Cultural English

Topics: U.S. government reparations; TV home shopping networks/shows; neither do I versus so do I versus either I; to talk with versus to talk to; to put the cart before the horse (to put the horse before the cart)

Topics: Ask an American: Bartering; waiting versus awaiting; use of the infinitive; answering “yes” to a negative question

Topics: Famous Americans: Janis Joplin; compulsory education and truancy laws; to bask; to brace; to palm off; to follow one’s hunch(es)

Topics: Psychological pricing; daytime soap operas; target versus objective versus purpose; the silent “b”: slumber versus plumber; there, there

Topics: American Cities: Houston; how to become a police officer; incredible versus unbelievable; to rule the roost; to sort out

Topics: Steroid use and other doping in professional sports; The Juilliard School; shell-shocked; way to go; be good

Topics: Ask an American: sleep and weight gain; to slip through (one's) fingers; drink versus beverage; individually versus separately versus independently

Topics: Explaining TV show names; Mount McKinley and mountaineering; highest versus tallest; CEO versus CFO versus CIO

Topics: The medical marijuana controversy; Famous Americans: Woody Allen; sky versus skies; meltdown and crack down; less is more/more is less; pronunciations of live

Topics: Disneyland; government property seizures and auctions; state; on the prowl; pronouncing the vowel “i” and the vowel combinations “ee” and “ea”; time after time

Topics: Ask an American: Watching TV on the Internet; to search versus to look for versus to seek; pushing up daisies; do you have any idea?

Topics: The Mormon/LDS Church; school lunches; using “in” or “on” with body parts; fall off versus fall down; a dollar down and a dollar a week

Topics: Social networking; government-run lotteries; the use of “on” with the days of the week; to travel in/by; individual versus personal

Topics: Hip Hop Culture; The New York Stock Exchange; effectiveness versus efficiency; jilted; hence versus thus

Topics: Gay Rights Issues: Gay Marriage and “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”; Famous Americans: Oprah Winfrey; sneak preview; instead of versus rather than; a lot versus lots

Topics: Ask an American: The meaning of work; apart from versus in terms of; off the cuff; also versus as well

Topics: Vampires; The Second City (comedy group); to sway versus to persuade versus to convince; get a life!; to ramp up

Topics: Patriotic songs; Carnegie Hall; grande versus venti (at Starbucks); troop versus troops; (something) is ghostwritten

Topics: American Cities: Milwaukee; Neighborhood Watch/Citizen’s Arrest; to look versus to look like; not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin; pretty + (adjective)

Topics: Woodstock; Walter Reed Army Medical Center; a lot versus a load of; indicate versus signify; Hispanic versus Spanish

Topics: Ask an American: social media and job searches; go ahead, make my day; years old versus year old

Topics: The Godfather; Graceland and Elvis; to hinder versus to hamper versus to impede; the hunt is on; quick and dirty tips

Topics: Apollo Theater; Famous Americans: Susan B. Anthony; to talk down to; to bail on; had better versus would rather Words:

Topics: Classic game shows; the sister cities program; beyond a reasonable doubt; infinite versus permanent versus eternal; forward versus forwards

Topics: Types of prisons and the parole system; American cities: Austin; using prepositions with the days of the week; for the world to owe (one) something; late/early morning, afternoon, and evening

Topics: Ask an American: The Cherokee Language; regard versus consider; remember versus memorize; knock on wood

Topics: Famous Americans: Tyler Perry; NASA; to think on (one’s) feet; plural for iPod Touch and other proper nouns; recognition versus acknowledgement

Topics: Yosemite National Park; PETA and animal rights; to rebuild versus to reshape; to mind your P’s and Q’s; tag questions

Topics: The CIA; The Wizard of Oz; deliverable; stress versus pressure; “you had me at ‘hello’”

Topics: DUIs and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers; Famous Americans: Martha Stewart; traffic versus transit; at all versus not at all; describing someone who works from home