AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: We check in with the American Dialect Society for some notable words from the past year, including the one that the group considers least likely to succeed. RS: But we start with...
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: There's a new book called Euphemania: Our Love Affair With Euphemisms. RS: Author Ralph Keyes defines euphemisms as comfort words that we use in place of words that make us feel u...
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: Our guest is David Marcello, executive director of the Public Law Center, a joint program of the Tulane and Loyola law schools in New Orleans. RS: For about 20 years now, the cent...
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: We're back with the author of the new book OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word. RS: Last week, Allan Metcalf explained how OK began as a joke on March 23, 1839. Th...
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: We talk with Allan Metcalf, author of the new book OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word. RS: And not just the greatest word, in his view. ALLAN METCALF: America's m...
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: Our theme is food, or more precisely, slang having to do with food. After all, Thanksgiving is just a day away, and the traditional way to celebrate the holiday is with a big, fes...
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- English teacher Lida Baker joins us from Los Angeles to talk about phrasal verbs. The first word is a verb. The second word, sometimes even a third, is usually a preposition. Ph...
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: If you're looking for a break from all the U.S. election news, we've got the answer. We're back with Slangman David Burke to finish reading through a letter filled to the breaking...
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: Slangman David Burke explains some of the many uses for the word break. RS: He's brought along a letter filled to the breaking point with examples. DAVID BURKE: 'Dear Slangman, I...