<![CDATA[Word Mall: a podcast about the English language. ]]> https://verbmall.blogspot.com Buy the digital version of More Words to the Wise. This e-book can be read not only on an Amazon-branded Kindle device, but is available on every tablet, phone and computer via the Kindle app.

Blog: verbmall.blogspot.com

Buy the digital verison of the third edition of the Word Parts Dictionary. This e-book can be read not only on an Amazon-branded Kindle device, but is available on every tablet, phone and computer via the Kindle app.

Buy the print version of the third edition of the Word Parts Dictionary.

Write to the Professor at wordmallpodcast@gmail.com

The limits of my language are the limits of my world. [Ludwig Wittgenstein]

· Do you wish that you had a richer vocabulary?

· Are you curious about where certain words and phrases came from?

· Is your spelling so bad that even spellcheck seems confusing?

· Does; punctuation! drive (you] -- crazy?

Then you need Word Mall.

Word Mall is a podcast about the English language. In a fun way, without being preachy, it covers vocabulary, grammar, spelling, punctuation, language history, pronunciation -- all the things that make you cringe and make you wish that you had paid more attention to Mrs. McNally back in elementary school.

]]> RSS.com 2026.428.112250 Fri, 15 May 2026 15:43:22 GMT en 841ed381-e7ea-58d3-80d1-8a8de61b2b67 https://media.rss.com/wordmall/20260404_020446_e16252ddb2486d940bad5f6fedcfa1c1.png Word Mall: a podcast about the English language. https://verbmall.blogspot.com yes Michael J Sheehan 2026 Michael J Sheehan at wordmallpodcast@gmail.com Michael J Sheehan at wordmallpodcast@gmail.com false episodic podcast false <![CDATA[Names that suit their profession]]> Certain names are very suitable to the job. For instance, Doctors Fillar, Aichen, and Chiew are dentists; Justice, Robb, and Law are lawyers; and researchers Haddock, Bass, and Herring are oceanographers.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2828495 1bac33dc-1ebd-4e06-afec-224106771185 573 full 1 1 17 17 false Fri, 15 May 2026 15:43:20 GMT false <![CDATA[Language Myths 8: The Whole Nine Yards]]> The Holy Grail of phrase origins -- everyone has a favorite explanation in the search

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2796026 2a5d9676-6583-4090-8c4f-2590d4e074e3 716 full 1 1 15 15 false Tue, 05 May 2026 16:42:05 GMT false <![CDATA[LANGUAGE MYTHS 7: Son of a Gun, Spud, Throw the Baby out with the Bathwater, Tip, Turn the Tables, Wallop]]> Part of a series about false explanations for proverbial words and phrase.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2786604 247629fa-6109-4168-933b-fd9b7fb1357a 379 full 1 1 14 14 false Fri, 01 May 2026 20:54:03 GMT false <![CDATA[Language Myths # 6: Saved by the bell, Shit, Sincere, Skins, Sleep tight, Snob]]> Again, more phony tales about the origin of popular words and phrase, with corrections.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2786543 734cfcf0-2f35-4495-ac73-25b1d05072cf 398 full 1 1 13 13 false Fri, 01 May 2026 20:20:32 GMT false <![CDATA[Language Myths 5: Not Enough Room to Swing a Dead Cat, Not Playing with a Full Deck, Not Worth a Tinker's Damn, Posh, Rule of Thumb]]> Even more phony explanations of how words and phrases originated.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2778456 8bba7ce8-0ee1-4cfa-ba73-d23a0787fdf7 494 full 1 1 12 12 false Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:35:30 GMT false <![CDATA[Language Myths #4: Keep your nose to the grindstone, Let the cat out of the bag, Losing face, Mind your own beeswax, News]]> More of the many language myths found on the internet about the origin of popular words and phrases

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2774513 92d68a00-1c6a-4037-add0-05e7625d8fd8 287 full 1 1 11 11 false Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:12:57 GMT false <![CDATA[Language Myths #1: Above Board, amazon, Bigwig, Chairman, Chew the Fat]]> Several phony stories about word and phrase origins

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2768413 1049d18e-1e5c-4d44-b8b6-5ff2c40d2c62 325 full 1 1 10 10 false Sun, 26 Apr 2026 14:58:16 GMT false <![CDATA[DOUBT and REDOUBT]]> Is there a connection between doubt, redoubt, and redoubtable?

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2766807 3076037d-5944-45b6-965e-48e87ee8356c 123 full 1 1 9 9 false Sat, 25 Apr 2026 16:28:18 GMT false <![CDATA[Words to the Wise final episode April 7, 2026]]> This the final episode of the "Words to the Wise" radio show with Ron Jolly on WTCM-AM 580 that ran on Apri 7, 2026, at the end of a 25-year run.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2752807 e898d839-2882-446b-959e-15acc849161f 3607 full 1 1 8 8 false Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:29:37 GMT false <![CDATA[ACRONYMS and INITIALISMS: the long and the short of it]]> Words formed from first letters of existing words

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2716868 2be5325b-3485-4321-81d8-9441ceea0e64 214 full 1 1 7 7 false Thu, 09 Apr 2026 21:18:46 GMT false <![CDATA[Silent Letters: I see you, but I can't hear you]]> For historical reasons, many words contain letters that are no longer pronounced. They are as useful as a cat with three tails, but we are stuck with them.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2687098 9f32984c-c026-4cd2-a4db-267e51bcbf8d 261 full 1 1 6 6 false Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:03:12 GMT false <![CDATA[PORT and STARBOARD]]> Sailors don't use the words right and left for a good reason.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2680554 7865fd93-1da9-4ed0-befc-b86c8f7a78ef 173 full 1 1 5 5 false Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:01:05 GMT false <![CDATA[Word Parts]]> Word parts, letter combinations that always stay the same, can greatly improve your vocabulary.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2676238 a6cf2c67-efd8-4c30-bb6c-c85d8d5c50b7 447 full 1 1 3 3 false Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:07:17 GMT <![CDATA[Context: Pay Attention to Your Surroundings]]> The words and ideas that surround an unknown word can help you figure out what that word means. But you have to know how to find the clues.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2676181 555397e0-213b-4da7-bb2f-f1cbf5cafb25 851 full 1 1 2 2 false Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:34:21 GMT Cedar, Cedar, Leelanau County, Michigan, 49621, USA <![CDATA[Words to the Wise radio show--Pun show 2026]]> This the penultimate episode of the "Words to the Wise" radio show on WTCM-AM 580 that ran on March 31, 2026, at the end of a 25-year run.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2752800 63dc7bea-5248-423f-b1ad-b6992d0b17f9 3607 full 1 1 1 1 false Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:26:10 GMT false <![CDATA[Promotion]]> Word Mall episode 1

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2587315 556f473f-fdd7-43e6-9016-8e0e99f37808 47 full 1 1 false Fri, 27 Feb 2026 18:46:49 GMT Cedar, Cedar, Leelanau County, Michigan, 49621, USA <![CDATA[Language Myths #3 -- The Devil to Pay, Frog in One's Throat, Golf, Gossip, Hunky Dory]]> More phony stories found on the internet concerning the origin of familiar words and phrases

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2770981 c87259c4-4f94-40a8-8a40-459b74b4f2f4 282 full 11 11 false Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:47:20 GMT false <![CDATA[Language Myths #2: Cold Enough to Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monkey, Giving the Cold Shoulder, Cop, Costing an Arm and a Leg, Crack a Smile]]> More phony stories about the origins of words and phrases

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2768569 9c9f72dd-ca10-4d2d-a046-6bf07040ca4d 336 full 11 11 false Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:33:24 GMT false <![CDATA[Small Change -- idioms involving coins]]> Pennies, nickels, and dimes are often used as similes and metaphors.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2828313 4600dba7-04eb-419d-a1f2-1f0877284c63 275 full false Fri, 15 May 2026 14:26:26 GMT false <![CDATA[EPIPHANY and its opposite, EPICALYPTRY]]> Had to invent a term that is the opposite of epiphany. It is based on Greek word parts.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2805925 a13c4171-840c-418a-aa6a-b41e771e5178 192 full false Fri, 08 May 2026 15:27:25 GMT false <![CDATA[Hidden Farts: Silent But Deadly]]> While the word fart is a word all by itself, it hides in other words.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2676266 a07473ed-7876-4003-b864-ec876ccf2d34 209 full false Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:22:40 GMT