An Indianapolis listener says his father used to often spoke of leaving this veil of tears. His son wonders about the origin of that phrase. Grant and Martha explain the expression is actually vale of tears, a synonym for valley. In some...
Ho, ho, ho! In this week's episode, we discuss whether the term "Oriental" is offensive. We also talk about "not one iota," "take a gander," "learning curve," and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious...
Need a great synonym for “overthinking”? Try beanplating. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Beanplating” You know I find a million new words, so this is just one of a zillion. Yeah, are you ever guilty of...
Gail is trying to remember a “super great word” from an earlier episode that means “diarrhea of the mouth” — nonstop blabbering, blathering, or chatter. She thinks the missing term may begin with T, but rejects a parade of candidates including...
The hosts discuss Ammon Shea’s recent New York Times Magazine column about whether a large vocabulary filled with obscure and unusual words is all that necessary. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Large, Obscure...
Does your handwriting look like chicken scratches, calligraphy, or maybe something in between? Martha and Grant discuss the state of penmanship, the phenomenon linguists call creaky voice, euphemisms for going to the bathroom, and the New England...