That's What They Say: Recent Episodes
Anne Curzan, Rebecca Kruth
That's What They Say is a weekly segment on Michigan Radio that explores our changing language. Each week University of Michigan English Professor Anne Curzan will discuss why we say what we say with Michigan Radio Weekend Edition host Rebecca Kruth.
While we may know highfalutin language when we hear it, we don't all agree about how to spell "highfalutin" or where it comes from.
We exchange scuttlebutt at the proverbial water cooler, and there's an etymological clue in that.
The little clock we wear on our wrist could be called a clock. Instead, it has long had its own term, being called a watch instead.
Sometimes new slang jumps out in front of you, waving its hands, or thumbs, so that you canât help but notice it. Sometimes it just sneaks up on you.
We can count fathoms when weâre measuring things. We can also metaphorically fathom or not fathom things.
If itâs up your alley, it might also be up your street. And perhaps itâs down rather than up.
Adverbs donât always get a lot of love, captured powerfully in the writing tip âAbolish the adverbs.â
We scrimp and we save, and we skimp and we still save, which makes one wonder whether scrimping is different from skimping
Cheesemongers sell cheese, and gossipmongers usually start the gossip or spread it, rather than sell it.
Many of us donât talk about doornails very often, but sometimes we will when things are really, well, dead.
If you know how the sound "f" worked in Old English, it suddenly isnât mysterious why the "f" in "leaf" turns into a "v" in the plural form "leaves."
If I say Iâm gonna do it, I donât necessarily mean Iâm headed out the door right now to do it.
2025 had lots of people talking about sixes and sevens, but not in the loose ends kind of way.
Next time youâre hanging out with friends, you can debate just how slangy the phrasal verb âhang outâ is.
This may be one of the only times that throw pillows, golf, and curling all get wrapped into the same discussion.
When we get schooled at something, we may feel humbled by the experience; but when we win something, we may also say we feel humbled by the experience.
Looking at late 19th century language peeves can often point to a change in progress, but not always.
Of all the topics we could cover this week on That's What They Say, we chose these ones over those ones.
A sea change can now be caused by many things other than the sea, and some of its dramatic effects have been lost in the process.
Major League Baseball playoffs and football tailgate season both mean the smell of hot dogs is in the air.
We don't encounter petards very often anymore. Thatâs unless weâre being, metaphorically speaking, âhoisted with our own petard.â
There are plenty of people out there who see "utilize" as a pretentious substitute for "use." However, some people are completely comfortable utilizing the verb "utilize."
Thereâs the âyeaâ in voting âyeaâ or ânay," and then thereâs the celebratory âYay!" Oh yeah, there's also "yeah."
You could say, "I don't like him singing," or you could say, "I don't like his singing." Believe it or not, some folks have very strong feelings about which of those is correct.
It's all so grammatically straight forward in the present tense if you plead innocent. Later on though, should you tell people you "pleaded" innocent or "pled" innocent?
We keep track of things, we lose track of things, we run track, and listen to tracks. Sometimes though, we confuse âtrackâ with âtract.â
Alls our listener wanted to know is what's going on with the âallsâ in âalls I know.â
It doesn't seem like coming up with a response to "thank you" should be that complicated. When you think about it though, there are a lot of options.
Even for speakers who feel solid about the distinction between "lie" and "lay," they may lose that distinction when "low" is added to the mix.
All right, last week, we got distracted by the versatility of "all right." This week, we look at why spelling it as one word, "alright," makes some people really mad.
All right, all right. It's time for us to start talking about whether "alright" is all right.
While now we may think of being a bookworm as a positive trait, that hasn't always been the case.
As we live our lives, there's some new slang words that can help us narrate it as we go. That is, if we're in a demographic that allows us to use slang credibly.
We donât all agree on whether or not we should correct the phrasing "whether or not."
We can talk about sending emails back and forth. But why does it sound odd to talk about sending them forth and back?
Given that âtunaâ is a fish, some may find it unnecessary to call out that fact out in the compound âtuna fish.â For others, âfishâ may be an important distinction.
Thereâs evidence of a new peeve arising. This one is focused on âtrainingâ as a countable noun.
Lots of people don't like the redundancy in "irregardless." However, no one's fussy about the redundancy in a phrase like "a friend of mine."
An ouster can be an act of ousting, or it can be the one who does the ousting. But we seem to have opted for one of those meanings over the other.
At this point, we can manifest our dream future, a good grade on a exam, or even a parking spot.
Currying favor has everything to do with flattery and horses, and nothing to do with food.
Thereâs a childrenâs rhyme that involves liars and pants on fire and various types of wires. Now, we can say things are âpants on fireâ false.
If you worry about if or whether you should use "if" or "whether" in exactly this construction, you're not alone.
It's been really dreary and so icy outside lately. It's awfully tempting to wear super cozy clothes and use lots of intensifiers.
Badgers live underground and are nocturnal, so we don't see them running around all that often. Somehow though, they're associated with a negative, annoying verb.
The year 2023 is officially in the record books. As part of taking stock, the members of the American Dialect Society met to consider what we've all been up to linguistically.
Many of us were taught the rule that we shouldnât end a sentence with a preposition, and honestly this is a rule we should be asking questions about.
It's undeniable that "Tupperware" has become a generic catch-all for plastic containers, regardless of shape, size, or brand. Not everyone likes this.
When you stop to think about a verb like "batten," you may be struck by just how few objects it can take.
Sometimes something you think is a slip or a mistake, perhaps a product of happenstance, is not that.
If youâve been watching the U.S. Open tennis tournament during the last couple of weeks, youâve probably been hearing a lot of âloveâ and âlet.â But where did those terms come from?
"Nonplussed" is one of those words that historically doesn't have a particularly complicated meaning, but it's one that people frequently misuse.
When we inquire about something, one could argue that it doesn't really matter if we inquire with an "i" or enquire with an "e."
The phrase âwithout further adoâ has itself been unable to escape ado. In other words, thereâs been some to-do about it.
If you have more than one head waiter at a restaurant, you run into a funny spelling question in English.
Coaches, referees and gym teachers are probably better authorities than we are, but we've got a feeling that whistles probably aren't very clean.
âOffâ isnât just an insect repellant. Itâs a versatile word that might not look like much, but itâs amazing how many different ways we use it.
Today we broadcast the news. Tomorrow we will broadcast the news. And yesterday? We broadcast the news.
There's the hair on on our heads and the hares we see hopping around our yards. There's been some confusion over which of these is the "hare" in "harebrained."
Often we will refer to looking something up in "the dictionary." That suggests that it doesnât really matter which dictionary we use, and that's just not true.
If we sanction things with no other context, itâs not clear whether these things will be allowed or whether they will be penalized.
Some speakers have come to understand "haphazard" as "half-hazard," because who knows what a "hap" is.
There are so many interesting bits of language in the world, we canât help but notice. The question is, when you notice someone saying something interesting, should you point it out?
We can lend things and we can loan things, but when it comes to ears, it's about lending.
There are a lot of rumors out there about the origins of the word "okay." We decided it was time to set things straight.
Anyone whoâs used to working under a deadline knows it can be stressful. At least todayâs deadlines donât usually involve actual death â that wasnât always the case.
If youâre on the road less traveled, how many Ls are in the word traveled will depend on whether youâre in the U.S. or, say, the U.K.
If you have âaholdâ of something, some people wonder if âaholdâ is one word or two words. Other people ask if itâs a word at all.
"Crimp" is a verb, and it can refer to interfering. Historically though, it's been "cramping" not "crimping" when we say, âDonât cramp my style!â
In regard to the use of âin regards to,â there has been some serious criticism, even though many people say it and write it.
When you have a language podcast, you come across a lot of usages that make you think, âI would never say that.â A little research and a few contextual examples later, you might just change your mind.
When weâre talking about a small book for teaching children to read, or really any short book that introduces a topic, there are two competing pronunciations of the word for that book.
One jury is made up of multiple people, so when we talk about a jury, we could have the verb agree with the singularity of the nounâs grammar or the plurality of the nounâs meaning.
The places one haunts are often not haunted, if "haunted" means there are ghosts or spirits there.
In the age of the internet, if you donât know the answer to something, you can just search it up online â even if your question is about the verb âsearch up.â
As language nerds are wont to do, they get curious about words like âwontâ and its relationship with âwant.â
Geologically speaking, epicenters are dangerous places to be. Theyâve also raised some usage questions which are probably less dangerous, though it may depend on who you ask.
Given that we can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, it's completely reasonable to ask what it means to just be whelmed.
In the Commodoresâ song âThree Times a Lady," itâs hard to imagine the lyrics being âonce, twice, thrice a ladyâ rather than âonce, twice, three times a lady.â
When we fly, weâre in a pressurized cabin. When weâre trying to get someone to do something, some of us may pressurize them.
When a magician performs the classic trick of sawing their assistant in half, what happens to the person inside the box? Were they "sawed" in half, or were they "sawn" in half?
When a magician performs the classic trick of sawing their assistant in half, what happens to the person inside the box? Were they "sawed" in half, or were they "sawn" in half?
English spellings such as âknightâ and âgnatâ capture earlier pronunciations of these words. The same cannot be said of the peculiar assemblage of letters in âisland.â
Some of us learned that âthe reasonâ and âbecauseâ shouldnât be used in the same sentence. The reason this bothers some people is because it's redundant.
For anyone who's hoping for one exceptionless rule about when to use a hyphen, we're afraid youâre going to be disappointed.
Some things go together like peas and carrots. Others go together like carrots and sticks, which could mean a lot of different things, depending on how you use this phrase.
Some things go together like peas and carrots. Others go together like carrots and sticks, which could mean a lot of different things, depending on how you use this phrase.
Possible objections notwithstanding, the Canadian Justice Department has recommended that "notwithstanding" be replaced in legal writing. But why? The answer takes us deep into some pretty nerdy weeds.
Possible objections notwithstanding, the Canadian Justice Department has recommended that "notwithstanding" be replaced in legal writing. But why? The answer takes us deep into some pretty nerdy weeds.
Surface roads can be highways, but they don't have to be. Surface roads can also be surfaced, but again, they don't have to be.
Surface roads can be highways, but they don't have to be. Surface roads can also be surfaced, but again, they don't have to be.
Our fellow word nerds at Merriam Webster are watching the phrase "the Streisand effect." At least one of our listeners is watching it too, and alerted us to the verb "to Streisand."
Confronted with a long chair on which one longues, some American English speakers call it a "chaise longue" and some call it a "chaise lounge."
Knowing the different conversational meanings of a phrase like "I'm busy" is an important part of knowing how to use a language.
When people watch or study something intently, there certainly is an intensity to that. We wouldn't call these words interchangeable though.
At some point you probably learned that words like "wife" and "life" are spelled with a "v" instead of "f" in plural form. Easy enough, until you found out plenty of other words, like "roof" and "sheriff," don't follow this rule.
There are upshots and upsides, and there can be upsides to upshots. For some speakers, upshots can even be upsides.
Frequent listeners of That's What We Say know how we much we love to talk about the constant phenomenon of words changing in meaning and use. This week we tackle three examples, including a question about the past participle of "chide."
The only thing wrong with âainâtâ is that someone decided thereâs something wrong with it.
As we celebrate the nation's birthday this week, That's What They Say is celebrating ten years of episodes.
Many standard dictionaries still list the traditional pronunciation of âschismâ first. However, if you used it, a lot of people probably wouldnât know what you were talking about.
English Professor Anne Curzan used to cross out "that" and write "who" when her students wrote things like "the person that" in their papers. Then a graduate student asked her why.
Many contemporary dictionaries will only give the paper meaning of âloose leaf." What happened to the tea?
When something or someone exploits other things or people, we can say theyâre âexploitive," âexploitativeâ or âexploitative.â Yeah, two of these look identical, but trust us, they sound different.
When youâre waiting nervously in anticipation of something, youâre on a kind of hook that may feel tender, but itâs not. The metaphorical hooks on which you find yourself are actually "tenterhooks."
When something is "beyond the pale," it has crossed the line, or perhaps we could say crossed the fence that delineates what is acceptable.
When we're talking about two things, we can talk about the former thing and the latter thing. However, once we have three or more things, not everyone agrees on whether there can be a "latter" thing.
Some words are deceptively simple. For example, "late" is short, easy to spell and pronounce, but it comes with a laundry list of meanings, some of which you really don't want to confuse.
When thereâs havoc, itâs often wreaked. When we wreak something, itâs often havoc. But what do "wreak" and "havoc" mean?
"Gaslighting" isn't a new concept, but the verb "gaslight" has seen a surge in popularity in the past few years. That's left some people wondering what the past tense of the verb is.
When you hear someone say âup and at âem,â you probably know what to do, even if you donât know who ââemâ refers to.
When youâre only talking about two things, âbothâ and âeachâ can be interchangeable and often are. However, âbothâ can sometimes be ambiguous.
There's a certain satisfaction in telling someone about snowblowing half a foot of accumulation off your driveway. That is, until you stumble over the past tense of "snowblow."
When it comes to English, sometimes we just canât let go. For instance, we no longer use the word âdespiteâ to refer to an emotion. In spite of that, weâve held on to it.
There was a time when double-clicking simply meant to press one of the buttons on your mouse in quick succession to open a folder on your computer or start a program. Not anymore.
Peaches and gravy seem like a bad combination as foods. As words though, they combine to describe an excellent state of affairs.
Though COVID-19 vaccines were one of the most important things to happen in 2021, âvaccineâ didnât emerge as the winner in Friday nightâs vote.
This New Yearâs Eve, we found ourselves wondering, what does âAuld Lang Syneâ mean and where does it come from?
Before there were online possibilities for how students went to class, we just went to class. For many students, thatâs simply not the case anymore, especially not during the pandemic.
There are bucks that are dollars, and those are different from the bucks that stop when the buck stops here.
It can be a panic-inducing moment when you're asked to say out loud a word that you have primarily or perhaps only encountered in writingâand youâre not sure how to say it.
It might seem like a fortuitous coincidence is always a good thing, but for some usage commentators, it is at best redundant and at worst misuse.
A living language like English is changing all the time. Sometimes those changes go unnoticed. Sometimes people react, strongly.
If youâre within your car, youâre inside it. If youâre without your car, did you leave your car at home or are you standing outside it?
Expressions like âhouse and homeâ and âbetwixt and betweenâ are clearly redundant. Donât cancel them quite yet though -- redundancy isnât a deal breaker.
While "passing the mustard" is about handing over the Dijon or spicy brown, "cutting the mustard" is the phrase that means to meet expectations, similar to "passing muster."
Standard dictionaries have yet to catch up with us as we differentiate "fantastic" and "fantastical."
A hyphen can mean the difference between resigning from a job or re-signing a contract to keep that job. But style guides don't always agree on which words should get one.
Do we really need both "infeasible" and "unfeasible?" It's feasible to argue that we don't.
If you have one staff, as in a stick, and then you add another staff, you now run into the question of whether you have two staffs or two staves.
The words "previous" and "prior" are synonyms and donât get much attention from language commentators.