PRX - Pieces for Tagging: linguistics
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What do you call a guy with a bald pate? A chrome dome? Maybe the lucky fellow is sporting a solar panel for a sex machine. Also, which would you r...
Bought by WOUB
- Added: May 16, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 1
Starting this year, Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants not only have to spell words correctly. A controversial new rule means they'll have t...
- Added: May 09, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 3
This week, forensic linguists use what they know about speech and writing to testify in courtrooms. And get out your hankies! Martha and Grant are ...
- Added: May 03, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
How did the word "gay" go from meaning "happy" to "homosexual"? Martha and Grant discuss the evolution of this word. Also, why are elementary schoo...
- Added: Apr 26, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
Remember getting caught sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G? Grant and Martha wax nostalgic on some classic schoolyard rhymes. What do you call your o...
- Added: Apr 18, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Imagine a time when heroin was marketed for the whole family. It really happened. Also, how Twitter, M&M's, and Hallmark cards got their names. Plu...
- Added: Apr 10, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Get out your skinny jeans and pass the PBR! Martha and Grant discuss the definition of the word hipster. Also, what happens when you pull a brodie?...
- Added: Apr 03, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
Have a question about objective pronouns? Whom ya gonna call? Wait--is that right? Or would it be "who ya gonna call"? "Whom" may be technically co...
- Added: Mar 27, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
We talk a lot on this show about grammar, slang, and word origins. But when you get right down to it so many calls on this show are really about r...
Bought by WNJR
- Added: Mar 27, 2013
- Length: 30:51
- Purchases: 1
Should youngsters learn cursive handwriting in school? Plus, someone can be ruthless, but can that same person be ruthful? Which word refers to som...
- Added: Mar 22, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Today's most popular dog names are Max and Bella. In the Middle Ages, though, dogs would answer to names like Amiable. Or Nosewise. Or even . . . ...
- Added: Mar 14, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
It's the Up Goer Five Challenge! Try to describe something complex using only the thousand most common words in English. It's a useful mental exerc...
- Added: Mar 07, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Remember a few years ago when Amazon introduced that mysterious device called a Kindle? People worried that electronic readers would replace tradit...
- Added: Feb 28, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
You've probably noticed how work always seems to expand to fill the time given to complete it. But did you know there's a term for that? Also this ...
- Added: Feb 22, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
Get out your umbrellas -- it's raining pitchforks and . . . bullfrogs? This week, it's odd expressions that mean "a heavy downpour." Also, holistic...
- Added: Feb 14, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
When somebody sneezes, you say, Bless you or Gesundheit. But suppose that person coughs. Are you supposed to say something--or are they? Plus, Mex...
- Added: Feb 07, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
Did you ever wonder why we capitalize the pronoun "I," but not any other pronoun? There's a reason, and it may not be what you think. Also, the rom...
- Added: Feb 01, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
Are your nightstand books all over the place? Why not stack 'em into a bookmash? A bookmash is a kind of found poetry formed from book titles! And ...
- Added: Jan 25, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
What did you call the cliques in your high school? Were you a member of the nerds, the jocks, or maybe the "grits" or the "heshers"? Also, what's t...
- Added: Jan 18, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
What colorful language do you use to when you're angry and tempted to use a four-letter word? There's a difference between cursing and cussing: It...
- Added: Jan 10, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
What time is it if it's "the crack of chicken"? And when exactly is the "shank of the evening"? How do you pronounce the word spelled H-O-V-E-R? Di...
- Added: Jan 03, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
Does the thought of going without your cellphone fill you with separation anxiety? Grant and Martha coin some monikers for this modern-day phobia. ...
- Added: Dec 27, 2012
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Finding that special bottle of wine can be tough, and even tougher if you're not fluent in winespeak. "Strawberries, rhubarb, and hints of leather ...
- Added: Dec 20, 2012
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 2
Looking for a book to read with the kids, or maybe a guide to becoming a better writer? Plus, why are leg cramps called charley horses? And where'd...
- Added: Dec 13, 2012
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Can reading poetry make you a better writer? Grant and Martha discuss how reading poetry improves your prose. Also, how linguists guess where you c...
- Added: Dec 06, 2012
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
