TWTS: Taking a whack at "whack"
For those of us of a certain age, if we whack a tennis ball or a softball too hard or at the wrong angle, we could throw our back out of whack.
Apr 19, 2025•5 min
That's What They Say
That's What They Say is a weekly segment on Michigan Public that explores our changing language. Each week University of Michigan English Professor Anne Curzan will discuss why we say what we say with Michigan Public All Things Considered host Rebecca Kruth.
Episodes
TWTS: How "heist" was lifted for a life of crime
We sometimes talk about stealing or robbery in terms of "lifting" things, and this is relevant to "heists" as well.
Apr 12, 2025•5 min
TWTS: That's what they used to say (we think)
We will never know some of the informal language that was bandied about among speakers in the time of Beowulf.
Apr 07, 2025•5 min
TWTS: Think hard before pointing out language quirks
There are so many interesting bits of language in the world, we can’t help but notice. The question is, when you notice someone saying something interesting, should you point it out?
Mar 28, 2025•5 min
TWTS: When word nerds fight crimes
In a criminal case, you just might need a linguist.
Mar 24, 2025•5 min
TWTS: Why your high school forensics club didn't solve crimes
There's competitive forensics, but there's also forensic medicine, forensic accounting, and forensic linguistics too.
Mar 17, 2025•5 min
TWTS: The expressionless expression of "deadpan"
The word "deadpan" is on the rise, as multiple parts of speech. That "pan" is related to the historical expression “shut your pan."
Mar 09, 2025•5 min
TWTS: Whenever you say "whenever"
Not all of us use the word 'whenever' in exactly the same way, and people are noticing.
Feb 28, 2025•5 min
TWTS: One hundred is worth a hundred
It’s 100% true that people online are asking about sentences like, “I got an a hundred on the test.”
Feb 22, 2025•5 min
TWTS: Not all sounds resonate
The way some people use "resonate" doesn't resonate with all of our listeners.
Feb 17, 2025•5 min
TWTS: When a sweep gets clean
We can sweep the floor, sweep the board, sweep the stakes, sweep the series – and maybe it will even be called a "clean sweep."
Feb 10, 2025•5 min
TWTS: May as well get comfortable with "comfortability"
While you may not find “comfortability” in many standard dictionaries yet, it is out there in circulation with “comfortableness.”
Feb 03, 2025•5 min
TWTS: If you find “the lurch,” don’t stick around
Sometimes we’re left in the lurch. It’s probably fair to say that most of us don’t know where that lurch is.
Jan 25, 2025•5 min
TWTS: Where did that pit in your stomach come from?
It appears that some of those bad or uneasy feelings we may feel in the pit of our stomach have become a pit in our stomach.
Jan 18, 2025•5 min
TWTS: The American Dialect Society's 2024 Word of the Year
It's that time again. With 2024 behind us, we can vote on the word of the year.
Jan 13, 2025•5 min
TWTS: When language gets spicy
We can pepper our food or pepper our speech. If the mood strikes us, we can be peppy in a pep rally sort of way.
Jan 06, 2025•5 min
TWTS: There are reasons to use "there are" before a plural, and there's reasons to use "there's"
There's examples all over the the place of people using "there's" before a plural noun. In fact, we just gave you one.
Dec 29, 2024•4 min
TWTS: The "doink" heard 'round the stadium
As 2024 comes to a close, the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs football team gave us a reason to use the verb "doink."
Dec 23, 2024•5 min
TWTS: Reach out and ping someone
We can still reach out the car window to grab a parking ticket, but today, "reaching out" can also mean "pinging" someone to make a connection.
Dec 16, 2024•5 min
TWTS: A quintessential enough guide to "quintessential"
The words "decimate" and "unique" are quintessential examples of how a word’s meaning can shift from its etymological roots.
Dec 08, 2024•5 min
TWTS: The not-so-ordinary world of "ordinary" and "ornery"
"Ornery" seems like an ordinary enough word, but its link to "ordinary" might surprise people.
Dec 01, 2024•5 min
TWTS: Dilly dallying in the lightning round
As listeners wait with bated breath, we will not dilly dally or shilly shally to get to this lightning round.
Nov 24, 2024•5 min