When does late at night change to early in the morning? 2:30 a.m.? 3:00 a.m.? Another time? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “When Does Late Night Become Early Morn?” Listener Greg Johnson asked a question that I’ve been pondering...
An old Irish curse goes: May the devil make a ladder of your backbones while picking apples in the garden of hell. If you’d rather offer someone a friendlier wish, try May angels bless your sleep with the smell of apple pies. This is part of a...
The Portuguese idiom virar a noite refers to doing something all night, such as studying or dancing. Literally, virar a noite means “to turn over the night.” In French a sleepless night is a nuit blanche, or “white night.” This is part of a complete...
After our conversation about nighttime wakefulness, a Sacramento, California, woman shares the funny story behind the term she and her husband use for that phenomenon: squeegee. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Nighttime...
What do you call a segment of an orange? These juicy pieces of fruit go by lots of different names, including section, wedge, and carpel. But they’re also called pegs or even pigs! The stringy parts of a banana also have a surprising name. Also, we...
There’s an English word for “sleep during daytime”: nap. But is there a word for “a period of nighttime wakefulness,” aside from spelling nap backwards as pan? The French have a lovely word for this state, dorveille, a portmanteau of dormir, “sleep”...
