Political Rhetoric
Just in time for the spoookiest day of the year (Election Day), we take a look at the ways politicians talk to us and try to win us to their...
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You're Saying It Wrong
From KMUW Studios, You're Saying It Wrong is a podcast that looks at what we get wrong--and what we sometimes get right--when it comes to this English language. Hosted by KMUW's Fletcher Pow...
Episodes
20 of 226 episodesSpooky Differences
We talk about one of the scariest of things: words that seem like they should mean the same thing but actually don't. Is a hobgoblin just a...
Fall! Autumn! Fall! Autumn!
We look at the origins of some fall-related and autumn-related words. Which, to be clear, are the same thing.
Pragmatics!
We're talking about how we understand each other even when we're using techniques we don't realize we're using, and how we work together to...
Insults 2: Return of the Clunch
We continue our look into the etymologies of various (mild) insults, including the origins of rube, bum, schmuck, and dweeb. (You're none of...
Insults: The Blah-Blahs Are at the Gate
We look at the etymologies of various insults throughout history, including the origins of barbarian, brat, dunce, and fool.
Sh-sh-sh-shibboleths
Be careful how you say these words! It could be a matter of life and death.
Toponymy!
Hydronyms, dromonyms… toponyms! (Place names. We’re talking about place names.)
Yep, still different
We gaze again into the ocean of difference between American English and British English.
Red Flags
Sometimes you read something that makes you throw the book against the wall, never to pick it up again.
Canadian English [ENCORE]
We've tackled the differences between American and British English, but let's not forget Canadians also have a language of their own.
Back to School!
Kathy and Ross throw Fletcher a devil of a grammar quiz as we all get set for back-to-school season.
Mailbag Day!
We answer some of your most burning questions as we take a dip into the ol' mailbag.
An (ahem) Odyssey Through Ancient Greek
For no reason whatsoever, we look at some words that come from Homer's famous tale and Ancient Greek more generally.
It's Summertime, and the Etymology is... Questionable [ENCORE]
We'll look at the surprising origins of some common summer-related words, phrases, and idioms.
Heading Down South
We take a road trip to the U.S. South to look at some place names that have some pretty surprising pronunciations. Bless our hearts (in a go...
Technically Speaking
We take another shot at figuring out what's good and bad about the technical uses of common words.
Getting Your House in Order
We look at the confusing, but surprisingly intuitive, world of adjective and adverb order and how we can know what we're doing without knowi...
Technical Difficulties
This week, we look at the (sometimes huge) differences between the technical, specialized definitions of words, and what they mean to everyb...
Congrats, Grads!
School's out, so we're celebrating all the new graduates by looking at the backgrounds of some graduation-related words.