You're Saying It Wrong

187 Episodes

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Getting a B on the SAT

2024-11-1629:13

The letter of the week is "B," as we move on to the second part in our series looking at the hardest words on the SAT.

A Little Stress Relief

2024-11-0929:12

This week, we're here to help you relax a little bit by telling you that some of those little language mistakes that raise your blood pressure might not actually be mistakes.

Electoral Confusion

2024-11-0229:13

With the U.S. election upon us, Kathy and Ross quiz Fletcher on the pronunciation and origins of some words related to our democratic process.

It's Getting Spoooooky Again

2024-10-2629:23

Just in time for Halloween, we're talking about some of the creepy parts of the language world, including ghost words and some horrifying hyphens.

Italian Food!

2024-10-1929:22

We're looking at the differences between what people in Italy call their food and what they call it in one very specific place in the world (here's a hint: Tony Soprano has a lot to say about this).

Make No Mistake

2024-10-1229:23

We return to one of our favorite topics: mistakes that aren't really mistakes, even though a whole lot of people will tell you they're mistakes.

The "Most" Words

2024-10-0529:24

A Merriam-Webster poll sets off our conversation today as we make our picks for the most overrated word, the most underrated word, the most pleasant word to say, and a number of other mosts, bests, and worsts.

Of Course! A Mere Trifle.

2024-09-2829:221

There are a whole lot of things you can say when someone thanks you for something... But what do they all really mean?

The Hidden World of Syllable Stress

2024-09-2129:24

We continue our fascination with rules we don't know we know with a look at the importance of where we put the stress when we say words out loud.

Let's Hop Across the Pond

2024-09-1429:23

Jump in your estate car and head to the chemist, this week we're looking at some British equivalents of American English words.

Getting an A on the SAT

2024-09-0729:22

The letter of the day is "A"! We're getting you (or your kids) ready for the SATs with some tricky vocabulary from the beginning of the alphabet.

We Simply Must Talk About Modal Verbs

2024-08-3129:23

Must, could, should, shall, might, may... We dig into the weird, wiggly, weaselly world of modal verbs.

Let's Hit the Beach

2024-08-2429:24

Grab your swimsuit! Or your bathing suit. That's up to you. We're heading to the beach for a look at the language of tides, waves, and other things beachy.

Now is the winter of our discontent made brat summer

2024-08-1729:01

With Charli XCX sparking a summer phenomenon, we take a look at the nature of slang: who uses it, why we use it, and how we need to be very careful with it.

Back-formations

2024-08-1029:24

Today we look at words that came from other words even though we think the second word should have come first.

Silly Rules (Or, the Unpredictability of the English Language)

2024-08-0329:25

Today, we look at language rules that are rules sometimes, and rules that don't make sense. Well, they make some sense. Whatever. They're rules, anyway.

The Etymology Olympics

2024-07-2729:24

With the world's greatest sporting event upon us, we look at the origins of some sports-related words.

Is This a Fossil? Or Just Some Dumb Old Rock?

2024-07-2029:23

A listener question prompts us to think about words like rehabilitate, revamp, and nonplussed, and whether we can be plussed about habilitating and vamping, or if we're just talking nonsense.

The Ambiguity of English (Is the Name of My Jazz Band)

2024-07-1329:24

This week, we're talking ambiguous words and ambiguous phrases– sometimes we think we know what we're saying and sometimes we're really wrong.

It's a Dead Language, I Always Say

2024-07-0629:24

Latin may be dead, but we still use it every day. This week we look at some common Latin phrases and what they actually mean.

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