Kevin in Lakewood, California, was riding his unicycle on a bike path when a girl yelled, “I want your bike,” and he let bike stand. Even though bike is shortened from bicycle, dictionary definitions can be broad enough for any foot-powered wheeled...
The calls and e-mails keep coming in about Scotts being called Todds and Todds being called Scotts. One listener left a voicemail about a christening where the priest called the baby by its oddly common misnomer. Another listener by the name of...
It’s always fun to catch moviemakers’ blunders. Say you’re watching an epic about ancient Rome and spot a toga-clad extra who forgot to remove his wristwatch. That’s an anachronism. But what do you call something that’s...
Sheila in Billings, Montana, noticed that she and her husband, both from Colorado, use the two-syllable pronunciation of coyote, something like /KYE-oat/, while their children back East hear the three-syllable version more often, more or less /kye...
Gina from Dallas, Texas, asks about a family Scrabble dispute with her English-teacher sister: is the comparative form stupider, or should it be more stupid? Usage guides allow both forms, along with the superlative stupidest. Longer adjectives...
Is the word financial pronounced with a long I in the first syllable? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pronunciation of Financial” Martha Jim from Baraboo, Wisconsin writes with a question I think we’ve...
