That's What They Say

Only some English speakers have grammars that allow them to say “We might could make that better” or “We might should eat before the movie.”

When you have a language podcast, you come across a lot of usages that make you think, “I would never say that.” A little research and a few contextual examples later, you might just change your mind.

Mountains may be peaked, collars may be peaked, but when we’re sick, we’re not “peaked” but “peak-ed.”

This is a bespoke segment of That’s What They Say that focuses on “bespoke.”

When we inquire about something, it doesn’t really matter if we "inquire" or "enquire." However, with the verb "insure," it matters if we "insure" or "ensure."

If something is crummy, then we could also call it lousy, which gives us a clue about how crummy came to mean what it means.

When we’re talking about a small book for teaching children to read, or really any short book that introduces a topic, there are two competing pronunciations of the word for that book.

The word "kid" is already informal, and now we have the word "kiddo" living alongside it.

When it comes to media, here's the message: It’s time for a truce between the singular agreement people and the plural agreement people.

Oh goody, it's time to talk about all the goodies!