We look at word-for-word translations from other languages that become common phrases in English.
No, this time the F isn't for for Fail, it's for Fun! And Fantastic! And Fabulous! We return to our series looking at the hardest words ever found on the SAT with a dive into the English alphabet's sixth letter.
Hey everyone, a little bit of bad news this week. We weren’t able to record a new show due to some unforeseen circumstances. But you can always dive back into our podcast feed and catch up on past episodes. We'll be back with a new episode next week.
A listener email prompts us to try to get a handle on Irish spellings and pronunciations. It doesn't go well!
What happens when you remove an entire verb from the English language? Chaos! Well, not quite. But it used to cause Kathy quite a bit of consternation. Also: we try to nail down the correct spellings of various grunts and murmurs.
We tackle a few listener emails about some unusual pet peeves, including people tacking an extra sound on the end of the word "height," and another wondering why people say they want to "try and" do something.
We'll dive into some common mistakes and pet peeves we have regarding the literary world, and then Kathy and Ross challenge Fletcher to another round of "Related... Or NOT??"
Pet peeves, grammar groaners, and other language catastrophes are on the agenda this week, as we come up with a rock-solid rule grammatical rule that no one will ever question or disagree with.
Homonyms, synonyms, antonyms... we'll look at some "wordly" similarities and differences, and explore the vague space in between.
We'll look at the surprising origins of some common summer-related words, phrases, and idioms.
We'll look at some questionable language decisions the American Founding Fathers made when writing some of the country's most important documents.
Collectable or collectible? Why is it a computer and not a computor? Or is it? We look at the confusing and sometimes (seemingly) chaotic world of suffixes.
When we disagree about what a word means or how to pronounce it, how do we know who's right and who's wrong? And what if we're both right?
After entertaining a few more listener pet peeves, we jump into a discussion on right and left dislocation in syntax, and then touch on the always entertaining world of nominative determinism (wait till you hear about the guy who invented the toilet!).
We tackle a range of topics this week, including a brief quiz on winning spelling bee words, a common pet peeve, and some origins of fancy words.
We wade into the conversation about AI with a look at the effects it's having on our language. Expect some grumbling!
Get ready for some (barely) controlled chaos as we look at phrases that seem to contradict themselves, and others that just get under our skin.
We dip back into the mailbag to answer some listener questions, including one about a famous nonsense phrase.
This week: The thrilling conclusion of one of the most deceptively difficult spelling tests you're ever likely to come across.
Kathy and Ross give Fletcher one of the most deceptively difficult spelling tests you're ever likely to see.
farnoosh rad
In Persian, we say Sharbat which means sweet cold drink (with any sweet flavor)