It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...
A magnificent new book celebrates the richness and diversity of 450 years of written and spoken English in what is now the United States. It’s called The People’s Tongue, and it’s a sumptuous collection of essays, letters, poems...
A caller from Russia wonders about the English idiom can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. What’s so hard about walking and chewing gum? This is part of a complete episode.
A listener who grew up in Ukraine recalls that her family always referred to chicken drumsticks by a name that translates as Bush’s legs. This jocular term refers to an agreement between U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader...
defac n.— Note: “Defac” is far less often spelled “difac,” despite being a blend of “dining facility.” «Camp Phoenix in particular, was an example of where the disease began with food preparation and...
gasfinger n.— «It seems that no matter how many times various energy analysts discard the possibility of an OPEC-like cartel of natural gas exporters, the specter of gasfinger, as we affectionately refer to it (credit to the FT), seems to...