How did our holidays become so 'corny'? Why do some words have accent marks in English? Cubby hole

How did our holidays become so 'corny'? Why do some words have accent marks in English? Cubby hole

1063. Why is it called "corned beef" when there’s no corn involved? We look at how the word "corn" evolved to mean different things over time. Then, we look at the role of accent marks in English — why some words keep them, why others lose them, and what they tell us about language.

The "corn" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "Like Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.

The "diacritic" segment was written by Karen Lunde, a former Quick & Dirty Tips editor and digital pioneer who's been spinning words into gold since before cat videos ruled the internet. She created one of the first online writing workshops, and she's published thousands of articles on the art of writing. These days, she leads personal narrative writing retreats and helps writers find their voice. Visit her at ChanterelleStoryStudio.com.

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Episoder(963)

100 How to Write Numbers

100 How to Write Numbers

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

28 Mar 20084min

007 Which Versus That

007 Which Versus That

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

21 Mar 20084min

098 Who Versus Whom--Advanced

098 Who Versus Whom--Advanced

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

7 Mar 20083min

096 May Versus Might

096 May Versus Might

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

21 Feb 20083min

095 Zeroscape Versus Xeriscape

095 Zeroscape Versus Xeriscape

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

15 Feb 20082min

093 Hyphens

093 Hyphens

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

31 Jan 20084min

091 Yo as a Pronoun

091 Yo as a Pronoun

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

10 Jan 20085min

090 Went Missing

090 Went Missing

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

4 Jan 20084min

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