The Common Errors in English Usage Podcast

The Common Errors in English Usage Podcast

By Paul BriansEducation
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The Common Errors in English Usage Podcast episodes

  • Episode 28: Technology Terms Worth Knowing (Part 1)

    This week the topic is tech terms worth knowing, including some of the recent history of technology and how language has been affected by it.

    https://wmjasco.com/podcasts/28-techTerms1.mp3

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    Links:

    What do others say about this? That’s easy: Google it! And while you’re at it, decide whether you think “Google” is capitalized when used as a verb.

     

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  • Episode 27: When Is a Rose Not a Rose?

    This week we feature something very lovely indeed: Paul Brians delivers a lecture on the history of the rose in art.

    https://wmjasco.com/podcasts/27-WhenIsARoseNotARose.mp3

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    Links:

    There Is No Rose of Such Virtue
    Mediaeval Song, by James J. Wilhelm
    David Camden’s translation of Florus
    Thomas Parnell’s translation of “The Vigil of Venus”
    Fragonard’s The Sacrifice of the Rose
    Sting’s interpretation of “Come away, come, sweet love”
    John McCormack: “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes”

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  • Episode 26: The English Language and Its Non-Errors (Part 3)

    This week we conclude our discussion of non-errors.

    https://wmjasco.com/podcasts/26-NonErrors-3.mp3

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    Links:

    Paul Brians’ page of non-errors
    The AP changes its mind about “hopefully”
    Grammar Girl analyzes “Think Different”

    Bonus (Paul’s “spitting image”):

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  • Episode 23: We Could Be Antiheroes

    Is there a difference between an antihero and a villain? How about a hero and a protagonist?

    This week Paul Brians explains these literary terms and talks about Dostoyevsky’s Underground Man.

    https://wmjasco.com/podcasts/23-antihero.mp3

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    Links:

    hero/protagonist (from Common Errors in English Usage)
    heroin/heroine (from Common Errors in English Usage)
    Study Guide for Dostoyevsky: Notes from Underground
    Can Dostoevsky Still Kick You in the Gut?
    Full text: Notes from the Underground
    Full text: Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
    “A Tale from Underground,” by Wright Morris

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  • Episode 22: What’s on the Menu? (Part 3)

    Sure, we already discussed “dessert” on a previous podcast, but this week is the final course for our discussion of food-related terms.

    https://wmjasco.com/podcasts/22-onTheMenu-3.mp3

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    Links:

    A vintage article about Japan’s tiramisu craze
    15 Easy Hummus Variations

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  • Episode 21: What’s on the Menu? (Part 2)

    This week we continue our discussion of food-related terms, starting with a German lesson.

    https://wmjasco.com/podcasts/21-onTheMenu-2.mp3

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    Links:

    Cole slaw need not be cold slaw
    Is the Croissant Really French?

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  • Episode 20: What’s on the Menu? (Part 1)

    This week we go back to the beginnings of the Common Errors in English Usage site as we talk about menu and other food-related terms prone to getting misspelled, mispronounced, and other faux pas (yes—there’s a little French in there, too).

    https://wmjasco.com/podcasts/20-onTheMenu-1.mp3

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    Links:

    The Argyle Sweater
    Palin’s Rhetoric Is an Enchanted, Perplexing Fever Dream and We Love It,
    by Katy Waldman (speaking about “word salad”)
    Dan Quayle’s ‘Potatoe’ Incident – 1992

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