That's What They Say

It’s tempting to parse the word “ramshackle” into two separate words, “ram” and “shackle.”A listener named Brian Van Drie wrote to us about how this word…

Almost as long as there's been email, there's been the question of what the plural of "email" should be. A listener named Steve Roznowski reminded us of…

Sometimes a word slips into our language unnoticed. Before we know it, that word is everywhere.That's how listener John Van Deusen feels about…

We can be fined for "reckless" driving. So why aren’t we praised for "reckful" driving?Our listener, Andrew Conkling, recently pointed out to us the…

We get a lot of questions about the redundancy in "irregardless." However, a listener named Graham Liddell recently asked us about an instance of…

This week, That's What They Say is taking some inspiration from the Simpsons. Specifically, we were amused by a clip in which Mr. Burns tells Smithers how…

We'd like to address some concerns regarding the word "gambit." However, to do that, we're going to have to address the word "gamut" too.That's because…

This week, English Professor Anne Curzan joined us from New Orleans, where members of the American Dialect Society gathered to make their annual "Word of…

Breaking up is hard to do.That's according to Neil Sedaka's signature song anyway. Maybe that's why we didn't start doing it until the 20th…

A listener named Scott Overton recently wrote to us about a question he came up with while working on an old house."[I'm] listening to your podcast as I…