Light-hearted conversation with callers from all over about new words, old sayings, slang, family ex
A baby’s first word is often a cherished milestone, but some cultures pay more attention to other fi
Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any o
Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital is a sensuous, exhilarating meditation about the strangeness of life
Don’t move my cheese! It’s a phrase middle managers use to talk about adapting to change in the work
If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new ton
So many books and so little time—it’s a challenge to choose what to read next! It helps to remember
The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the
To grok something means “to understand it completely.” The word grok comes from a language spoken on
Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you’re
An anadrome is a word that forms a whole new word when you spell it backwards. For example, the word
A flashlight emits a steady beam of light. So what's the flash part of that word about? The earliest
For rock climbers, skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, the word "send" has a whole new meaning. Y
In 1944, an Italian scientist discovered a drug that he later named for his wife. His wife’s name wa
In Cockney rhyming slang, apples and pears is a synonym for "stairs," and dustbin lids means kids. P
National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and fol
Thunderstorms might sound scary, but playful explanations for all those booms can help reassure litt
What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance Novels? No. The Bible? No. The mos
Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks strol
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem "Beowulf" in high school. But what if you could actua
The phrase old as Methuselah describes someone quite advanced in years. In ancient scripture, Methus