'I know, right?': The anatomy of a wonderfully nonsensical phrase

And why we insist on saying things that make no literal sense

Fallon Fey
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill))

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James Harbeck

James Harbeck is a professional word taster and sentence sommelier (an editor trained in linguistics). He is the author of the blog Sesquiotica and the book Songs of Love and Grammar.