You're Saying It Wrong

This week, we're talking about some of the very oldest words in the English language, and how little some of them have changed over thousands of years.

We're looking at words that were made by smooshing together other words, but it all happened so long ago that we completely forgot about it.

We're dipping back into common rhetorical devices today, and talking about how they can be used to win people to your side... or at least make them laugh a little bit.

We look at some very old words that used to mean something, but that we now only see in very specific instances.

Some of us (Fletcher) can never keep straight what, exactly, the subjunctive is, so fortunately Kathy and Ross are here to remind us!

We have fun with rhetoric and some commonly used rhetorical devices, including how we might be using them even when we don't realize it.

We look at some names of famous people that, when you pronounce them correctly, can let people know you're an expert... or a snob.

This week, Kathy and Ross quiz Fletcher on a list of words that may or may not have been coined by Shakespeare. You might be surprised by which ones we still use today.

We look at why Americans love to talk like our friends from across the pond— or like to think that's what we're doing.

Today we're looking at sentence stress and how the meaning of a sentence can completely change depending on which words you emphasize.

Ouch! Unfortunately, we won't have an episode this week, because even more unfortunately, one of us had an accident and sustained a not-insignificant personal injury. Everything's basically ok, but, you know, it hurts, so we need a week off. Sorry about that, and we'll see you next week!

We get back to one of our favorite topics: Words that sound a lot like other words but have totally different meanings.

We look at some words that we think are related to other words, but actually aren't. Except sometimes they are.

We look at some "rules" of the language that were mostly just made up so people could feel like they were speaking proper English.

We run through some particularly confusing grammar mistakes and how sometimes we might think we’re saying one thing when we’re really saying another.

We run through a few of the many, many English words that contain silent letters and some of the baffling reasons we pronounce those words the way we do.

We dig into why certain words are spelled ridiculously thanks to a bunch of scholars a few hundred years ago who got a little too nutso about making everything look Latin.

Some of us like to be rule breakers, but here are a few rules of the English language we can’t help but follow. And we probably don’t even know they exist.

We look at what happens when we approach non-English words with a little too much gusto, and how exactly we should be saying foreign words so that we don’t sound silly (a tall order for some of us!).

We look at unconscious ways we follow the rules of English by doubling sounds and words, and how meanings of words can change when we say them twice. Now: are you confused? Or are you confused confused?

You’re Saying It Wrong is now more than just a podcast!

This week we rizz you up (did we say that right?) by looking at what dictionaries picked as the words of the year for 2023!

We look at the origins of some holiday-related words, including a reindeer controversy and a little bird that's surprisingly rude.

This week, we look at the official (?) rules of negativity in English.

Today we look at phrases that seem at first glance to mean something, but are actually complete nonsense.