Springtime Twitterpation - 31 March 2014

<p>Springtime is the right time to feel twitterpated—you know, you're smitten beyond a crush. Speaking of relationships, are dog owners really owners, or should they call themselves something else, like guardian or human? And if you're up for a challenge, some adult spelling bee words, including ostreiform and langlauf. Plus, ollie ollie oxen free, toad-strangling rain, zugzwang, canceled vs. cancelled, and how to pronounce herbal, hyperbole, and inchoate.<br /><br /> FULL DETAILS<br /><br />Even adults can use a good spelling bee now and then. It's a good way to learn words like ostreiform, meaning "having the shape of an oyster," and langlauf, a "cross-country ski run."<br /><br />Springtime is the right time to feel twitterpated. That is, smitten like a nutty, twittering bird.<br /><br />Why do the Brits pronounce the H in herbal? <br /><br />When it rains, it pours. And when it pours, it's called a toad-strangler. Depending on what part of the U.S. you're from, you might also call it other names, such as frog strangler, goose-drownder, or gullywasher.<br /><br />The word yannigan, meaning "a member of a scrub team in baseball," may come from an alteration of "young one."<br /><br />What do darts, flubs, and maids have in common? Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski puts it to us in a game of rhymes.<br /><br />Did you say ollie ollie oxen free to draw people out of hiding during hide-and-seek? Or maybe you said one of the other versions of this phrase, such as all-ee, all-ee, in free, or Ole Ole Olson all in free.<br /><br />If you've accomplished something, be proud! But is it condescending to say you're proud of someone when you had nothing to do with their success? A listener worries that the meaning of the word proud includes a sense of ownership.<br /><br />In the Kiswahili language, the dead go into two categories: sasha for the recently departed, and zamani for spirits not known by anyone living.<br /><br />How many L's go in past tense of cancel? <br /><br />If you're mispronouncing words like inchoate and hype