708 - Why Alcohol Is 'Hard.' 'Phenomena' or 'Phenomenon'?
Grammar Girl: For Writers and Language Lovers.
Mignon Fogarty, Inc.
4.5 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2019
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A listener asked why we call some kinds of alcohol hard drinks and spirits, so we found the answer! Also, I'll help you remember the difference between "phenomenon" and "phenomena."
LINKS AND SPONSORS |
Magoosh: http://magoosh.com code:GRAMMAR |
Blinkist: http://blinkist.com/grammar |
Babbel: http://babbel.com |
Grammar Girl Email Newsletter | https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/newsletters |
Grammar Girl's AP style webinar: http://bit.ly/APStyle2019 |
GRAMMAR POP iOS GAME |
Optimized for iPad: http://bit.ly/iPadGrammarPop |
For iPad and iPhone: http://bit.ly/GrammarPopMobile |
GRAMMAR GIRL BOOKS |
http://bit.ly/GrammarPopBooks |
GRAMMAR GIRL IS PART OF THE QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS PODCAST NETWORK |
VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ |
| 0:04.8 | Brammer Girl, here I'm Mignon Foggerty, |
| 0:06.9 | and you can think of me as your friendly guide |
| 0:08.9 | to the English language, writing history, |
| 0:11.2 | rules, and cool stuff. |
| 0:13.3 | Today, I have a meeting middle about why we call alcohol |
| 0:16.8 | spirits and hard drinks, a quick and dirty tip |
| 0:20.4 | about the word phenomena, and a family story |
| 0:23.4 | about creamy noodles. |
| 0:25.7 | [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ |
| 0:27.3 | One of our listeners recently wrote in |
| 0:29.6 | to ask why some types of alcohol are known as hard alcohol. |
| 0:34.8 | Aren't all liquids soft, not hard? |
| 0:38.0 | We looked into this question, which led us |
| 0:39.9 | to exploring some other interesting words for alcohol. |
| 0:42.6 | Here's what we found. |
| 0:44.4 | First of all, let's look at the word hard. |
| 0:46.8 | It's a very old, Germanic word, so old |
| 0:50.3 | that one of its first recorded uses is in Beowulf, |
| 0:53.8 | the epic poem written around 700 AD. |
| 0:57.6 | Maybe because it's so old, the word |
| 0:59.9 | has come to have many shades of meaning. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mignon Fogarty, Inc., and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Mignon Fogarty, Inc. and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.