词汇大师--[2]Break In, Break Out, Break Up

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: If you're looking for a break from all the U.S. election news, we've got the answer. We're back with Slangman David Burke to finish reading through a letter filled to the breaking

词汇大师--Jack and the Beanstalk

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: Our theme is food, or more precisely, slang having to do with food. After all, Thanksgiving is just a day away, and the traditional way to celebrate the holiday is with a big, fes

词汇大师--Seriously: 'OK' Began as a Joke 2

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: We're back with the author of the new book OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word. RS: Last week, Allan Metcalf explained how OK began as a joke on March 23, 1839. Th

词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Writing Thank-You Notes

Broadcast on Coast to Coast: November 28, 2002 MUSIC: Thank You For ... /Hall and Oates AA: No, thank you -- for listening! I'm Avi Arditti. RS: And I'm Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: Some advice on how to write a thank-you note, as ma

词汇大师--Finding Comfort in Euphemisms When Words..

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: There's a new book called Euphemania: Our Love Affair With Euphemisms. RS: Author Ralph Keyes defines euphemisms as comfort words that we use in place of words that make us feel u

词汇大师--'App' an Apt Word for Tech-Crazy 2010

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: We check in with the American Dialect Society for some notable words from the past year, including the one that the group considers least likely to succeed. RS: But we start with

词汇大师(Wordmaster)--How America Got Its Name, Part 2

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- how a piece of land between Europe and Asia got the name America. RS: The name honors the Italian-born explorer and navigator Amerigo Vespucci. America first appeared on a world

词汇大师--Taking the Frustration Out of Phrasal Verbs

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- English teacher Lida Baker joins us from Los Angeles to talk about phrasal verbs. The first word is a verb. The second word, sometimes even a third, is usually a preposition. Ph

词汇大师--How a Conversation Can Really Become...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: When two people click, that means they really understand each other. Well, that metaphorical clicking could be the sound of what researchers call speaker-listener neural coupling.

词汇大师-- Wanna, Gonna, Hafta

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: reduced forms in spoken American English. RS: We're talking about forms like whaddaya -- meaning what do you, as in whaddaya say? Whaddaya Say? is also the title of a popular teac

词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Gossip

AA: This is Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- did you hear? We're going to talk about gossip! RS: Idle talk, chatty talk, rumors or facts of an intimate nature -- these are some dictionary definitions for what Americans

词汇大师--Writing Laws So Lawyers Are Not the Only Ones

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: Our guest is David Marcello, executive director of the Public Law Center, a joint program of the Tulane and Loyola law schools in New Orleans. RS: For about 20 years now, the cent