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Atavistic Words

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You know those words whose meanings never seem to stick in your mind, no matter how many times you flip back to the dictionary? Martha wrestles with the term atavistic, meaning “the tendency to revert to ancestral characteristics.” She now remembers it by the Latin root it shares with the Spanish word for “grandfather,” abuelo. Grant, in turn, shares his revelation that upwards of actually means “more than,” not “up to.” This is part of a complete episode.

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