‘Ghost words’ and their history. Rules for ‘between’ and ‘among.’ Wilsoning.

‘Ghost words’ and their history. Rules for ‘b...

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How a long-lost yearbook revealed the origin of 'hella,' with Ben Zimmer

1145. In this bonus segment from October, I talk with Ben Zimmer about "hella" and how even yearbook messages can be digitized to help preserve the language record. Ben shares the full story of this slang term, and we also talk about the detective work that led to the OED using R ...  Show more

The origin of X in algebra. Why we say ‘how come’ for ‘why.’ Water handles.

1144. This week, we look at the origin of the letter X as the variable for the unknown in algebra. Then, we look at the phrase "how come," explaining why it's more informal than "why" and how its grammar subtly differs from other question words.That X segment was written by Peter ...  Show more

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