Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchWe did it by (on?) accident!
A listener question forces us to take a hard look at how we use prepositions, including whether we do things "by" accident or "on" accident, and Flet…
2 years, 9 months ago
Big words we actually kind of like
We've been a little bit cranky lately, so we thought we'd dig up some big-sounding words we're actually fond of. How deliquescent! (wait, that's not …
2 years, 10 months ago
The twisted world of bureaucracy
Having tried to wrap our heads around the world of academic language, we now take a stab at trying to untangle the meaning of phrases bureaucracies a…
2 years, 10 months ago
In the hells of academia
A listener question prompts us to try to translate some nearly impenetrable examples of academic writing.
2 years, 11 months ago
Mailbag day!
We head back to the mailbag to answer some listener questions, including one about the origins of "woke," and another about the power of the bossy R.
2 years, 11 months ago
That still doesn't mean what you think it means, part 2
We continue to look back at some words from Kathy and Ross' book "That Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means", and we start to wonder if words actuall…
3 years ago
That still doesn't mean what you think it means
We revisit Kathy and Ross' 2018 book That Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means (now out on audiobook!) and some of the words they wrote about that st…
3 years ago
The Staying Power of Slang
A lot of slang words only last a year or two, but others stick around. We take a look at some that have stood the test of time, and it turns out a bu…
3 years, 1 month ago
Searching for meaning in Gen Z slang
The old people try their hand at sussing out the meanings of Gen Z slang words, although we all remain skeptical that actual people in Gen Z use any …
3 years, 1 month ago
The most mispronounced words of 2022
It's an episode we look forward to each January, as we take a look back at the most mispronounced words of the previous year. Even the dinosaurs said…
3 years, 2 months ago