This Week: On the podcast, more misconceptions about The Bible + first come, first serve/first come, first served

first come, first serve/first come, first served  

It might seem logical to put both verbs in the same form, as in “first come, first serve,” but actually the phrase means something like “the first to come will be the first to be served.” Early comers do not do the serving; they are served.

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This week on the podcast we conclude our discussion of passages and phrases from The Bible.  

This Week: On the podcast, more misconceptions about The Bible + gender

gender
When discussing males and females, feminists wanting to remove references to sexuality from contexts which don’t involve mating or reproduction revived an older meaning of “gender,” which had come to refer in modern times chiefly to language, as a synonym for “sex” in phrases such as “Our goal is to achieve gender equality.” Americans, always nervous about sex, eagerly embraced this usage, which is now standard. In some scholarly fields, “sex” is used to label biologically determined aspects of maleness and femaleness (reproduction, etc.) while “gender” refers to their socially determined aspects (behavior, attitudes, etc.); but in ordinary speech this distinction is not always maintained. It is disingenuous to pretend that people who use “gender” in the new senses are making an error, just as it is disingenuous to maintain that “Ms.” means “manuscript” (that’s “MS”). Nevertheless, I must admit I was startled to discover that the tag on my new trousers describes not only their size and color, but their “gender.”


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This week on the podcast we continue our discussion of passages and phrases from The Bible.

This Week: On the podcast, misconceptions about The Bible + factoid

factoid
The “-oid” ending in English is normally added to a word to indicate that an item is not the real thing. A humanoid is not quite human. Originally “factoid” was an ironic term indicating that the “fact” being offered was not actually factual. However, CNN and other sources took to treating the “-oid” as if it were a mere diminutive and using the term to mean “trivial but true fact.” As a result, the definition of “factoid” is hopelessly confused and it’s probably better to avoid using the term altogether.


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This week on the podcast we discuss some history of The Bible and begin a conversation about some misunderstood passages therein.

This Week: On the podcast, a history of American comics (Part 2) + between you and I/between you and me

between you and I/between you and me
“Between you and me” is preferred in standard English.
 

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This week on the podcast we continue our discussion on Paul’s great interest in comics and cover the early history of American comic strips.