If you’re having a conversation with someone, are you speaking with them, speaking to them, talking to them, or talking with them? A caller wonders what differences, if any, exist among all those expressions. This is part of a complete episode...
demanufacturing n.— «“Pretty much everything with an electronic pulse, we deal with,” said CEO David Kutoff. Materials Processing takes apart TVs and other equipment, a process known as “demanufacturing,” and separates...
It’s the wacky title of a new book by language enthusiast Elizabeth Little which has Martha and Grant talking about whether Coca-Cola and Chevy ran into cultural translation problems when selling products abroad. Did the Chevy Nova really sell...
geoengineering n.— «The process is called “geoengineering” and it basically involves tinkering with the planet’s climate to find alternate ways to prevent the very worst effects of runaway global warming.» —“Science...
blitz n.— «Shawn comes to Wall Street to play a type of chess called blitz, a game in which the ticking of a three-minute clock eliminates the ponderous pauses of traditional chess and transforms the game into a fevered, trash-talking...
strohlem n.— «The 18th-century kitchen has a strohlem ceiling that is among the best preserved that team members have seen. Strohlem is the German word for straw and mud, Thomas said. Wooden boards were wrapped in wet straw, then packed...

