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You're Saying It Wrong
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From KMUW Studios and part of the NPR Podcast Network, You're Saying It Wrong is a podcast that looks at what we get wrong—and what we sometimes get right—when it comes to this English language. Hosted by KMUW's Fletcher Powell, each episode features a conversation with the sister and brother who wrote the book on it. Literally. You're Saying It Wrong: A Pronunciation Guide to the 150 Most Commonly Mispronounced Words and Their Tangled Histories of Misuse is by Kathryn Petras and Ross Petras.

On June 24, 2022, You’re Saying It Wrong received first place in Division B for Interview Podcasts from the Public Media Journalists Association. The awards recognize the best work in public media journalism from across the country.

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Latest Episodes
  • We look at some words that we think are related to other words, but actually aren't. Except sometimes they are.
  • We look at some "rules" of the language that were mostly just made up so people could feel like they were speaking proper English.
  • We run through some particularly confusing grammar mistakes and how sometimes we might think we’re saying one thing when we’re really saying another.
  • We run through a few of the many, many English words that contain silent letters and some of the baffling reasons we pronounce those words the way we do.
  • We dig into why certain words are spelled ridiculously thanks to a bunch of scholars a few hundred years ago who got a little too nutso about making everything look Latin.
  • Some of us like to be rule breakers, but here are a few rules of the English language we can’t help but follow. And we probably don’t even know they exist.
  • We look at what happens when we approach non-English words with a little too much gusto, and how exactly we should be saying foreign words so that we don’t sound silly (a tall order for some of us!).
  • We look at unconscious ways we follow the rules of English by doubling sounds and words, and how meanings of words can change when we say them twice. Now: are you confused? Or are you confused confused?
  • You’re Saying It Wrong is now more than just a podcast!
  • This week we rizz you up (did we say that right?) by looking at what dictionaries picked as the words of the year for 2023!