That's What They Say
Friday at 4:45 and Sunday at 9:35 AM
That's What They Say is a weekly segment on Michigan Public that explores our changing language. Each week University of Michigan English Professor Anne Curzan will discuss why we say what we say with Michigan Public All Things Considered host Rebecca Kruth.
Latest Episodes
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As listeners wait with bated breath, we will not dilly dally or shilly shally to get to this lightning round. -
Looking at late 19th century language peeves can often point to a change in progress, but not always.
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Of all the topics we could cover this week on That's What They Say, we chose these ones over those ones.
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A sea change can now be caused by many things other than the sea, and some of its dramatic effects have been lost in the process.
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We're going to try not to touch the third rail, but we are going to talk about it.
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Major League Baseball playoffs and football tailgate season both mean the smell of hot dogs is in the air.
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We don't encounter petards very often anymore. That’s unless we’re being, metaphorically speaking, “hoisted with our own petard.”
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There are plenty of people out there who see "utilize" as a pretentious substitute for "use." However, some people are completely comfortable utilizing the verb "utilize."
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There’s the “yea” in voting “yea” or “nay," and then there’s the celebratory “Yay!" Oh yeah, there's also "yeah."
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Whoa, whoa, whoa. There are a lot of ways to spell "whoa."
