Air worms and fire breathing dragons: Ol...

1157. This week, we look at AI em dashes with Sean Goedecke, software engineer for GitHub. We talk about why artificial intelligence models frequently use em dashes and words like "delve," and how training on public domain books from the late 1800s may have influenced these patte ... Show More

1156. This week, we look at the pronunciation chaos surrounding "forte" and "pianoforte," from the French fencing term meaning "strong point" to the Italian musical direction meaning "loud." Then, we look at "playing the dozens" — the African American insult game with a mysteriou ... Show More

1155. This week, we look at whether it’s actually true that Inuit languages have hundreds of words for snow with Dr. Charles Kemp. We look at how researchers used a database of 18 million volumes to find out how our environment shapes our vocabulary using the Nida-Conklin princip ... Show More

Have you ever wondered what’s up with double negation, the history of gender neutral pronouns, or why swearing is taboo? Then get ready for this week’s guest, linguist Anne Curzan! Anne and Jonathan talk about how the English language has evolved since the 1300s and how our words ... Show More

Join Tr. Tim on a thrilling journey through Grammar Land as we unravel the mysteries of using "I" and "Me" correctly! Perfect for young ESL learners, this episode of "Adventures in Grammar" combines engaging stories, fun sound effects, and interactive games to help children maste ... Show More

Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary language and even internet slang to create a fresh take on thi ... Show More

<p><b>E262: </b>🎙️ Welcome to <b>The English Like a Native Podcast</b>, your go-to resource for intermediate to advanced-level English learners. I&apos;m Anna, your host, and today we&apos;re delving into a topic that&apos;s both ubiquitous and often tiptoed around: age.<br/><br ... Show More

Even if you're not a writer — or even in a sort of work where you create — you'll find wisdom and inspiration in Andrea's life lessons she's learned from writing. And because I wrote about podcasts I'm currently into, in this chat I'm talking about the beauty and necessity of sil ... Show More

<p>Thirty-five years ago the space shuttle, Challenger malfunctioned on lift-off. Millions of American school children watched as the event happened live. I was not one of them, but I remember the exact moment my fourth-grade teacher told me of the disaster. It is a day I will ne ... Show More