Anne Curzan

Ways To Subscribe We love it when listeners often write to us about words or phrases they've encountered in the news.

Ways To Subscribe When we get schooled at something, the experience may leave us feeling humbled, i.e., taken down a few notches, less sure of ourselves.

Ways To Subscribe Once again, it's time to tackle a few questions that don't quite require a full segment but are still too interesting to pass up.

Ways To Subscribe When you're hanging out with your friends, chances are you're not debating the origins of the phrase “hang out.” Then again, if you've made your way to this language-focused article, maybe you are.

Ways To Subscribe In 2025, “6-7” (pronounced six-seven) had a cultural moment.

Ways To Subscribe Have you ever thought about why we can't say "I'm gonna Pittsburgh"?

Ways To Subscribe Some quirks of English feel completely random. But when you study the history of the language, things that seem mysterious suddenly start to make sense.

Ways To Subscribe Most of us don't spend much time thinking about doornails. They're not something you'll find in the modern-day home

Ways To Subscribe Why do we still have fishmongers and cheesemongers, but not producemongers or textilemongers?

Ways To Subscribe People have been scrimping and saving for centuries, but whether they've also been skimping and saving is a more nuanced