Tides rise and fall. Believe it or not, we can tie tides to the discussions of loans and toilet paper during this strange time, when so many of us are being asked to stay at home.

This past week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended the stay-at-home order until May 15th. That means an extension of the cabin fever making the rounds. Symptoms of cabin fever include irritability, restlessness, and anxiety. It's treatable with long walks or runs, jigsaw puzzles, Zoom meetups with friends, or anything else that keeps you from climbing the walls.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a lot of questions about testing for the novel coronavirus – including some that are grammar-related. A listener named Alan Ardanowski asked: "If someone gets a positive test result for COVID-19, do they test 'positive' or test 'positively?'"

Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended Michigan's stay-at-home order this past week. That has many of us wondering when we'll return to normalcy. However, others might be wondering when we'll return to normality. The "normality" vs. "normalcy" debate is an old one. Given these strange times though, what's old is new again.

We've been taking a look at some of the words that have been popping up in headlines in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. This week we thought we'd talk about the phrase "flying by the seat of our pants," since that's the state that so many of us find ourselves in during these unprecedented times.

To combat the spread of COVID-19, we're staying home and staying safe here in Michigan. Being cooped up though, especially as the weather gets nicer, has some of us feeling like we're going bonkers. As such, we thought we'd give you something else to think about by taking a look at the word "bonkers."

At a time when so many of us are being asked to hunker down in our homes, we've been getting questions from listeners about the word "hunker." Suffice to say, we'll be hearing this one a lot more in the weeks and months to come.

The phrase "head honcho" is used to refer to people at the top: CEOs, presidents, directors and such. However, "honcho" on its own means "leader." In other words, the head of something. That means, as is often the case in English, this commonly used phrase is redundant.

When we say we don't know jack about something, it's not immediately clear that we're toeing the line with taboo territory. Allow us to explain.

It’s tempting to parse the word “ramshackle” into two separate words, “ram” and “shackle.” A listener named Brian Van Drie wrote to us about how this word makes him think of “a ram that is actually shackled and is making a mess of anything it can reach.” We love that explanation. Unfortunately, it's not right.