If you repeat something twice, how many times did you do it? Can more than one dinner be “the perfect dinner”? And what does “every other” mean?
We are once again fixing English, in a live episode in which we pile all our friends into a room and vote on vexing semantic questions. These results are binding on English-speakers throughout time and space, because that’s how language works. By committee!
Timestamps
Cold open: 0:00
Intros: 0:55
News: 4:12
Related or Not: 31:06
Fixing English: 47:59
Words of the Week: 1:13:44
The Reads: 1:34:00
Outtakes: 1:42:40
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Become a Patron!Show notes
In Memory of Kanzi
https://www.apeinitiative.org/remembering-kanzi
[$$] Empirical Kanzi | Skeptic Vol. 15, Iss. 1, (2009): 25–33.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/225217705/48A28FE29E1E4271PQ
A Voluble Visit with Two Talking Apes
https://www.wvtf.org/2006-07-08/a-voluble-visit-with-two-talking-apes
Bonobos combine calls in similar ways to human language, study finds
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-bonobos-combine-similar-ways-human.html
Extensive compositionality in the vocal system of bonobos
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adv1170
Zed or Zee? How pervasive are Americanisms in Britons’ use of English?
https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/51950-zed-or-zee-how-pervasive-are-americanisms-in-britons-use-of-english
New Survey of Canadian English: Results
https://www.mcgill.ca/canadianenglish/results
icicle | Etymonline
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=icicle
Mythbusting Ancient Rome – the truth about the vomitorium
https://theconversation.com/mythbusting-ancient-rome-the-truth-about-the-vomitorium-71068
The polls
‘Elbows up’ rallying cry evokes memories of Mr. Hockey | CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/elbows-up-rallying-cry-evokes-memories-of-mr-hockey-1.7453276
‘Don’t Be a PANICAN’: Trump Name-calling to End Market Crash
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/panican-meaning-trump-tariffs-market-crash.html
How ‘pebbling’ helps me maintain my friendships
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-04/how-pebbling-small-gestures-help-maintain-friendships/105036638
Transcript
Coming soon.