If you’re ever near a sundial, step closer and look for a message. Many sundials bear haunting, poetic inscriptions about the brevity of life. Plus, language development in toddlers: why and how little ones pick up the exclamation Uh-oh! And a new...
When weather forecasters predict a Chamber of Commerce day, they anticipate sunny, pleasant weather that’s postcard-perfect, and a great advertisement for life in that location. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Chamber of Commerce...
If you’re tired of saying It’s hot outside, you always say It’s glorgy, pronounced with hard g sounds. This Scottish word may derive from an old word meaning “soft mud.” You could also say the weather is pothery, an English dialectal term that means...
In the UK, sticky, muggy, humid weather is sometimes referred to as claggy. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Claggy Weather” Here’s another handy weather word. That word is claggy, c-l-a-g-g-y. Any idea what claggy is, grant? Is...
In northern England, mafting, a word of uncertain origin, means “oppressively hot” or “sweltering.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Mafting” Another weather word that’s used in the UK and that’s only been around since the 1990s is...
After our conversation about mini-seasons between the usual winter, spring, summer, and fall, listeners share other examples: stick season in Vermont and mud season in Michigan. The Old English word for “February,” solmonath, may derive from words...