You're Saying It Wrong

In this episode, Fletcher, Kathy & Ross talk about precision in language: why it's good, why it's bad, why we like it, and why we sometimes just need to let it go. 

OK, lotsa complicated stuff this time.

First, we cover using "who" vs. "that" in a sentence, as in "I'm the one who loves you" vs. "I'm the one that loves you."

And we move on to "that" vs. "which" in restrictive and non-restrictive clauses.  (You might want to get some paper to draw a diagram here.)

And we learn when to use "shall" vs. "will."

Or if any of it matters at all!

Here's a question for you: How are you?

A simple question shouldn't make you squirm so much, should it? 

In this episode, we're talking about using "I" vs. "me" in a sentence ("between you and I" or "between you and me"), who vs. whom, and how people "hypercorrect" and work so hard to get things right that they go too far and end up getting them wrong.

"Last night I lay down my book and sunk into a deep sleep."

Yep. That's the sentence Fletcher received from Kathy and Ross, and it sent him on an emotional journey.

So... why do begin sentences this way? Is it OK? In this episode we take a deep dive into the use (or misuse?) of this little word.

We also have a short discussion about the current vs. original pronunciations of "gerrymander" in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision on partisan gerrymandering.

So... you should probably go ahead and listen, don't ya think?

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It's an avalanche of eggcorns! Good eggcorns, bad eggcorns, eggcorns it's OK to use, eggcorns you should avoid altogether, and even one eggcorn that's maybe a little bit NSFW.

You're Saying It Wrong was recorded and produced at KMUW studios. Thanks to our language experts, Kathy Petras and Ross Petras. You can follow them at their website: kandrpetras.com

In this episode we're talking about things you actually probably get right. But you get them right without realizing what you're doing.

This episode, we're back to words you might think you know, but that you just might be using incorrectly — brought to you by the letter "P".

Sometimes there are words that really don't mean what they look like they mean. And to avoid confusion, it's probably best you just don't use them.