Irv in Montreal, Canada, says that in his city, English speakers will typically use the word messages where others might use errands, as in I’m going to do some messages. The oldest meaning of the word errand is “message,”...
On a long road trip, Todd from St. Petersburg, Florida, and his son disagree about the phrase Take the next exit, leading to a hilarious dispute over the precise meaning of the word next. This is part of a complete episode.
A husband and wife from San Antonio, Texas, disagree over the meaning of the word regret. Is it possible to say you regret that you never met Albert Einstein or heard Freddy Mercury in concert? Is regret a matter of having remorse for something you...
One way to make your new business look trendy is to use two nouns separated by an ampersand, like Peach & Creature or Rainstorm & Egg or … just about any other two-word combination. A tongue-in-cheek website will generate names like...
On Twitter, a linguist reports that she and her Russian husband had a humorous misunderstanding about the meaning of the word barefoot. This is part of a complete episode.
How do languages change and grow? Does every language acquire new words in the same way? Martha and Grant focus on how that process happens in English and Spanish. Plus, the stories behind the Spanish word gringo and the old instruction to...