Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing   /     When does a house become a mansion? Giving someone house.

Summary

957. We trace the linguistic history behind "house" and "mansion" to uncover how these two humble words for dwellings grew apart, with "mansion" gaining airs — all because of the Norman invasion. Plus, we look at why someone might ask if a potential suitor "gave you any house."

Subtitle
957. We trace the linguistic history behind "house" and "mansion" to uncover how these two humble words for dwellings grew apart, with "mansion" gaining airs — all because of the Norman invasion. Plus, we look at why someone might ask if a potential s
Duration
00:12:50
Publishing date
2023-12-05 10:00
Link
https://www.stitcher.com
Contributors
  Mignon Fogarty, Valerie Fridland
author  
Enclosures
https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.blubrry.com/grammargirl/stitcher.simplecastaudio.com/e7b2fc84-d82d-4b4d-980c-6414facd80c3/episodes/0b48cc38-10bc-4cc2-b3d4-1628e6f35da6/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=e7b2fc84-d82d-4b4d-9
audio/mpeg

Shownotes

957. We trace the linguistic history behind "house" and "mansion" to uncover how these two humble words for dwellings grew apart, with "mansion" gaining airs — all because of the Norman invasion. Plus, we look at why someone might ask if a potential suitor "gave you any house."

The "house" versus "mansion" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "Like Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.

| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/house-mansion/transcript

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