That's What They Say

TWTS: Fore! It's a lightning round

This may be one of the only times that throw pillows, golf, and curling all get wrapped into the same discussion.

TWTS: "Proactive" gets a reaction in advance

While people may agree that being proactive is a positive trait, the word proactive can elicit some very negative reactions, so to speak.

TWTS: Cat chasing pixies? There's a word for that

Is your cat running around in circles? Be advised, that kitty might be pixilated.

TWTS: Old English, new boundaries

When we talk about Middle English, it suggests that we know when English began and when it ends.

TWTS: The cards language deals

There are lots of cards we can still play now, but we’ve lost some good ones too.

TWTS: "Hunky dory" is doing just fine

If "hunky dory" means the same thing as "right as rain," then we face the question of how right rain is.

TWTS: "Highfalutin" is too good for one spelling

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.

TWTS: Be careful what you hear around the scuttlebutt

We exchange scuttlebutt at the proverbial water cooler, and there's an etymological clue in that.

TWTS: Time to talk about your watch

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.

TWTS: Careful how you're using that 👍

Sometimes new slang jumps out in front of you, waving its hands, or thumbs, so that you can’t help but notice it. Sometimes it just sneaks up on you.

TWTS: Understanding the depth of "fathom"

We can count fathoms when we’re measuring things. We can also metaphorically fathom or not fathom things.

TWTS: Speaking of "bespoke"

This is a bespoke segment of That’s What They Say that focuses on “bespoke.”

TWTS: Up and down your alley... and your street

If it’s up your alley, it might also be up your street. And perhaps it’s down rather than up.

TWTS: One rank, two pronunciations

You say "lieutenant," I say “leftenant” but let’s not call the whole thing off.

TWTS: The wonky journey of "wonky"

There’s more than one way to be wonky, and not all of them are bad.

TWTS: Are we canceling adverbs?

Adverbs don’t always get a lot of love, captured powerfully in the writing tip “Abolish the adverbs.”

TWTS: Scrimping, skimping, and the degrees of frugality

We scrimp and we save, and we skimp and we still save, which makes one wonder whether scrimping is different from skimping

TWTS: From fishmongers to warmongers - and warmongerers

Cheesemongers sell cheese, and gossipmongers usually start the gossip or spread it, rather than sell it.

TWTS: The death of doornails

Many of us don’t talk about doornails very often, but sometimes we will when things are really, well, dead.

TWTS: When "f" and "v" were sort of one

If you know how the sound "f" worked in Old English, it suddenly isn’t mysterious why the "f" in "leaf" turns into a "v" in the plural form "leaves."