Phrasal verb mysteries and minced oath origins. Night water.

935. Ever been puzzled by the difference between "slow down" and "slow up"? Curious about how they can possibly mean the same thing (or do they)? We answer a burning listener question about why prepositions can be so darn tricky in English. Join us also as we delve into the fascinating world of minced oaths, examining intriguing words like "zounds" and "gadzooks."

| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/slow-up-slow-down/transcript

The "slow down" segment was written by Susan Herman, a former U.S. government multidisciplined language analyst, analytic editor, and instructor.

The "minced oath" segment was by Kirk Hazen, a professor of linguistics at West Virginia University. It was originally published on The Conversation and appears here under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game.

| Grammar Girl books.

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio engineer: Nathan Semes
• Editor: Adam Cecil
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.