Atheist is a word in English used to describe someone who does not believe in God. I do not believe in God, but I also think the word atheist doesn’t define my identity well enough. Cultural Christian is a word used to talk about people who were raised Christian but do not believe in God. I was raised Catholic, but I am an atheist. I use this word cultural Christian to acknowledge the effect Christianity has had on my life while still showing that I don’t believe in God.

Some words:

Raised Catholic

First communion

Priest

Transubstantiation

The body and blood of Jesus Christ

Mass

Atheist

The Ten Commandments

Moses

“Thou shalt not kill”

“Thou shalt not steal”

Oy vey is a Yiddish expression now used in English. Yiddish is a language spoken in some Jewish communities in the USA and around the world. English has borrowed lots of Yiddish words. I think of Yiddish words being common in New York City English. Even though I grew up in Mississippi (the American South), we used these words at home because my parents both have a connection to New York City. Today I talk about some of the my favorite Yiddish words that we use in English.

Bagel

Bris

Circumcise

Foreskin

Latkes

Klutz

Clumsy

Mazel tov!

Oy vey

Schelp

Schlong

Schmooze

Schnoz/Schozz

Tchotchke

Knickknack

easy A is a comedy that came out in 2010. It stars Emma Stone, and it recently got added to American Netflix. Olive, Emma Stone’s character, lies to a friend about having sex with a boy. That rumor grows and grows until the whole school thinks that Olive is a slut. The movie is inspired by The Scarlet Letter, a famous book that many Americans read in high school. In this episode, I talk about easy A and what I think we can learn about the American high school experience from this movie.

Some words:

Mean Girls

High School Musical

easy

slutty

The Scarlet Letter

Virginity

To lose your virginity

C’est la vie

Puns

A lame duck president is a president who has not been reelected. In 2016, president Obama was a lame duck president. Now, in 2020, Donald Trump is a lame duck president. I felt inspired by this word “lame duck” and wanted to make an episode related to this term and other duck words in English.

Some words:

Lame duck

Lame horse

Sitting duck

Get one’s ducks in a row

Duck!

To duck

Quack

Gay men in the United States have lots of different labels to talk about different body types. We use words like “twink,” “otter,” and “bear” to talk about different types of men in our community. On this episode, I introduce a few of these different labels and what they mean.

Some words:

Judy Garland

Dorothy

The Cowardly Lion

The Scarecrow

Body type

Grindr

A Hookup app

Twink

Otter

Scruffy

Daddies

“into”

Bear

Leather

Cubs

Jocks

Hunks

Twunks

Last week, we had a hurricane where I live. We lost power for three days, so we had to empty our refrigerator (which I usually just call a “fridge”). I’m always interested in what people keep in their refrigerator. It shows a lot about what people eat. I find that many people abroad think that American food is just hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza. In this episode, I show the variety of food that some Americans eat. This episode is a lot longer than normal ones, because I wanted to talk about everything in our fridge. I apologize for the audio quality in this episode. I recorded in our kitchen, so it’s not the best.

Lots of words ^-^:

Generator

Double bag

Expired

Ginger

Garlic

Horseradish

Shake cheese/grated cheese

Spaghetti

Cranberry Juice

Salad Dressing

Caesar Dressing

Italian Dressing

Mayonnaise

Dumpling sauce

Fish sauce

Lime juice

Moscow Mule

Sweet Tea

Sweet and condensed milk

Reddi-wip (whipped cream)

Maple Syrup

Great Value Brand (Wal-Mart’s brand)

Relish

Condiment

Oyster sauce

Shaoxing Wine

Hoisin Sauce

Moo Shu Pork

An ear of corn

Sauerkraut

Feta cheese

Wisconsin

Gyros

Tortilla

Genoa salami

Cured meat

Goat cheese

Mozzarella cheese

Strawberry jam

Peanut butter and jelly

Strawberries

Moldy strawberries (L)

Louisiana

Greek yogurt

Blueberries

Pickles

Mt. Olive

North Carolina

Bánh xèo

Pepperoni

Mozzarella cheese

Dill pickles

Sourdough starter

Yeast

A dozen eggs

Cabbage

Blue cheese

Mustard

Creole mustard

Zatarain's

Sour cream

Swiss cheese

Cream cheese

Kimchi

Almond butter

Heavy whipping cream

Bacon grease

Philadelphia cream cheese

Sam’s

Buy in bulk

Salsa

Artichoke hearts

Provolone cheese

Colby jack cheese

Pepper jack cheese

Sharp cheddar cheese

Daylight Saving Time ends every year on the first Sunday of November. This year, it started on November 1st. At 2:00am on November 1st, most of the United States changed their clocks back to 1:00am. Our clocks “fell back” one hour. On this episode, I talk about Daylight Saving Time (which you’ll notice I say as “daylight savings time” a lot of the time). I talk about where we have it, and why I don’t really like it.

Some words:

Daylight saving time

Arizona

Navajo tribal lands

Four corners region

Utah

Colorado

New Mexico

Territories

Hawaii

Fall back

Spring forward

Internal clock

Morning person

Night owl

Trick or Treating was one of my favorite activities when I was little. I still have many happy memories from that time. Today, I talk about trick or treating. I talk about where I trick or treated as a kid, and how I knew what houses to go to. I also talk about “Trunk or Treat,” another form of trick or treating. Lastly, I share a little information about my favorite candies.

Some words:

Trick or Treat

Dusk

Porch light            

Big candy bars

Little candy bars

Pillow case

Trunk or treat

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Kit Kats

Tootsie Pops

Hell Houses are kind of like haunted houses. They are meant to scare you. The difference is that Hell Houses use sins to scare you. They are usually organized by Evangelical Christians here in the United States. I went to one when I was younger, and it left a big impression on me. Today, I share a little bit of information about Evangelical Christians and Hell Houses. 

Some words: 

Heaven

Hell

Jesus

the Devil

Sins

Haunted House

Evangelical Christians

A big no-no

18-Wheeler

United States of Tara (TV Show) 

Note -- there's a slight issue with audio on everything but Spotify. There is an extra five minutes of audio. Go ahead and skip that :-)

Hocus Pocus is a cult classic, a movie that has a group of people that really love the movie. It doesn’t have a huge mainstream following, but it’s still relatively well-known. It came out in 1993, and it’s one of my favorite Halloween movies! It tells the story of the Sanderson Sisters, three witches from Salem, Massachusetts in 1693. They get hanged for being witches, and 300 years late they come back to life.