You're Saying It Wrong

KMUW

From KMUW Studios and part of the NPR Podcast Network, You're Saying It Wrong is a podcast that looks at what we get wrong—and what we sometimes get right—when it comes to this English language. Hosted by KMUW's Fletcher Powell, each episode features a conversation with the sister and brother who wrote the book on it. Literally. You're Saying It Wrong: A Pronunciation Guide to the 150 Most Commonly Mispronounced Words and Their Tangled Histories of Misuse is by Kathryn Petras and Ross Petras.On June 24, 2022, You’re Saying It Wrong received first place in Division B for Interview Podcasts from the Public Media Journalists Association. The awards recognize the best work in public media journalism from across the country. read less

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Getting an A on the SAT

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.

Episodes

Getting an A on the SAT

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.

We Simply Must Talk About Modal Verbs

We Simply Must Talk About Modal Verbs

Must, could, should, shall, might, may... We dig into the weird, wiggly, weaselly world of modal verbs.

Let's Hit the Beach

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.

Now is the winter of our discontent made brat summer

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.

Back-formations

Back-formations

Today we look at words that came from other words even though we think the second word should have come first.

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

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

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?

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)

The Ambiguity of English (Is the Name of My Jazz Band)

This week, we're talking ambiguous words and ambiguous phrases– sometimes we think we know what we're saying and sometimes we're really wrong.

It's a Dead Language, I Always Say

It's a Dead Language, I Always Say

Latin may be dead, but we still use it every day. This week we look at some common Latin phrases and what they actually mean.

Cranberry Morphemes

Cranberry Morphemes

We know what a berry is, we know what a cranberry is, but what the heck is a "cran?" We enter the sometimes murky world of the cranberry morpheme...

As we head into summer, we'll take a look back to see if we can remember what we've learned over the past year.

The Defining Words of the Spelling Bee

The Defining Words of the Spelling Bee

After this year's thrilling spell-off in the National Spelling Bee, we try to tease out the definitions of some of the words that won the contest.

The Oldest of Old Words

The Oldest of Old Words

This week, we're talking about some of the very oldest words in the English language, and how little some of them have changed over thousands of years.

Smooshed-up Words

Smooshed-up Words

We're looking at words that were made by smooshing together other words, but it all happened so long ago that we completely forgot about it.

The Rheturn of Rhetoric

The Rheturn of Rhetoric

We're dipping back into common rhetorical devices today, and talking about how they can be used to win people to your side... or at least make them laugh a little bit.

Ye Olde Fossil Words

Ye Olde Fossil Words

We look at some very old words that used to mean something, but that we now only see in very specific instances.

If I Were To Talk About The Subjunctive...

If I Were To Talk About The Subjunctive...

Some of us (Fletcher) can never keep straight what, exactly, the subjunctive is, so fortunately Kathy and Ross are here to remind us!

We are all rhetoricians now

We are all rhetoricians now

We have fun with rhetoric and some commonly used rhetorical devices, including how we might be using them even when we don't realize it.

These Names Have Snob Appeal

These Names Have Snob Appeal

We look at some names of famous people that, when you pronounce them correctly, can let people know you're an expert... or a snob.