How do you spell “ice cream sundae/sunday”? Well, that question has an answer. As to the origins of this dessert, that’s a bit more tricky. Or should I say sticky?
I scream; you scream. We all scream for ice cream.
But what about that sunday? Or wait… what’s wrong with this question?
Sometimes, we need to delve deep into heavy issues and be our best possible selves, especially in the words we use. We need to effect change. Other times, we just need to figure out the difference between “snoot” vs. “snout” because there’s got to be a difference. There wouldn’t be two words if there wasn’t a difference hiding in there somewhere, right?
Right. Definitely. And it’s time to dig into these answers. (Whether you’re digging with your snout or snoot leading the way is up to you.)
People surround us. Words surround us. The words we use for people surround us. And things can get tricky.
We might fall into traps of not knowing better with some words, like “gypsy,” which is often considered a racial slur to people of the Roma population—along with the word “gyped,” as in “I was gyped,” which stems from this “gypsy” word. So, hint on that, it’s one you probably want to cut from your vocabulary.
I could go way, way deeper on language that offends—clearly—but what got me started on this concept of words for groups is the word “hipster.” Some words are cooler than cool, and this is one of them. Hipster. And is it related to hippie?
Hip hip hooray. Hip. Hep. Let’s get excited, folks. This is the Words You Should Know podcast, Season 3, Episode 5.
A few stolen minutes out of your day to talk words and communication, because Ben Franklin and Kurt Cobain both influenced our modern English language and spelling memes deserve to be debunked. Words. Language. Human communication. Everything begins there.
Norrie Epstein once said, “The best writing advice I ever received: facts are eloquent.” Oh how much I love this statement. It’s true in conversations, in books, in journalism, and anywhere words might take you. Sometimes, these facts are world changing. Sometimes, these facts are word-changing—or, at least in how you perceive certain uses of language.
Are you ready to dive in? I have two big questions for you today.
A few stolen minutes out of your day to talk words and communication. Let’s talk language tips for the curious or confused. Welcome to episode three of season three.
The Irish author Samuel Beckett once wrote, “Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” I love this idea, in talking about communication skills as well as so many other areas of life.
People can be so scared of failure or doing something incorrectly. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. But what can we achieve if we don’t try?
No matter how you’re using your words, in emails or essays, poetry or presentations, you’ve got to start somewhere. Maxwell Perkins, the book editor best known for the writers he discovered including Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, once said, “Just get it down on paper, and then we’ll see what to do about it.”
No matter what you’re writing or planning to say, it’s true, isn’t it? Just get it down. Just spit it out. Nothing can be carved into a masterpiece if you don’t even have the lump of clay to work with.
Being an English language and grammar pro isn’t a matter of what degrees you’ve earned or what witty pun you might have on your coffee mug. Oh, yes, I’m talking to you with your, “The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense” mug. Sure, I love it. Looking to comfort a word-lover? “There, their, they’re.” (Okay, that one makes much more sense if you could see the different spellings).
But witty mug in hand or not, let’s keep working on our words, and let’s keep amusing ourselves and discovering their fascinating roots along the way.
Some words have their roots in other languages, but others have their roots in a good story that captured the public imagination. The history of “mesmerize,” my language-curious friends, is a case of the latter.
Let me set the stage:
Imagine eighteenth-century Vienna— its grand gardens and palaces, the elegance, grace, and symmetry of Mozart and Beethoven, and the imperial menagerie that would become today’s oldest continually operating zoo in the world. This Vienna was one of the most important political, artistic, and commercial capitals of the era.
In this setting, enter Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer, a physician who proposed a theory of how human and animal bodies react to the gravitational pull of the planets.
If you’re listening along as I publish each episode, you might know it’s flu season in the U.S. I’m not going to go into how to spell “flu,” as in influenza, versus a chimney “flue” or the past tense of “fly,” but I do want to talk about how an apple a day can keep the doctor away. Or if not the medical side of this conversation, let’s at least turn to the language side of things.
Apples. Are they “preventative” or “preventive”? What’s the surprising linguistic twist of the Bible’s mention of the apple in the Garden of Eden? And while we’re on the subject, what’s the explosive story behind the expression, “how do you like them apples?”
Apples, apples, everywhere. This is the “Words You Should Know” podcast, season 2, episode 4
We’re not talking about any “merry gentlemen” here, folks. Did you ever notice the correct comma placement within this opening line of the classic Christmas carol?
From Rudolph to the Grinch to Deck the Halls, yes, my holiday song breakdown continues…
Plus, you now have some nostalgic new slang to drop with your friends. What’s not to love?
Rest ye merry, everybody!
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There aren’t many expressions that have their origins in board games, but “to turn the tables” on someone—meaning to change someone’s fortunes—comes from exactly that source.
