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Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

804 - Another Think/Thing Coming. 'Sanction,' 'Cleave,' 'Dust,' and More

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

Society & Culture, Education

4.52.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2020

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are Americans ruining the put-down "You've got another think coming," or was it the British band Judas Priest? Also, everyone loves Janus words like "sanction," "cleave," and "dust." We talk about what makes them special. Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates. Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing course. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Grammar Pop iOS game. Peeve Wars card game. Grammar Girl books. HOST: Mignon Fogarty VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Links: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/ https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/subscribe http://twitter.com/grammargirl http://facebook.com/grammargirl http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Grammar girl here, I'm Minion Faggedy and you can think of me as your friendly guide to

0:09.0

the English language.

0:10.8

We talk about writing, history, roles and cool stuff.

0:14.2

Today we'll talk about the phrase, you've got another think coming, or is that another

0:18.6

thing coming?

0:20.2

And we'll talk about especially fun kinds of words called Janus words.

0:24.4

But first, I have more listener feedback about desert and desert.

0:29.1

That was a popular topic for feedback.

0:31.7

Two listeners, Al and Bill, both wrote in to tell me about a beautiful island in the

0:36.8

Acadia National Park in Maine called Mount Desert.

0:41.6

But it's spelled like desert.

0:44.0

Bill said it, quote, probably has something to do with the fact that a French explorer

0:47.8

was the first European to land there, unquote.

0:51.3

And indeed, the Mount Desert website says the name is pronounced desert, quote, since

0:55.7

it is a French origin, unquote.

0:58.8

So it is something like the phrase you got your just deserts, which is also from the

1:02.5

French and spelled like desert.

1:05.1

Bill, who appears to be from Maine, also mentioned that other towns in the area have names

1:09.7

that aren't pronounced the way you'd guess either, such as Calis Maine, which I would

1:14.4

have guessed is pronounced collais since it spelled C-A-L-A-I-S.

1:19.5

And that reminds me of the time I mispronounced the name of Howston Street in New York as Houston

1:24.7

like the city in Texas.

...

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