You may have heard the advice that to build your vocabulary you should read, read, and then read some more – and make sure to include a wide variety of publications. But what if you just don’t have that kind of time? Martha and Grant...
A listener in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, requests advice about expanding her vocabulary as a writer, but admits she spends only about ten minutes a day reading. The hosts offer several suggestions: Make sure to stop and look up unfamiliar...
In this downbeat economy, some advertisers are reaching for upbeat language. Take the new Quaker Oats catchphrase, “Go humans go,” or Coca-Cola’s current slogan, “Open happiness.” Martha and Grant discuss whether...
playshop n.— «Meltzer and Williamson refer to them as “playshops” because the intention is to help women to connect to the joyful, spontaneous and fun-loving side of themselves, so often set aside during the daily routine of giving to the...
gimmick infringement n.— «D-Generation X vs. Snitsky & Umaga DX do their usual routine, Trips mentions someone committed “gimmick infringement” as they say in the business (Michael Buffer for the whole “thousands in attendance” and...
jump on a case v. phr.— «This kind of convoluted back-and-forth is common in prison; inmates do communicate, even when they are not supposed to. And it’s fairly routine for inmates to turn over—and sometimes even invent—damning material...