An anadrome is a word that forms a whole new word when you spell it backwards. For example, the word “stressed” spelled backwards is “desserts.” Some people’s first names are anadromes. There’s the girl named Noel...
If you’re talking about the device used to control your computer’s cursor, is the plural computer mouse or computer mice? Either is correct, but the most common version is computer mice. In the early days of computers, engineers often...
The dilemma continues over how to spell dilemma! Grant and Martha try to suss out the backstory of why some people spell that word with an “n.” A lot of them, it seems, went to Catholic school. Maybe that’s a clue? Plus, the saying...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a tricky quiz with false answers. For example, if the plural of mouse is mice, then what’s the false plural of spouse? This is part of a complete episode.
The most common plural form of mouse—as in, a computer mouse—is mice. But since the mouse was introduced in the 1960’s, tech insiders have applied their own sense of humor and irony to the usage of mice. This is part of a complete episode.
The longer the description of an item on a menu, the more expensive it’ll likely be. In The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu, Stanford University linguist Dan Jurafsky shows that with each extra letter in a menu description, the...