What would you serve a plumber who comes over for dinner? How about … leeks? The hosts play a word game called “What Would You Serve?” Also, can you correct someone’s grammar without ruining a new relationship? And is there an easy way to remember...
Grant shares some familiar proverbs that supposedly arose from African-American English. The book he mentions is Dictionary of American Proverbs by Wolfgang Mieder. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Dictionary of American Proverbs”...
Good poetry is even better when you read it aloud. For his anthology, Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky selected works with just that in mind. Martha and Grant discuss a poem from the...
Everyone knows old ones, but what about modern proverbs? Here’s an aphorism attributed to William Gibson: “The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed.” The hosts discuss some others. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript...
Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words, no matter which language you speak. Check out this one from Belize: “Don’t call the alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river.” And this truism from Zanzibar: “When two elephants...
