Martha talks about a favorite Latin-based word: pandiculation. It’s a term that means “the stretching that accompanies yawning.” This is part of a complete episode.
The death of Martha’s favorite cat Typo prompts her to reminisce about him, and about one of her favorite ailurophilic words, chatoyant.
The British publishers of the Collins dictionary have announced 24 words on their endangered species list. They’re words like “vilipend,” which means “to treat with contempt,” and “nitid,” that’s n-i-t...
The world of politics tops this week’s language headlines, including an explanation of the Bradley effect, and the ongoing debate over bilingual education. Also, what does the word fubsy mean? Grant has the answer and reports about a new...
splurge n.— «Tom Brokaw asked Hank Paulson on Meet The Press…what rules should be put in place for the splurge (that’s my new favorite term for the wall street bailout).» —“Rules For The Splurge” by Fred...
A listener in Brazil challenges Martha’s pronunciation of the odd English word antipodes. Their email exchange leads Martha to muse about a favorite collection of poems, where she first encountered this word.