The political, royal and obscene meanings of ...

1207. This week, we look at the hidden linguistic history of Ontario with Sali Tagliamonte. We look at why euphemisms like "golly" and "gosh" are going the way of the dinosaur, the surprising connection between Northern Ontario and the Southern U.S., and how Canadian words like " ...  Show more

1206. This week, we look at the secret language of video gamers — including why getting "nerfed" is a bad thing and what it means to "rage quit" — and we answer a listener's question about whether the bird "duck" or the verb "duck" came first and whether real ducks actually duck ...  Show more

In this episode, you’ll learn how to use the common expression “once in a blue moon.” In Part 2, which will be posted shortly, you’ll hear the story of Rosa Parks and learn about the Civil Rights Movement. Want to take your learning further? ⭐ ⁠Visit the website⁠ for more learnin ...  Show more

In this episode of the American English Podcast, you’ll learn how to use the common English expression “out of the blue.” First, we’ll start with a joke, then we’ll break down what the expression means and go through a few real-life examples so you can hear how it’s used naturall ...  Show more

How many 'blue' phrases do you know? Learn three more with Phil in this podcast.TRANSCRIPT Find a free transcript for this episode and more programmes to help you with your English at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/s5english_in_a_minuteFIND BBC LEARNING E ...  Show more

The term 'blue moon' was figurative a long time before astronomers assigned various definitions. Learn why blue moons aren't blue and what they can mean in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/is-blue-moon-really-blue.htm Learn more ...  Show more