Enough about the Word of the Year. How about the Word of the Decade? Bailout? Google? Martha and Grant discuss some candidates. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word of the Decade Candidates” You’re listening to A...
Edward from Indianapolis asks about scarf as in “You really scarfed that down,” meaning someone ate fast and greedily. This verb is unrelated to the garment word scarf; it likely came into English through Scots dialect. Earlier forms include scoff...
Has the age of email led to an outbreak of exclamation marks? Do women use them more than men? Also, is there a word for the odd feeling when you listen to a radio personality for years, then discover that they look nothing like your mental picture...
In this downbeat economy, some advertisers are reaching for upbeat language. Take the new Quaker Oats catchphrase, “Go humans go,” or Coca-Cola’s current slogan, “Open happiness.” Martha and Grant discuss whether...
Are fairy tales too scary for children? A survey of parents in Britain found that more than half wouldn’t read them to their children before age five. Martha and Grant discuss the grisly imagery in fairy tales, and whether they’re too...
For tech-savvy types, saying “ping me,” meaning “contact me,” is as natural as grabbing a snack while waiting for your computer to boot up. The hosts disagree about whether the verb ping has already moved into common parlance...