Following up on our conversation about indefinite hyperbolic numerals like forty-eleven and zillion, we discuss humpty-twelve. Another slang term used to denote a large quantity is telephone numbers, which can be applied to “an excessive...
Listeners respond to our earlier conversation about ending a telephone call with mmm-bye. This is part of a complete episode.
Responding to our conversation about concluding a phone call with mmm-bye, a listener offers an example of a humorous telephone greeting: “Nyello!” This is part of a complete episode.
It’s commonly heard these days that English is going to hell in a handbasket, but it’s worth remembering that we’ve always said things like this. A hundred years ago, as telephones became more and more common, sticklers railed against...