When something or someone exploits other things or people, we can say they’re “exploitive," “exploitative” or “exploitative.” Yeah, two of these look identical, but trust us, they sound different.

TWTS: Exploiting pronunciation variants to break down "exploitative"

That's What They Say is a weekly segment on Michigan Public that explores our changing language. Each week University of Michigan English Professor Anne Curzan will discuss why we say what we say with Michigan Public Weekend Edition host Rebecca Kruth.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Language Learning

While now we may think of being a bookworm as a positive trait, that hasn't always been the case.

TWTS: How worms of destruction begat worms of wisdom

Social media has made a couple of longstanding English verbs work or mean differently.

TWTS: It "ghosts" without saying ... well, anything

If you want to pronounce "homage" to a tee, it may depend what you mean.

TWTS: You can pay homage with or without the "h"

As we live our lives, there's some new slang words that can help us narrate it as we go. That is, if we're in a demographic that allows us to use slang credibly.

TWTS: Learning new slang is good "for the plot"

We don’t all agree on whether or not we should correct the phrasing "whether or not."

TWTS: Exploiting pronunciation variants to break down "exploitative"

Download our free app to listen on your phone