Robert in Tucson, Arizona, asks how reptile enthusiasts should pronounce in situ, the Latin phrase meaning “in place,” used for finding a snake, lizard, or turtle exactly where it was, not posed for the camera. Because in situ still feels partly...
Choosing language that helps resolve interpersonal conflict. Sometimes a question is really just a veiled form of criticism and understanding the difference between “ask culture” and “guess culture” can help you know how to...
A Dallas, Texas, caller says his girlfriend from a rural part of his state has an unusual way of pronouncing certain words. Email sounds like EE-mill, toenail like TOW-nell, and tell-tale like TELL-tell. These sounds are the result of a well-known...
Rebecca in Seattle says a friend claimed another beer would slate his thirst, while another suggested slay his thirst. The standard expression is slake your thirst, meaning to quench or satisfy it. Slay your thirst works as an eggcorn, a misheard...
How do you pronounce the word hover? In England, it rhymes more with “clobber” than “lover.” If you want to learn how to say “My hovercraft is full of eels” in lots of different languages, head on over to Omniglot...
How do you pronounce biopic? The proper way to mention the genre of biographical motion picture has always been “BUY-oh-pick,” as opposed to the mirror of myopic. It’s not unusual to mispronounce a word if the spelling does not...