We all lead busy lives—so are speed reading courses a good idea? Plus, if you hear someone speaking with a British accent, do you tend to assume they’re somehow more intelligent? And some common English surnames tell us stories about life in...
The plural of moose is moose. The word’s roots are in the name of the animal in the Algonquian language Abenaki. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Etymology of Moose” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Yeah, this is...
A listener in San Antonio is trying to decide how to address a mixed-gender graduating class from her nonprofit’s fellowship program. Alumnae is the plural for an all-female group of former students, while alumni works for an all-male group or a co...
What do your pronouns say about your own psychological makeup? If you use the word I a lot, does it mean you’re a leader . . . or a follower? A surprising study suggests that people of lower status in a group tend to use I the most. Also, a...
Training is usually a mass noun: you get training, not one training and three trainings. Ed, writing from the Phoenix School of Law, asks about the count-noun use in sentences such as “I had three trainings yesterday.” Some speakers are fine with...
Howdy, all -- Lots of new episodes heading your way, starting this weekend! Meanwhile, our most recent broadcast features idiosyncratic Scrabble rules, 800-lb. gorillas, "tickety-boo," the slang term "legit," and...