Melanie in San Antonio, Texas, wonders about the use of the word pallet to mean improvised bedding on the floor. It goes back to a French term for it, paillet, which comes from a word meaning straw. The word also appears in some translations of the...
Lawrence from San Antonio, Texas, wonders if spelling is a factor in the different meanings of awful, which describes something negative, and awesome, which describes something positive. Spelling doesn’t come into play here; in fact, for years...
Matt in San Antonio, Texas, poses this question: Which language has the most words? For that matter, how would you even begin to count them? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Which Language Has the Most Words?” Hi, you...
In June 2018, we appeared in San Antonio, Texas, to support San Antonio Youth Literacy in conjunction with Texas Public Radio. While there, Martha picked up the term blowin’ and goin’, a rhyming compound that means extremely busy, booming, or...
How do languages change and grow? Does every language acquire new words in the same way? Martha and Grant focus on how that process happens in English and Spanish. Plus, the stories behind the Spanish word gringo and the old instruction to...
Monte from San Antonio, Texas, responded to our query about what to call people who hold up traffic in turn lanes: steering-wheel holders. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Steering-Wheel Holders” We are still getting...
