Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchA dangling modifier walks into a bar...
Jumping off from some recent Twitter confusion, we look at how much trouble there can be when we misplace our modifiers, or just let them dangle in t…
3 years, 7 months ago
Dead Grammar Is? | YSIW
We set aside our usual games and quizzes for a wide-ranging discussion about the necessity of grammar rules, when we need them and when we don't, who…
3 years, 8 months ago
Genericide | YSIW
We continue on with our discussion of trademarks by looking at words that were once trademarked, but have become so widely used that they've actually…
3 years, 8 months ago
Trademark this!
Hey, can we trademark this? No, I mean, can we trademark the word, "this"? We may not be lawyers, but that's never stopped us from having opinions, e…
3 years, 9 months ago
We're Doing Some Verbing | YSIW
Which came first, the chicken or the chickening out? The egg or the egging on? The noun or the verb? Today we're looking at verbing nouns and nouning…
3 years, 9 months ago
A Visit From Lady Mondegreen | YSIW
Have you ever wondered who Jimi Hendrix was talking about when he sang, "'Scuse me, while I kiss this guy"? We don't know! Because that's not what he…
3 years, 10 months ago
Encore: Place Name Showdown
Horrors! As a result of some unforeseen circumstances, we're without a new episode this week. We're disappointed, too! But this does give us a chance…
3 years, 10 months ago
A really, really, really hard quiz
First we take a look at a survey of words that people think make other people sound smart, and then we tackle the most difficult word quiz we've ever…
3 years, 11 months ago
We're in a Mood | YSIW
If I were you, I'd hold on to my hat, because in this week's episode we're going to try to tackle the subjunctive mood! We're doing a lot of this und…
3 years, 11 months ago
Driving Linguistic Change | YSIW
Some listener emails prompted Kathy and Ross to take a look at the idea that women are the real drivers of innovation in language.
3 years, 11 months ago