Where in the world would you be likely to find sculch in your dooryard, or ask for just a dite of cream in your coffee? Martha has the answers in this minicast about some distinctive regional terms.
Martha talks about the hoopoe, that colorful, clownish, extremely smelly bird—with a likely linguistic connection to defrauded hedge fund investors.
podfade n.— «But there’s a problem with deciding to do a podcast on mortgages if you’re just in it for the money…after a few episodes you’re likely to experience what’s known in the industry as “podfade”—that’s when a podcast just… kind… of… goes…...
You’ve heard this happen: A singer belts out a song, and then afterward, she starts talking and you’re startled to hear what sounds like a completely different accent. What is it about singing that seems to change some people’s accents? A caller...
Grant goes through the mailbag, offering answers about the terms “nosy parker,” “out of pocket,” and about whether the word “falsehood” has its origins in medieval garb. He also throws a question out to listeners about what is supposedly a mild...
Remember Tom, the guy who’s still trying to recall a word he insists he learned long ago meaning “the points on a compass”? That call generated a boatload of proposed answers from listeners. But one response stood out above all the others, so Martha...