YOU’RE SAYING IT WRONG — our NPR Syndicated Radio Show & Podcast

Our award-winning NPR.org radio show and podcast (with co-host Fletcher Powell of NPR’s KMUW) about all things word-related — from grammar peeves to word histories, language controversies to emerging slang, pronunciation pitfalls to unwritten language rules, and a lot more. A lot of words, a lot of conversation, a lot of laughs … and even a little controversy! (Inspired by the New York Times bestseller You’re Saying It Wrong, and its companion books That Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means, and Awkword Moments)

EPISODE LIST 

Tulip Mania! What does the stock market have to do with piracy in the West Indies? The Dutch, of course! (Really!)

 

 

Where Are the Beeves? The plural of thief is thieves, so why isn’t the plural of chief chieves? And as the old woman once said, where are the beeves??? On today’s show, we tackle the tricky nuance of plurals and synonyms that aren’t actually synonyms.

 

The Letter of the Day is E! We return to our series looking at the most enigmatic, evil words ever found on the SAT.

Spring Has Sprung! We’re talking about some words of the season as the temperatures have fortunately turned for the better and allergies unfortunately have not.

 

We’re looking to the past Today we’re taking a trip back into the past — past tense, past participles… When we try to tell someone about something that already happened, it can be trickier than we might think.

 

Happy 200! We celebrate our 200th episode (!) by taking a trip back in time to look at some words that popped up 200 years ago.

 

Let’s Get Fancy Put on your best evening wear, we’re getting fancy! Or maybe we’re just getting stuffy. This week we’re looking at language that’s grammatically correct, but that sounds like you’re just trying to impress.

 

Mailbag Day! We answer listeners’ most burning language questions, including one about how the letter “R” seems to disappear and reappear in the strangest places, and about whether or not anything can ever be called “epic” ever again.

 

Enough With the Latin Already! Latin may be a dead language, but it sure seems to come up a lot! This week, we’ll look at some common Latin phrases that we think we understand, but that we may not get quite right.

 

Getting a D on the SAT We return to our series looking at the most devilish words ever found on the SAT.

 

 

We’ll Never Give You the Cold Shoulder .Baby, it’s cold outside! So let’s talk COLD!!! COLD things like shoulders and feet and thin ice and such. Yup, on this week’s You’re Saying It Wrong, we’re looking at winter-related idioms. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg … 

Canadian English Let’s speak Canadian, eh? This week, in answer to a listener e-mail, we’re talking about that specific kind of English from the Great White North. Get your double double, take off your toque and give it a listen!

The Norman Conquest of the English Language  Let’s talk — or should we say converse? Yes, a Norman and an Old English word for the same idea … which is this week’s topic: how Norman words poured into the English language and won the “sounds classier” sweepstakes. 

Idioms: They’re Not Rocket Science We take a look at some modern-day idioms, where they came from, and what they could possibly mean.

Get These Words Outta Here! We look at a list of words people want to banish in this new year — the overused, overhyped, and sometimes just plain irritating ones. Some of them we agree with, some of them we won’t let go without a fight!

 

Getting a C on the SAT We continue our alphabetical trip through the most challenging words from the SAT. It’s time for the c’s!

 

The Words of 2024 We’ll run through the various dictionaries’ selections for the words of the year. A lot of them are ones you’d expect — from demure (can we stop with that now please?) to brat (ditto!) to brain rot (okay, so that one’s different! to polarization (ditto!) plus other unexpected ones — and we offer up a few of our own.

 

A Plethora of Plurals! Octopuses or octopi or octopodi?  And what’s the plural of  Tyrannosaurus? What could be more fun for the holidays than digging into the bizarre world of Latin and Greek plurals? Nothing! That’s what!

 

Is This Socially Acceptable?? We wade into the social media wars as we take a look at some of the most common language mistakes people make when they’re posting online. Woah! We advice you to stay calm and not loose your mind!

Grab-bag Day We hit a number of language-related topics this week, kicked off by a listener question about what the heck a participle actually is. 

 

It’s All Relative This week, Kathy and Ross quiz Fletcher on words that are surprising relatives– and some that are surprisingly not.  Emoji and emoticon, miniature and minus, island and isle … and many m ore.

 

Getting a B on the SAT The letter of the week is “B,” as we move on to the second part in our series looking at the hardest words on the SAT.  

 

A Little Stress Relief This week, we’re here to help you relax a little bit by telling you that some of those little language mistakes that raise your blood pressure might not actually be mistakes.

 

Electoral Confusion With the U.S. election upon us, Kathy and Ross quiz Fletcher on the pronunciation and origins of some words related to our democratic process.

 

It’s Getting Spoooooky Again Just in time for Halloween, we’re talking about some of the creepy parts of the language world, including ghost words and some horrifying hyphens.

 

Italian Food! We’re looking at the differences between what people in Italy call their food and what they call it in one very specific place in the world (here’s a hint: Tony Soprano has a lot to say about this).

  

Make No Mistake We return to one of our favorite topics: mistakes that aren’t really mistakes, even though a whole lot of people will tell you they’re mistakes.

 

The “Most” Words A Merriam-Webster poll sets off our conversation today as we make our picks for the most overrated word, the most underrated word, the most pleasant word to say, and a number of other mosts, bests, and worsts.

 

Of Course! A Mere Trifle  There are a whole lot of things you can say when someone thanks you for something… But what do they all really mean?

The Hidden World of Syllable Stress  We continue our fascination with rules we don’t know we know with a look at the importance of where we put the stress when we say words out loud.

Let’s Hop Across the Pond Jump in your estate car and head to the chemist, this week we’re looking at some British equivalents of American English words.

Getting an A on the SAT The letter of the day is “A”! We’re getting you (or your kids) ready for the SATs with some tricky vocabulary from the beginning of the alphabet. Abrogate? Abstruse? Abnegation? They’re all here … and more! Have you got the acumen to know their meanings?

We Simply Must Talk About Modal Verbs This episode of You’re Saying It Wrong may change your life! Or, well, it could … We shall see!! Yup, it’s the exciting (!) world of those weird verbs we probably didn’t know were called “modal verbs” but, man, we use them a lot!

 

Let’s Hit the Beach Grab your swimsuit! Or your bathing suit. That’s up to you. We’re heading to the beach for a look at the language of tides, waves, and other things beachy. Like where did the word “beach” come from anyway? (Spoiler: it has nothing to do with sand or even oceans. )

 

Now is the winter of our discontent made brat summer With Charli XCX sparking a summer phenomenon, we take a look at the nature of slang: who uses it, why we use it, and how we need to be very careful with it. We talk about how slang starts … and how it lasts (or doesn’t). Yes, this episode is definitely brat! (But not cheugy … remember that?!?)

 

Back-formations Baby’s got back … formations! Which came first, burgle or burglar? Upholster or upholsterer? It’s words that came from longer words even though it sounds like the opposite.

 

Silly Rules (Or, the Unpredictability of the English Language)

Today, we look at language rules that are rules sometimes, and rules that don’t make sense. Well, they make some sense. Whatever. They’re rules, anyway.

 

The Etymology Olympics

With the world’s greatest sporting event upon us, we look at the origins of some sports-related words.

Is This a Fossil? Or Just Some Dumb Old Rock? A listener question prompts us to think about words like rehabilitate, revamp, and nonplussed, and whether we can be plussed about habilitating and vamping, or if we’re just talking nonsense.

The Ambiguity of English (Is the Name of My Jazz Band) What’s next Monday—the one coming up or the one after that? If something’s biweekly, is it twice a week or every 2 weeks? If you’re here until Tuesday, are you leaving on Tuesday or Monday? It’s ambiguity time — time to look ambiguous words and phrases– sometimes we think we know what we’re saying and sometimes we’re really wrong. 

It’s a Dead Language, I Always Say Latin may be dead, but we still use it every day. It’s time to see if we REALLY know what those Latin and other foreign phrases mean. Do you have the bona fides to handle it?

from the Confusables Department: affect vs effect — the right way to use these two commonly confused words

Cranberry Morphemes Let’s talk cranberries! As in … is there such a thing as a “cran”? A listener asked us about the cran in cranberry which led us to talk about a linguistic thingie called “cranberry morphemes” — those chunks of words (like cran) that only exist in that one word. But it gets a little more complicated than that … 

Final Exams How well can YOU do on a grab bag of language questions on subjects we’ve covered this year — from how do you pronounce geoduck to what was the initial meaning of “cute” to is saying “my wife and I’s dinner” correct or incorrect? Can you ace the You’re Saying It Wrong final exam?

The Defining Words of the Spelling Bee This week, we’re looking back on the amazing end of the 2024 Scripps Spelling Bee and testing ourselves … but not can we spell the words (we cannot), but can we figure out what the heck they mean? A little Latin here, a smidge of logic, perhaps some Greek and some fancy guesswork and … well, it’s tough! Can YOU figure them out?!? And … remember to ask your local NPR station to pick us up! Not in THAT way, but in the on air way, thankyouverymuch!!

The Oldest of Old Words We’re talking the oldest — and we mean waaay back to prehistoric times on the steppes — words that we STILL use in English. (Hint for one: What do you like on your bagel with a schmear?)

Smooshed-up Words We’re looking at words that were made by smooshing together other words … but that was a looong time ago, so we don’t realize it any more. Like daisy, or good bye. Can YOU figure out the original words? 

The Rheturn of Rhetoric  Some Monty Python, a smidge of Will Shakes, Groucho, and , of course, http://Iron.Man. (Well, duh.) Yup, all of them — and you too! — are using fancy tricks from ancient Greece. Can YOU figure them out?!?

Ye Olde Fossil Words It’s time to dig up some fossil words—words that don’t really exist any more except in certain phrases, like “kith” as in “…and kin”), or “shebang” (as in “the whole …) What did they mean? And what’s with the “ye” in all those “ye olde” signs?

If I Were To Talk About The Subjunctive… Were? Or was? Arrgh!! This week it’s time to tackle that pesky mood (yup, mood!) we call the subjunctive. From be that as it may to bless you to so be it … those frickin’ subjunctives are all around us!

We are all rhetoricians now Move over, Cicero! Most of us are using rhetorical devices regularly … and might not even know it. This week, that’s what we’re talking about — along with some help from everyone from Churchill to Tolkein, from Shakespeare to Yoda!

These Names Have Snob Appeal From Byron’s Don Juan to W.E.B. Dubois to Diane Arbus … names you might not know how to pronounce even though you THINK you do!

Shakespeare: He made up a lot of words It’s said that Shakespeare invented or introduced over 1,700 words to the English language, but can you figure out WHICH ones? Yup, it’s the Very Big Shakespeare Quiz on this week’s episode of YSIW!. And now, once more unto the breach, as Will also wrote!

Big News! You’re Saying It Wrong is now more than just a podcast; it’s now a weekly public radio show. Let your local NPR station know you’d like them to pick it up!

British-isms Pip pip and all that rot! It’s time for a look at the American love affair with sounding British … or TRYING to, that is. So put down that bumbershoot and pop in for a listen! 

The Good Kind of Stress It’s time to get stressed out! This week, we’re talking sentence stress: how we use emphasis on specific words to get our meaning across . We get 7 different meanings from the exact same sentence. Pretty wild!)

Pretending to be proper Let’s flaunt the rules! Incredulous as it may sound, we’ve planned a truly climatic episode this week. Yup, we’re talking about confusables, words that sound like other words but have totally different meanings.

Weird Word Origins This week, it’s words that SOUND like they’re related to other words, but might not be — from shamefaced to vomitorium.

Sticky, tricky grammar moments Do you feel bad about something — or badly? Did the fish make you nauseous or nauseated? Can you feel abject joy? Is something momentous historical or historic? These & other niggling grammar questions on this week’s episode of YSIW.

Psilence!  In this week’s show, we look at words that aren’t pronounced like they’re spelled—from colonel to solemn to comptroller —and talk about why the baffling spelling exists in the first place.

The Latin Craze  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.

 

Sneaky rules we don’t know we follow Why do you say “your friend’s car” instead of “the car of your friend”? Why do you say an artist paints “still lifes” instead of “still lives” or un-freakin-believable” instead of”un-be-freakin-lievable”? It’s all due to those sneaky rules of English!

Hyperforeignisms and other times we just get too excited This week we look at words that have been imported into English from other languages—from foyer to forte to coup de grace—and how we sometimes go a little nutso trying to make them sound as “correct” as possible.

Doublespeak! It’s time for a look at some language rules you don’t even know you’re following — in the weird and wonderful world of duplication! Easy peasy … right? (And we’re not being fancy schmancy!)

The dictionary’s newest words It’s time to take a look at the newest words being added to the dictionary — Jugging! Cakeage! Greenwashing! And, of course, nepo baby! Where’d they come from and what do they actually mean … and are they REALLY dictionary-worthy? (You’re Saying it Wrong podcast on NPR)

 

 Grammar thingies  It’s time for the Little Irritating Language Things that Always Trip Us Up! That vs which, who vs that, may vs might, “an historical” or “a historical.” Arrgh! (You’re Saying it Wrong podcast on NPR)

 

 

You’re Spelling It Wrong 2023 It’s nearly back-to-school time … so we get in the spirit with a spelling bee with some of the most commonly misspelled words in English. Can you spell them right? (You’re Saying it Wrong podcast on NPR)

 

The words of summer We’re talking summer adjectives this episode. Not basic ones like hot or sticky, but COMPLICATED ones like estival (not festival!), apricate & spoondrift. What do they mean & where did they come from? It’s hot fun in the summertime with cool words on YSIW! (You’re Saying it Wrong podcast on NPR)

 

Around the World in 30 Minutes It’s time for some globe-hopping to some of the world’s most problematically pronounced places, sent in to us by listeners! From Aix-en-Provence to Lodz to Ptuj … how do you say it right?!?!

 

You’re telling me that’s English?? (Part 2)  Having been bamboozled by Kathy and Ross in the previous episode, Fletcher resolves to get at one question right this time around. Don’t hold your breath, Fletch.

 

You’re telling me that’s English??  With the words we use in English coming from so many different languages, Kathy and Ross challenge Fletcher to a quiz about word origins. And somehow we end up talking about both bazookas and grenades, so things escalate quickly.

 

Let’s do a grammar quiz!  Which is right?: “The majority of them are here” OR “The majority of them is here.” Yes, it’s grammar quiz time on YSIW! Can you get these right?

Road trip!  We take a trip through some of the most commonly mispronounced places in the good ol’ USA. Mackinac? Spokane? And what’s the deal with Cheesequake? Hop in! Things might get a little bumpy …   

 

That used to mean what??!  It’s Words that Meant Different Things time! We’re talking about words that started out with rather different meanings when they first entered the English language … like guy, condescension and … meat. Yes, meat!

 

The twisted world of bureaucracy  Having tried to wrap our heads around the world of academic language, we now take a stab at trying to untangle the meaning of phrases bureaucracies and corporations produce as they try to sound fancy (and avoid legal trouble).

 

Mailbag day! We head back to the mailbag to answer some listener questions, We cover a grab bag of things we’ve been asked — from the genesis of “woke, to why balls career instead of careen, plus a quick look at something common in English and only about 1% of other languages: the very bossy R.

 

That still doesn’t mean what you think it means, part 2 Regimen vs regime, hysterical vs hilarious, the REAL meaning of prodigal vs its current use, & other words that are changing even as we use them. (Culled from our book That Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means, just out as an audiobook!) 

That still doesn’t mean what you think it means A look at some of the words we wrote about in  That Doesn’t Mean What You Think it Means that continue to confuse people — from ambivalent to chronic, pristine to random, emigrate to immigrate, not to mention e.g. and i.e.

The Most Mispronounced Words of 2022  It’s an episode we look forward to each January, as we take a look back at the most mispronounced words of the previous year. Even the dinosaurs said one of these wrong!

Wait, THESE are the words of the year??  The words of the 2022, as chosen by various dictionaries and lexicographers. Kathy and Ross take major issue with various choices for words of the year for 2022. What makes for a good word of the year? Can anyone please our experts? 

 

Will We Ever Learn?   While recording the audio versions of their books, Kathy and Ross discover there are words they’ve written about that they STILL say wrong, even after all these years. A look at some of the most commonly mispronounced words in English. 

 

Come Sit With Us a Spell A look at the most commonly misspelled words in English. After we puzzle over some words Kathy and Ross recently found in the news, we’ll tackle a list of the English language’s most misspelled words. Two billion tweets can’t be wrong, can they? (Yes, they can, and are.) 

 

Get My Agentive Suffix On the Phone! Turns out agentive suffixes are  popular!  We tackle a number of listener questions we got after our first episode on the topic, and Kathy gets VERY excited about a couple of the words that come up.

 

Secret Agentive Suffix Man! A listener asks why some words end in -er, while other similar words end in -or, like “seller” vs. “vendor,” or “supervisor” vs. “manager.” 

 

Happy Spooky Season!  It’s the spoooookiest episode we’ve ever had, as we dive into the roots of the scary words we hear each Halloween. Vampires! Werewolves! Witches and Warlocks! 

SAT Prep: A look at some of the words that surveys say people have the most difficulty with, ones that show up in articles, books, and (groan) standardized tests but that tend to trip us up.

Separated by a Common Language, Part 2: We continue our discussion of spelling differences between American English and British English, including what will probably be the last conversation you’ll ever want to hear about the nuances of “get,” “got,” and “gotten.” 

Separated by a Common Language: On one side, you have people spelling it “realise,” on the other, it’s “realize.” And the poor Canadians are caught right in the middle. A listener question from Spain prompts us to dig into why Americans and Brits spell so many words differently when they’re supposed to be using the same language.

Wait… Is There a Difference? Part 2: After we take another (brief) run at the lie/lay problem, we continue our discussion of words we often use interchangeably that might actually have different meanings. 

Wait… Is There a Difference? A listener question has us talking about words we often use interchangeably that actually might mean different things. Don’t mistrust us or distrust us, we’ll never lead you astray!

100th Episode of You’re Saying It Wrong: Yup, 100 episodes of words, laughter, etymology, grammar, and everything and anything word related …. and this time we’re taking listener questions. (Do you say toMAYto? Or do you say toMAHto … and is one “righter”? There’s more to it than you’d think!

Phrasal Verbs: Listen up! After we learn not to take investing advice from Kathy, we move on to a discussion of phrasal verbs. What are phrasal verbs, you ask? Stick around to find out… 

You’re spelling it wrong… again:  In honor of the National Spelling Bee, we return to our trip through the list of most commonly misspelled words in the English language. Wait… misspelled? Mispelled? Mis-spelled? These darn double letters… Also, we start out with a brief discussion that is *chef’s kiss*.

A dangling modifier walks into a bar…: Misplaced modifiers/dangling modifiers/other problematic modifiers. Jumping off from some recent Twitter confusion, we look at how much trouble there can be when we misplace our modifiers, or just let them dangle in the wind.

Dead Grammar Is? We set aside our usual games and quizzes for a wide-ranging discussion about the necessity of grammar rules, when we need them and when we don’t, who gets to decide what’s “right” and what’s “wrong,” and whether we need to rethink that. 

Genericide: We continue on with our discussion of trademarks by looking at words that were once trademarked, but have become so widely used that they’ve actually lost that trademark. Also, Kathy sings! And Ross explains why he never sings. 

Trademark this! Hey, can we trademark this?  The word “this”? We may not be lawyers, but that’s never stopped us from having opinions, especially when it comes to trademarking every word under the sun. I’m sure we can trademark “digression” though, we’ve cornered the market on that one… 

We’re Doing Some Verbing :Which came first, the chicken or the chickening out? The egg or the egging on? The noun or the verb? Today we’re looking at verbing nouns and nouning verbs, and maybe even a little adjectiving while we’re at it. Trust us, this episode is NOT cringe!

A Visit from Lady Mondegreen: Have you ever wondered who Jimi Hendrix was talking about when he sang, “‘Scuse me, while I kiss this guy”? We don’t know! Because that’s not what he said. Today we look at mondegreens, those times we mishear lyrics or phrases in ways that completely change their meaning. 

A really, really, really hard quiz: A look at a survey of words that people think make other people sound smart, and then we tackle the most difficult word quiz we’ve ever had on the show.

We’re in a Mood: If I were you, I’d hold on to my hat, because in this week’s episode we’re going to try to tackle the subjunctive mood! We’re doing a lot of this under protest …

Driving Linguistic Change: Prompted by a listener email, we look at the idea that women tend to be the ones who initial changes in language. Do they? If so, how? 

Get Thee Behind Me, 2021!: In which we air our grievances and discuss the words and phrases from 2021 we’d like most to be retired (or at least sent on a long vacation)

The (Most Mispronounced) Words of the Year! From “cheugy” to “chipotle” (Still!?!), these are the words that plagued newscasters  

A Grab Bag of Confusion: More of those easily confused words, from a slew of listener emails! 

Medial Cluster Reduction!  Or … is it WRONG to pronounce the “t” in “often”?

Weird Origins of Everyday Phrases: The sometimes surprising, usually murky origins of phrases we use every day — from the theatrical beginnings of “stealing your thunder” to the somewhat sloppy “getting caught red-handed.

Apostrophes? Who Needs ‘Em!: A talk about apostrophes used and misused, the problems with possessives, and the all-too-common “greengrocer’s apostrophe” 

Fun with Plurals!: What we get wrong when we try to use Latin plurals, the rules of English plurals, pluralizing compound words… Look out, our opinions on plurals are like a charging herd of rhinocerotes!

You’re Spelling it Wrong, part 1 and part 2: A look at the most commonly misspelled words, and why it’s so easy to spell them wrong.

Pretentious Confusables: Based on the many responses to our CNBC article (These 26 Words Can Make You Sound Smarter, But Most People Use Them The Wrong Way), it’s a further examination of those times you try hard to sound oh-so-clever, but use the wrong word in the process

Fun with Contranyms, part 1 and part 2: A look at contronyms (aka antagonyms, enantiosemy, or Janus words) words that look exactly alike but have two completely opposite meanings, & some other -nyms as well!!

Flapdoodle Words, part 1 and part 2: Talking about what we call “flapdoodle words” — those words and phrases that are redundant and just kind of junk things up. Or do they

We’re Flat Fine With These Adverbs: Think fast! Drive safe! Who needs that pesky -ly ending?  Let’s talk flat adverbs, those adverbs that look like adjectives but are, well, adverbs.

It’s The Wild West Out Here!: Why we don’t talk that much about “The Rules” of English. Spoiler: THERE AREN’T ANY! (Ok, we’re kidding, there are some.)

Mailbag Day! Or, We Lay Waste (to) The English Language : The lie/lay dilemma, and other listener questions

A Return To Blipover Words:  Words we sometimes use without really knowing what they mean, or words we see that we just kind of skim past because we aren’t totally sure what they mean

Taking Selfies:A discussion about the very popular reflexive pronoun “myself” (and its corresponding partners)

We Are Loath (Loathe?) To Confuse These Words:  And even more commonly confused words, this time beginning with letters L and M

To Me or Not To Me: I vs. Me, Her & Him vs. She & He, Them vs. They:  A look at pronouns, when to use “I” instead of “me” and vice versa

We’re Incredulous That These Words Are Confused: More commonly confused words

A Word Or Two About Portmanteaus: Talk about portmanteau words (two words that are “smushed” together to form a new word)

Tossing Words Around Willy-Nilly – from the Oxford comma to nihilism, words people use even though they’re not completely sure what they mean (based on our book Awkword Moments)

More Fun With Fossils! Today, we’re digging up some fossil words! To wit: We’ll wade through the flotsam and jetsam of words that have lost all their meaning to us except in very specific circumstances. So batten down the hatches! We wouldn’t want to give this topic short shrift.

The ABCs Of Confused Words We start with a quick lightning round of the most mispronounced names of 2020, followed by a TRIPLE redundancy from a listener, and then we’ll tackle some of the most commonly confused word pairs in English… but only the ones that start with A, B, or C. Otherwise we’d be here forever.

Redundant Language Redundancies Prompted by a listener email about pet peeves, we’ll look at redundant phrases people use every day, and talk about how sometimes redundancy… can be good?