A retired professor of classics in Missouri suggests the Latin word Utinam! as something to exclaim if you belatedly draw the right tile or card in a game. In Latin, utinam introduces the optative subjunctive and translates as “if only.”...
Do you start each day by "eating the frog"? Don't answer too quickly -- maybe you do and don't know it. "Eat the frog" means to do the most distasteful thing first. Imagine you were lost in the jungle and all...
Howdy from your fellow word-wranglers, Martha and Grant! A huge thank-you to all of you who've contributed to our independently produced show in recent weeks--whether it be with a contribution of your phone calls, your emails...
Favorite online reading. If the subjunctive tense were to disappear from English, would anybody care? And just in time for this romantic weekend, a caller discovers the meaning of…lurve. That’s L-U-R-V-E.
If the subjunctive tense were to disappear from English, would our language be the poorer for it? The hosts have strongly different opinions about it. This is part of a complete episode.