‘Math’ versus ‘maths’ and other British differences. ‘Spendthrift’ means what?

‘Math’ versus ‘maths’ and other British differences. ‘Spendthrift’ means what?

1122. This week, we look at two subtle but persistent differences between American and British English: why Americans say "math" and Brits say "maths," and why Americans are "in the hospital" while Brits are "in hospital." Then, we look at the historical meaning of the word "spendthrift" and introduce some wonderfully obsolete insults like "dingthrift" and "scrapethrift."

The "maths" segment was written by Samantha Enslen, who runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com.

The "spendthrift" segment was written by Karen Lunde, a career writer and editor. These days, she designs websites for solo business owners who care about both words and visuals. Find her at chanterellemarketingstudio.com.

🔗 Share your familect recording in a WhatsApp chat.

🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.

🔗 Take our advertising survey.

🔗 Get the edited transcript.

🔗 Get Grammar Girl books.

🔗 Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference.

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

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

  • Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
  • Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
  • Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
  • Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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


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

Episoder(967)

376 GG Why Do We Have Both A and An?

376 GG Why Do We Have Both A and An?

How English evolved to give us two indefinite articles (a and an), and the odd mix of possessive pronouns that don't quite match. Buy Grammar Girl's books: http://j.mp/allGGbooks Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

19 Jul 20137min

375 GG What Is It Called When You Mishear Song Lyrics?

375 GG What Is It Called When You Mishear Song Lyrics?

Spoonerisms, Mondegreens, Malapropisms, and Eggcorns. Like the podcast? See Grammar Girl's books: http://j.mp/allGGbooks Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

11 Jul 201310min

374 GG Rebracketing

374 GG Rebracketing

How to Make Weird Product Names Plural Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

5 Jul 20136min

372 GG Retronyms

372 GG Retronyms

Retronyms: Scourge of the Language or Helpful Tool? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

21 Jun 20136min

371 GG Commma Splice

371 GG Commma Splice

How to Avoid a Common Comma Error: The Comma Splice Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

14 Jun 201310min

370 GG Why Isn't "Gruntled" A Word?

370 GG Why Isn't "Gruntled" A Word?

Why Aren't We Gruntled When We're Happy? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

7 Jun 20136min

369 GG Why Does "I" Take Plural Verbs?

369 GG Why Does "I" Take Plural Verbs?

"I" is singular, so why do we say "I go" instead of "I goes"? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

31 Mai 20138min

368 GG Hyphens

368 GG Hyphens

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

24 Mai 20138min

Populært innen Fakta

fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
hanna-de-heldige
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
fryktlos
treningspodden
foreldreradet
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
dypdykk
jakt-og-fiskepodden
rss-kunsten-a-leve
hverdagspsyken
takk-og-lov-med-anine-kierulf
sinnsyn
rss-sunn-okonomi
mikkels-paskenotter
gravid-uke-for-uke
branncast
rss-impressions-2
rss-var-forste-kaffe