What does cheeky mean? How about the words twee and naff? A British ex-pat says she finds it hard to convey the nuances of these adjectives to her American friends. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “British Terms” Hi...
Gronk the data, heard by Chris in San Diego in the medical-device business, is probably a mishearing of grok, the verb meaning to understand deeply. Robert A. Heinlein coined grok in his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land, and it later became...
What’s it called when saying becomes sayin’? It’s not a trick question; it’s simply called an abbreviation. Grant and Martha settle an English major’s confusion about the possibility of a trickier term. With words like “o’er,” a shortening of...
Ever know somebody whose name makes you do a double-take, like a family physician named Dr. Hurt? An Albany, N.Y. listener shares a game of more positive aptronyms. For example, what do you name your daughter if you want her to be a lawyer? How...
A veteran broadcaster recalls a brilliant example of sesquipedalian language. Fifty years ago, he stubbed his foot on the beach and a group of college boys told him to go to his parents and get an anatomical juxtaposition of the orbicular ors...
If a married couple moves because one spouse is relocated for work, is it correct to say the other spouse is following them? A listener wonders about the implications of the term “follow,” and how that dynamic works in today’s day...