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Mapping the American Tongue: The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), with Joan Houston Hall
Episode 1165
1165. Today, we talk with Joan Houston Hall to look at the monumental task of documenting how Americans speak. We look at the Dictionary of American …
5 months, 2 weeks ago
The history of the octothorpe. Sir Fragalot and sentence fragments. Dribzle.
Episode 1164
1164. This week, we look at the origin of the octothorpe — also known as the pound sign or hashtag — and why it has so many different names. Then, we…
5 months, 2 weeks ago
How 'be like' took over the world, with Sali Tagliamonte
Episode 1163
1163. This week, we look at what it’s like to be a "language detective" with Sali Tagliamonte and how she used her own teenagers as a research lab. W…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
Why 'Tonka' sounds big and 'bitty' sounds small. Why you CAN start a sentence with 'because.'
Episode 1162
1162. This week, we look at why some names just "feel right" while others don't and how vowels like "ee" create associations with smallness and sweet…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
WHY WE USE ALL CAPS TO SHOUT, with Glenn Fleishman
Episode 1161
1161. Today, we look at the history of writing in all-uppercase letters. Tech historian Glenn Fleishman explains how capitals transitioned from a sig…
6 months ago
Draft for Publish on 2026-02-17
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6 months ago
Battle of the moguls. 'Awhile' versus 'a while.' Crittador.
Episode 1160
1160. This week, we look at why "mogul" means both a ski bump and a powerful person. Then, we tackle when to use "awhile" versus "a while," with a tr…
6 months ago
Writing for ‘civic clarity’ (plus, the power of short sentences), with Roy Peter Clark
Episode 1159
1159. This week, we look at "civic clarity" with writing instructor Roy Peter Clark in a newly edited version of our 2020 conversation. We look at th…
6 months, 1 week ago
How bored tourists invented an Olympic sport. Centigrade or Celsius? Piqua
Episode 1158
1158. This week, we go full Winter Olympics, tracing the origin of "ski," "luge," "toboggan," and more. Then, we look at why we say "Celsius" instead…
6 months, 1 week ago
Why AI loves em dashes, with Sean Goedecke
Episode 1157
1157. This week, we look at AI em dashes with Sean Goedecke, software engineer for GitHub. We talk about why artificial intelligence models frequentl…
6 months, 2 weeks ago