That's What They Say

Sometimes we get a language question that leads to another question. That question leads to another question, and before we know it, we’ve fallen down a…

Currying favor has everything to do with flattery and horses, and nothing to do with food.This expression, which means to seek or gain favor through…

Most people would agree that a lamb would make a terrible escape vehicle. All that bleating would instantly give away even the stealthiest of…

We get a lot of questions about words that have two pronunciations. This week, we decided to look at two of those words: status and mischievous.When it…

What do knockoffs, nicknames and the word "crummy" have in common?The answer is not much, except that we've received listener questions about the origins…

When you learned how to spell "secretary," did anyone ever tell you this trick?"A secretary is someone who keeps a secret."Though "secretary" probably…

Some grammarians say “only” is the most misplaced adverb in the English language.We’re only telling you this because we love you. Or maybe we’re telling…

Have you been droppin' your gs? Be honest. You probably do say "thinkin'" instead of "thinking" or "goin'" instead of "going" sometimes.That's true for…

A couple of things can clearly be two things. For many people though, a couple of things can include three or even four things. That's because the phrase…

Cars, planes, cameras and people have been zooming around for decades with a lower-case "z."These days, with so many of us working from home, many of us…