans, probably caught on because of its rhyme. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gone Pecan, A Southern Saying” Hello, you have...
You say puh-KAHN, I say PEE-can. Just how do you pronounce the name of the nut called a pecan? Turns out, there are several correct pronunciations. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pecan Pronunciation” Hello, you have A Way with...
What do pigs have to do with piggyback rides? We get a lesson from a listener in the fine art of speaking gibberish. What’s the correct way to pronounce pecan? The French have the Academie Française, but what authority do we have for the English...
scatter hoarding n.— «Every year, the squirrels plant a forest of pecan trees for me. They observe a practice called “scatter hoarding.” That means they harvest nuts and such and bury them all over the place. That way, no single raid by a competing...