Short Stuff: Is It Theater or Theatre?

It’s rare that the downfall of an empire can be chalked up to the decisions of just one person. It’s even rarer, when the empire falls over the course of a year. That’s pretty much what happened with the Soviet Union when Mikhail Gorbachev dissolved it.See omnystudio.com/listener ...  Show more

Narcolepsy is one of those amazing rare disorders that everyone thinks they understand – people just fall asleep at random times, even in the middle of doing something. But there’s a lot more to it and – even better – we actually may be able to explain it. Josh and Chuck run it d ...  Show more

Are you unsure whether it’s disc or disk, sympathise or sympathize, learnt or learned? 

Did you know that in the book "Gone with the Wind," Rhett Butler said "My dear..." instead of "Frankly, my dear..."? Also, are we getting back to normalcy or normality? One of these words came from a misspeak (followed by a doubling-down) by William Harding. Subscribe to the news ...  Show more

How a homophone mix up led to Judi Dench bread jokes. Also, the difference between a lectern, a podium, and a dais, and a Quick and Dirty Tip about capitalizing award names. FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Pint ...  Show more

Click here to read the full episode summary English spelling can be hard. We don't always spell words the way they sound and sometimes two words can sound the same and be spelled differently. Those words can have completely different meanings. Today Lindsay and Michelle show you ...  Show more