100 WVIA Way
Pittston, PA 18640

Phone: 570-826-6144
Fax: 570-655-1180

Copyright © 2025 WVIA, all rights reserved. WVIA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Popular Word Origins That Are Totally Wrong

Season 5 Episode 8 | 7m 03s

Sometimes misunderstandings and made-up origins get popular enough to stick around... we call these "folk etymologies"!

Aired: 08/20/25
Extras
Is TikTok ruining language?
We're gonna have to ask you to go ahead and watch this video. "
It's one of the most contentious debates in linguistics!
The ways we use negation in language can be pretty complex, even AI can’t seem to make sense of it.
Join us as we try to figure out how our body parts got their names.
Children are sponges for language acquisition. Which leads us to ask the question: how much does TV
We already know that English borrows from everybody, but can it be considered a Creole language?
How do you teach children to read? This question is at the heart of a decades-long battle.
The English language is chock full of sailing jargon but why is that?
Latest Episodes
All
  • All
  • Otherwords Season 5
  • Otherwords Season 4
  • Otherwords Season 3
  • Otherwords Season 2
  • Otherwords Season 1
Is TikTok ruining language?
We're gonna have to ask you to go ahead and watch this video. "
It's one of the most contentious debates in linguistics!
The ways we use negation in language can be pretty complex, even AI can’t seem to make sense of it.
Join us as we try to figure out how our body parts got their names.
Children are sponges for language acquisition. Which leads us to ask the question: how much does TV
We already know that English borrows from everybody, but can it be considered a Creole language?
How do you teach children to read? This question is at the heart of a decades-long battle.
The English language is chock full of sailing jargon but why is that?