You're Saying It Wrong

We take another shot at figuring out what's good and bad about the technical uses of common words.

We look at the confusing, but surprisingly intuitive, world of adjective and adverb order and how we can know what we're doing without knowing what we're doing.

This week, we look at the (sometimes huge) differences between the technical, specialized definitions of words, and what they mean to everybody else.

School's out, so we're celebrating all the new graduates by looking at the backgrounds of some graduation-related words.

We return to one of our favorite (and sometimes most confusing) topics: rules of English that we know instinctively, but that we have no idea we know.

Today we make a lot of noise by exploring nonverbal vocalizations: all those sounds that aren't words, exactly, but that still carry a lot of meaning.

To split infinitives or to not split them? (Ir)regardless, we'll dive into some everyday language arguments that get people all worked up.

Oh, so you think those two words mean exactly the same thing? Not. Even. Close.

Kathy and Ross did their darndest to stump Fletcher in last week's spelling quiz, to moderate success. How will things go this week? The thrilling conclusion...

Kathy and Ross pull out all the stops to try to trick Fletcher with a new spelling quiz. Fletcher does his best to upset them.

Kathy, Ross, and Fletcher try to tackle the Welsh language, with... questionable results. Look, we're all doing our best here.

Think you don't know what phonotactics are? Even our youngest English speakers do! You might just not realize it...

This week, Kathy and Ross challenge Fletcher to an epic eponym quiz, and somehow they detour again into an analysis of pavement. How? You'll have to listen to find out!

The plural of thief is thieves, so why isn't the plural of chief chieves? And as the old woman once said, where are the beeves??? On today's show, we tackle the tricky nuance of plurals and synonyms that aren't actually synonyms.

We'll be happy to tell you what this episode is about just as soon as we get back from using the bathroom—I mean, the restroom—I mean, the washroom—I mean, the facilities—I mean…

Today we address a couple of listener questions, including one about the Third Conditional (???), before moving on to a quiz about Middle English vs. Latin spellings.

Today we have a wide-ranging discussion about the words we use, when we use them, and the enormous power they can have.

Sometimes words get a whole lot less specific over time, and sometimes people get really mad about that!

We look at how a tiny little prefix or suffix can completely change the meaning of a word. Or how it could do nothing at all!

We finish our discussion of the words people would like to see banned from the English language in 2026 and then we uncover some uncommonly odd things about one particular prefix.

We go through a list of words people want to banish in 2026 and then take a swing over to the weird world of contractions. You ain't heard nothin' yet!

We explore all sorts of love and love-related words as we honor St. Valentine (and some other unexpected saints).

We look at how much a word can change if we just give it a little nudge this way or that, which leads us into a discussion of how certain Arabic words made their way into English.

We look at the top 10 most commonly misspelled words. Watch those double letters!

It's been a strange winter so far, so let's talk about some strange winter words! Brrrrrrrrrr!!!

We indulge in one of our favorite pastimes: quibbling over tiny differences in the way people say things. What fun!

We all like to feel a bit fancy from time to time, but when we turn to French, it can get us in trouble.

We continue our annual tradition of looking back at the words that defined the year, as chosen by dictionaries, listeners... and us!

As we reach the end of the year, we get some grab-bag whiplash with English questions and conundrums from all over the language spectrum.

This week, we look at some words that have come unstuck in time.

What could be more fun for the holidays than digging into the bizarre world of Latin and Greek plurals? Nothing! That's what! (This episode originally aired on 12/14/24.)

We extend our quiz about abbreviated words into a second episode, and Kathy learns that people don't always do things just to look fancy (a lot of the time they do, though!).

We answer a few listener questions, including one about a changing pronunciation that drives one person nuts, and another about abbreviations that leads us to some surprising (and confusing) places.

In celebration of Thanksgiving and all the food that comes with it, we’ll take an etymological trip around the dinner plate.

After an extended discussion about plurals, Kathy and Ross give Fletcher a wide-ranging quiz on grammar, pronunciation, etymology, and whatever else they decide to throw at him.

We return to our series looking at the hardest words ever found on the SAT by exploring the letter "G."

We mark Día de los Muertos with some words about the dead, some of which have been brought back to life, and some that should have remained dead.

We celebrate the season by taking a look at the origins of some Halloween-related words, and we introduce two of the most horrifying words we've ever had on the show. Boo!

We return to one of our favorite topics: the surprising and strange origins of everyday words.

After we talk a bit about some British/American English pronunciation differences, we'll take a look at a few words that listeners think are simply too fancy to be used as often as they are.

We continue sifting through the language complaints that drive our listeners up the wall.

We've been asking, you've delivered! It's time to tackle our pile of listener pet peeves. Get ready to be annoyed! (In a good way.)

We look at word-for-word translations from other languages that become common phrases in English.

No, this time the F isn't for for Fail, it's for Fun! And Fantastic! And Fabulous! We return to our series looking at the hardest words ever found on the SAT with a dive into the English alphabet's sixth letter.

Hey everyone, a little bit of bad news this week. We weren’t able to record a new show due to some unforeseen circumstances. But you can always dive back into our podcast feed and catch up on past episodes. We'll be back with a new episode next week.

A listener email prompts us to try to get a handle on Irish spellings and pronunciations. It doesn't go well!

What happens when you remove an entire verb from the English language? Chaos! Well, not quite. But it used to cause Kathy quite a bit of consternation. Also: we try to nail down the correct spellings of various grunts and murmurs.

We tackle a few listener emails about some unusual pet peeves, including people tacking an extra sound on the end of the word "height," and another wondering why people say they want to "try and" do something.

We'll dive into some common mistakes and pet peeves we have regarding the literary world, and then Kathy and Ross challenge Fletcher to another round of "Related... Or NOT??"

Pet peeves, grammar groaners, and other language catastrophes are on the agenda this week, as we come up with a rock-solid rule grammatical rule that no one will ever question or disagree with.