The art of the invitation can be tricky. An inviter’s idea of invitation may be taken by an invitee as merely mentioning an event while they’re nearby. One such a misunderstanding went on for months! Plus, George Saunders, winner of the Booker...
Christy in Norfolk, Virginia, shares a funny story about how she and a friend failed to communicate about an invitation. The friend often mentioned that she and some pals were going to a club, assuming that Christy would understand that she was also...
When Julie, a journalism student at California’s San Francisco State University, got her dream job covering the San Francisco Giants for a season, she noticed while transcribing interviews that the players seemed to use the terms somebody...
Scratching an itch is far more common than itching a scratch. Both are grammatically correct, but the latter is considered informal. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Scratching an Itch” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello there...
A TV meterologist in Morehead, Minnesota, wonders about the word sky. Is it incorrect to use it in the plural? We often refer to the skies over a large area, as in “the skies over Kansas.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sky vs...
Is there a difference between reticent and reluctant? Reticent more specifically involves reluctance to speak–it comes from the Latin root meaning “silent,” and is a relative of the word tacit–whereas you can be reluctant to do anything. This is...