| Podcasts | ||||||
KPBS A Way with Words
Login to Add this to your Playlist Format : Public Radio PodcastDirectory.com's listings of the KPBS A Way with Words Podcasts
|
A Conversation with Roy Blount Jr. - 29 April 2009 Updated: 2009-04-29 04:01:00 Description: Humorist Roy Blount Jr. sits down with Grant for a conversation about the controversy over writers' rights and the Amazon Kindle 2. As president of the Authors Guild, Blount has argued that writers whose work is featured on the Kindle 2 should earn e...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cut to the Chase - 27 April 2009 Updated: 2009-04-27 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired December 19, 2008.]There's nothing like an oddly phrased headline to brighten your day. How about 'Actor Sent to Jail for Not Finishing Sentence'? Or 'Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped'? Same for signs that make you do a doub...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Like a Duck on a June Bug - 13 Apr. 2009 Updated: 2009-04-13 04:01:00 Description: Why are the names of cars so unimaginative? Grant argues that auto manufacturers might take inspiration from 'ornithology' to build a better car name. (Then again, would you be any less aggravated if you were rear-ended by a 'lazuli bunting'?) Also t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What's a Hobson's Choice? - 15 April 2009 Updated: 2009-04-15 13:05:00 Description: What's a 'Hobson's Choice'?If you're facing a Hobson's choice, you don't really have much to choose from. The phrase describes a situation in which your options are either to take what's offered, or else take nothing at all. Martha offers some choice...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Almost Up to Possible - 20 April 2009 Updated: 2009-04-20 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired December 13, 2008.]The second edition of the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus is chock-full of synonyms, of course, but what makes it special are the essays and usage notes by authors such as Simon Winchester, David L...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Macaroni and Gravy? - 23 April 2009 Updated: 2009-04-23 04:01:00 Description: This week, we're going through the e-mail bag. Here's a savory, sensuous one. It's from Stacey in Boulder, Colorado. Stacey grew up out West, but says she spent summers and Christmases at the home of her maternal grandparents, just north of New York ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What the Cluck? (Part 2) - 1 April 2009 Updated: 2009-04-01 04:01:00 Description: What The Cluck, Part 2What does the expression egg on have to do with chickens? Nothing, actually. Martha explains why, and tells the story of how the term curate's egg came to mean 'something with both good and bad characteristics.'Last week I told ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dust Bunnies and Ghost Turds - 6 April 2009 Updated: 2009-04-06 04:01:00 Description: [This episode was first aired November 22, 2008.]Feeling fankled? It's a Scots English word that means 'messed up' or 'confused.' In this week's episode, Grant and Martha also discuss a whole litter of synonyms for 'dust bunny,' a slew of different t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What the Cluck? - 25 March 2009 Updated: 2009-03-25 04:01:00 Description: This week, we received an email from Randy in San Diego. Randy writes: 'I recently got myself three hens for the back yard as a hobby that I thought my kids would enjoy. I highly recommend backyard chickens, by the way â theyâre better than televis...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Moded, Corroded, Your Booty Exploded - 30 Mar. 2009 Updated: 2009-03-30 04:01:00 Description: Why is it that what you say to your family and what they hear are different? If you say 'no,' your child hears 'maybe,' and if you say 'maybe,' she hears 'ask again and again, and yes is just around the corner.' Grant and Martha discuss ways that fam...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Stem-winding and Spellbinding Sentences Minicast - 18 March 2009 Updated: 2009-03-18 04:01:00 Description: Recently The New Yorker magazine ran a profile of the writer David Foster Wallace, who died last year at the age of 46. The article included a line that I think Foster himself might have appreciated. It went like this: 'He was known for endlessly fra...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD I, For One, Welcome Our New Robot Overlords - 23 March 2009 Updated: 2009-03-23 04:01:00 Description: Sure, there's 'Grandma' and 'Grampa,' but there's also 'Gammy,' 'Bumpy,' 'Dadoo,' 'Gre-Gre,' 'Kiki,' 'Kerkel,' 'Monga,' 'Nee-Nee,' 'Pots,' 'Rah-Rah' and 'Woo-Woo.' Martha and Grant talk about the endlessly inventive names grandchildren call their gra...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Walk Spoiled But Our Lie is Good - 16 March 2009 Updated: 2009-03-16 04:01:00 Description: If English isn't your first language, there are lots of ways to learn it, such as memorizing Barack Obama's speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention. Martha and Grant talk about some of the unusual ways foreigners are learning to speak English. Also,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Leapin' Lexical Inventions - 11 March 2009 Updated: 2009-03-11 04:01:00 Description: Martha explains how experiments with dead frogs and live wires led to the invention of the battery, and inspired a couple of familiar English words.I had to change the batteries in my flashlight the other day, and that makes think, as it always does,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Elvis in a Cheese Sandwich - 9 March 2009 Updated: 2009-03-09 04:01:00 Description: [Portions of this episode were first broadcast November 1, 2008.]Apple core, Baltimore! Ever play the rhyming game where you eat an apple, then shout 'apple core,' and then the first person to respond 'Baltimore!' gets to decide where (more specifica...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Tweet, Tweet! Polly Wanna Cracker! - 2 March 2009 Updated: 2009-03-02 05:01:00 Description: 'Twittering,' 'tweeting,' 'twirting'--it's rare to see a whole new body of language appear right before your eyes. But that's what's happening with 'Twitter.' We discuss the snappy new shorthand of the 'twitterati.' Also, why do people feel compelled...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Twacking around Duckish Minicast - 4 March 2009 Updated: 2009-03-04 05:01:00 Description: Time for another linguistic mystery. Where would you be if you decided to go twacking around duckish, and then you came home and wrote about it in a scribbler? Any idea? If you're going twacking around duckish, you're likely in Newfoundland. The type...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chicken Scratches and Creaky Voice - 23 Feb. 2009 Updated: 2009-02-23 05:01:00 Description: Does your 'handwriting' look like chicken scratches, calligraphy, or maybe something in between? Martha and Grant discuss the 'state of penmanship,' the phenomenon linguists call 'creaky voice,' euphemisms for going to the bathroom, and the New Engla...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD L-U-R-V-E, Love - 16 Feb. 2009 Updated: 2009-02-16 05:00:00 Description: Martha and Grant share a couple of favorite online sources for reading about language: Michael Quinion's World Wide Words newsletter <http://www.worldwidewords.org/> and Arnold Zwicky's blog <http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/>. Be sure t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How About a Game of Meehonkey? - 16 Feb. 2009 Updated: 2009-02-16 05:02:00 Description: Time for another linguistic mystery. In what part of the country would you be likely to hear older folks using the following phrases? 'He sure was mommucking his little brother.'And: 'Why, those kids used to play meehonkey every afternoon!' And: 'Ohh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Once Upon a Time - 9 Feb. 2009 Updated: 2009-02-09 05:01:00 Description: Are fairy tales too scary for children? A survey of parents in Britain found that more than half wouldn't read them to their children before age five. Martha and Grant discuss the grisly imagery in fairy tales, and whether they're too traumatizing fo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Riddled Through With Riddles - 2 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2009-02-02 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired October 25, 2008.]Here's a riddle: 'Nature requires five, custom gives seven, laziness takes nine, and wickedness eleven.' Think you know the answer? You'll find it in this week's episode, in which Grant and Martha discuss t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Love Joe Floggers? So Don't I! - 2 Feb. 2009 Updated: 2009-02-02 05:02:00 Description: Time to solve another linguistic mystery. You're in a restaurant. You overhear a conversation at the next table. The woman says to her friend, 'You know, I just love the taste of joe floggers.' And her dining companion replies enthusiastically, 'Joe ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Days of Wine Flights and Mullets - 26 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-26 05:01:00 Description: President Barack Obama hopes to boost the economy by pouring federal dollars into efforts to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, much like the old Works Progress Administration of the 1930s. But how about reviving that other jobs program from the Ne...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Just a Dite about Sculch and Dooryards - 26 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-26 05:02:00 Description: Where in the world would you be likely to find sculch in your dooryard, or ask for just a dite of cream in your coffee? Martha has the answers in this minicast about some distinctive regional terms....Here's a linguistic puzzle for you. Suppose you s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: A Collection of Collective Nouns - 26 Sept. 2007 Updated: 2007-09-26 04:01:00 Description: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: The results of the A Way with Words Collective Noun Contest! What collective noun would you apply to groups of 1) tennis players, 2) aliens from outer space, and 3) language-loving word hosts? You sent...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: The Love Dimple - 3 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-03 04:01:00 Description: What's the name for that little dent in your upper lip? It's called a philtrum. Martha reveals the erotic origins of this word, and proves once again that etymology is nothing if not sexy. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: Appalachian Cackleberries - 10 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-10 04:01:00 Description: Martha reminisces about her family's mountain roots while dipping into the delicious vocabulary of Southernisms found in the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English. Listen to this one, ya'll, and you find out what a cackleberry is, and why you don't wa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Hey, That's Mine! - 17 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-17 04:01:00 Description: When you were a child and wanted to lay claim to something, what did you say? Did you call dibs? Or did you hosey it? A caller is curious about another verb used in such situations: finnie. Grant explains this word's meaning and origin. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Grant: Dangerous Books You Should Read - 24 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-24 04:01:00 Description: Discover the joys (and temptations!) of two new books of collected wisdom: The Yale Book of Quotations, edited by Fred Shapiro, and James Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists. Grant explains why leafing through such books can be rewarding, bu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Let's Blow This Joint - 31 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-31 04:01:00 Description: A caller sends Grant and Martha off on a slang-infested trip about ways of saying a fast good-bye. Listen as they blow pop, popcorn, and taco stands by way of author Jim Harrison, the comic strip Funky Winkerbean, and a Warhol hanger-on. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: The Blue Bark Mystery - 7 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-08 05:01:00 Description: A caller asks a delicate question about the phrase 'blue bark shipment,' a term involving the transport of deceased members of the military. Martha and Grant discuss this puzzling expression and the challenge of tracking down its origins. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Points on a Compass, the Saga Continues Updated: 2007-11-14 05:01:00 Description: Remember Tom, the guy who's still trying to remember a word he insists he learned long ago meaning 'the points on a compass'? That call generated a boatload of more proposed answers from listeners. But one response stood out above all the others, so ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Grant: Nosy Parkers and Butternuts - 20 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-21 05:01:00 Description: Grant goes through the mailbag, offering answers about the terms 'nosy parker,' 'out of pocket,' and about whether the word 'falsehood' has its origins in medieval garb. He also throws a question out to listeners about what is supposedly a mild Briti...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Season Premiere: Howdy, It's a Wit's War! - 26 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-26 05:01:00 Description: It's a brand-new season here on 'A Way with Words!' To celebrate, Martha and Grant are noodling with anagrams--including the one in the title of this episode. Also:A New York schoolteacher asks, 'Why do we call our little finger a 'pinkie'?'Another c...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bite the Wax Tadpole - 17 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-17 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and product names supposedly botched in translation. They also recommend an eclectic mix of books for the word-lover on your holiday list, from military slang to Yiddish.'Biting the Wax Ta...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Words of the Year - 24 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-24 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, Grant offers a peek at some expressions he's nominating for the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year vote in January. Will it be 'w00t,' 'subprime,' or something else? You can also check out Grant's longer look at 'word of the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Jocks Lettered in Language - 31 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-30 05:01:00 Description: Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-friendly' and unlock the etymology of 'skeleton ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Typewriters We Have Loved - 7 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-07 05:01:00 Description: Ding! In this week's episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that it's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it's not the horseless carriage return yet. Martha and Grant wax nostalgic about...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse - 14 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-14 05:01:00 Description: In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past Tense from Language Programs.'By the way, did you ever...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 21 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-21 05:01:00 Description: Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss 'family words,' and Martha re...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Road Trip! - 28 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-28 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, a listener says his friend Harold does all his social phoning while driving, so he's invented a term for mindless calling while in the car. And no, it's not 'car-pe diem.' Also, Martha and Grant also discuss the rules of the road gam...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 04 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-04 05:01:00 Description: This episode first aired December 8th and 9th, 2007.This week Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'parate...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles - 11 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-11 05:01:00 Description: In this week's episode: Just how far back could you go and still understand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trusty time machine to find out. Hint: You'd probably have a tough time getting around in the eighth century, when English p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Expresso Dating and Dying Tongues - 18 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-18 05:01:00 Description: There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some estimates, they're dying off at the rate of one every week. What's lost when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question and efforts to record some endangered languages befo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cruciverbalists Play Across and Down - 25 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-25 05:01:00 Description: Sharpen those pencils! Martha and Grant are doing crossword puzzles on the air again, preparing for their appearance with NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New York City at the end of the month.http://www.cro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Celebrate National Grammar Day - 3 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-03 05:01:00 Description: Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day on March 4. Also, when you're scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and underline your misspellings with squigg...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Paper to Pixels, Pages to Screens - 10 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-10 04:01:00 Description: You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that run on batterie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Barbecue Stoppers and Marmalade Droppers - 17 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-17 04:01:00 Description: Unless you've been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of 'glass pockets'? Or 'horseracism'? Is there an etymological connection between 'caucus'...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bite the Wax Tadpole - 24 March 2008 Updated: 2008-03-24 04:01:00 Description: (This episode first aired December 15, 2007.)In this episode, Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and product names supposedly botched in translation.'Biting the Wax Tadpole'? It's the wacky title of a new book by language enthusiast Elizabe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Typewriters We Have Loved - 31 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-31 04:01:00 Description: (This episode first aired January 5, 2008.)Ding! In this week's episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that it's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it's not the horseless carriage retur...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies and the Vapors - 7 April 2008 Updated: 2008-04-07 04:01:00 Description: Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And is there a better word than 'retiree' for someone...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Encounters of the First Kind - 14 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-14 04:01:00 Description: There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about some terms that had just that effect on them...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse - 21 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-21 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 12th and 13th, 2008.]In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 28 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-28 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 19th and 20th, 2008.]Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Put a Snap on the Grouch Bag - 5 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-05 04:01:00 Description: Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'pork steak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifying to someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean to tell someone to 'put a snap on the g...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 12 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-12 04:01:00 Description: We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly' for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Give It the Old College Slang - 19 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-19 04:01:00 Description: If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted? You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated college slang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about Unknown Superheroes! What do we call it when ne...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Road Trip! - 26 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-26 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired January 26 and 27, 2008.]In this episode, a listener says his friend Harold likes to do social phoning while driving, so he's invented a term for mindless calling while in the car. And no, it's not 'car-pe diem.' Also, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired February 9th and 10th, 2008] In this week's episode: Just how far back could you go and still understand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trusty time machine to find out. Hint: You'd probably have a to...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD An Estival Festival of Summer Minicasts - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:02:00 Description: This week we announce our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online. It's what we're calling an 'estival festival.'--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Word Candidate Minicast - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:03:00 Description: [This is the first of our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online.]We hear a lot about political candidates these days. But did you ever stop to think about where the word 'candidate' comes from? Martha says it goes back to an ancient Roman fashio...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Expresso Dating and Dying Tongues - 9 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-09 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired February 16, 2008.]There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some estimates, they're dying off at the rate of one every week. What's lost when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question an...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Careful with That Teakettle Minicast! - 9 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-09 04:02:00 Description: A caller who grew up in New Jersey remembers hearing a neighbor use the expression 'Hak mir nisht ken tshaynik' whenever she wanted to shush someone. He's sure the phrase is Yiddish, but he's never been able to figure out the literal meaning. Grant s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cruciverbalists Play Across and Down - 16 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-16 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired February 23, 2008.]Sharpen those pencils! Martha and Grant are doing crossword puzzles on the air again, preparing for their appearance with NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New Yor...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How to Address an Envelope to a Married Couple Minicast - 16 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-16 04:02:00 Description: A San Diego woman is bothered by the convention of addressing envelopes to Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. Shouldn't we also include the woman's first name? For her, it's more than just a theoretical question: she spends a lot of time sending thank-you lett...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Celebrate National Grammar Day - 23 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-23 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired March 3, 2008.]Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day. Also, when you're scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and unde...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD My Brilliant Careen Minicast- 23 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-23 04:02:00 Description: A New York City listener says he's reading lots of thrillers this summer. But a couple of words keep tripping him up. Does a speeding car careen or career? The hosts spell out the differences, and throw in the origin of the word carom for good measur...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Paper to Pixels, Pages to Screens - 30 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-30 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired March 8, 2008.]You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Do Singers Have Accents? Minicast - 30 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-30 04:02:00 Description: You've heard this happen: A singer belts out a song, and then afterward, she starts talking and you're startled to hear what sounds like a completely different accent. What is it about singing that seems to change some people's accents? A caller from...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Barbecue Stoppers and Marmalade Droppers - 7 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-07 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired March 15, 2008.]Unless you've been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of 'glass pockets'? Or 'horseracism'? Is th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dits and Dat Minicast - 7 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-07 04:02:00 Description: What's a dittler? What's a dit? A traveling preacher named Fred says he's heard these strange terms in parts of Appalachia used to refer to 'baby chicks' and 'little ducklings.' We share some of our own research about these curious terms.--Get your l...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies and the Vapors - 14 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-14 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired April 5, 2008.]Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And is ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Emoticons Minicast - 14 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-14 04:02:00 Description: A listener has a question about emoticons, those little sideways symbols you type to suggest emotions in informal electronic writing. You know, like using a colon, dash, and a capital P to stick out your tongue like this :-P or using a colon, dash, a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Encounters of the First Kind - 21 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-21 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired April 12, 2008.]There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about so...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Small Talk, the Word Game Minicast - 21 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-21 04:02:00 Description: Puzzle Guys John Chaneski and Greg Pliska team up to make double trouble for Martha and Grant. The four divide into teams, and the object of the game is to make your partner guess words from a list. The only catch? All of the clues have to be one syl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Put a Snap on the Grouch Bag - 28 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-28 04:01:00 Description: This episode first aired May 5, 2008....Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'pork steak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifying to someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Index v. Indice Minicast - 28 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-28 04:02:00 Description: A caller has client who uses what sounds like a strange, three-syllable word: indice. The caller knows that the plural of index is indices. But, he wonders...indice? And should he talk about it with his client? ...Get your language question answered ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Name That Accent Minicast - 3 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-04 04:02:00 Description: For true word nerds, it's a guilty pleasure. You meet a stranger, and you find yourself listening closely to that person's way of speaking as you try to guess the accent. Martha and Grant confess they play "Name That Accent" all the time in...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Give It the Old College Slang - 11 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-11 13:08:00 Description: [This episode originally aired May 17, 2008.]If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted? You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated college slang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about Unknown...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines - 11 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-11 13:31:00 Description: Grant dishes up the latest language headlines from around the world.Oh, what a difference a letter can make! The Moscow Times reports this week that Tatyana Tetyorkina was stripped of her Russian citizenship because a government clerk's typewriter wa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Jocks, Lettered in Language - 17 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-17 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired Dec. 1, 2007.]Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-fri...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD When is a Bell Pepper a Mango? Minicast - 17 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-17 04:02:00 Description: When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it's a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.--Get your language questi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 25 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-25 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired December 8th and 9th, 2007.]This week Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'para...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines Minicast- 25 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-25 04:02:00 Description: Grant has the latest headlines from the world of language, including the debate over the name of the home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Is 'Beijing' pronounced 'bay-JING' or 'bay-ZHING'? Also, a recent court decision concerning an offense that's comin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse -1 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-01 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 12th and 13th, 2008.]In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pair o' Docs Paradox Minicast - 1 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-01 04:02:00 Description: A caller from Imperial Beach, California has a punctuation question: Dr. Tei Fu Chen and his wife, Dr. Oi Lin Chen own and operate a large, multinational herbal food company. In company literature, the two doctors are referred to in several ways. The...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 8 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-08 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 19th, 2008.]Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, Martha a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Lackabookaphobia? Minicast - 8 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-08 04:02:00 Description: Some people wouldn't be caught without the season's latest fashions, and others never leave home without their asthma inhaler. But for some of us, what strikes fear into our hearts is the thought of being caught without a book. Jeanie in Wisconsin ha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Maverick and Gobbledygook Minicast - 15 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-15 04:02:00 Description: Mmmmmaverick. Maverick, Maverick, Maverick. Maverick, Maverick, Maverick, Maverick. Maverick.Is it just my imagination, or are we hearing this word a whole LOT more lately?You usually hear it applied a politician who's staunchly independent and stubb...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Moonbats and Wingnuts - 22 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-22 04:01:00 Description: Here's a bit of political slang now making the rounds: sleepover. No, we're not talking about another pol caught with his pants down. We're talking about spending the night with, well, a voting machine. In this week's episode, we examine this and oth...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Antipodes and Grooks Minicast - 22 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-22 18:06:00 Description: A listener in Brazil challenges Martha's pronunciation of the odd English word antipodes. Their email exchange leads Martha to muse about a favorite collection of poems, where she first encountered this word....Recently on our show, I made a linguist...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Txting Db8 - 29 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-29 04:01:00 Description: OMG, text messaging! It's destroying the English language, corrupting young minds, turning us into a nation of illiterates. It's probably shrinking the ozone layer, too. Or is it? In his new book, 'Txting: The Gr8 Db8,' author David Crystal offers a ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Regional Food Names: When Is a Milkshake Not a Milkshake? Minicast - 29 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-29 04:02:00 Description: Regional Food Names: When Is a Milkshake Not a Milkshake?We asked you to tell us about odd regional food names, and boy did you oblige! Martha reads some of your letters about whoopie pies, hot tamales, pretzel salad, and coolers, plus the frappe vs....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines (minicast) - 6 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-06 04:02:00 Description: The world of politics tops this week's language headlines, including an explanation of the Bradley effect, and the ongoing debate over bilingual education. Also, what does the word fubsy mean? Grant has the answer, and reports about a new favorite bl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Reading the OED from A to Z - 13 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-13 16:04:00 Description: Reading the OED from A to Z (minicast)Word nerd Ammon Shea quit his job as a furniture mover in New York City to spend an entire year reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary. The result, in addition to eyestrain, headaches, and skeptics' puzzlem...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Darwinism and the Dictionary (minicast) - 20 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-20 13:00:00 Description: The British publishers of the Collins dictionary have announced 24 words on their endangered species list. They're words like 'vilipend,' which means 'to treat with contempt,' and 'nitid,' that's n-i-t-i-d, which means 'glistening. ' The editors warn...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Riddled Through With Riddles - 27 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-27 04:01:00 Description: Here's a riddle: 'Nature requires five, custom gives seven, laziness takes nine, and wickedness eleven.' Think you know the answer? You'll find it in this week's episode, in which Grant and Martha discuss this and other old-fashioned riddles. Also: h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Hair of the Politics that Bit You - 3 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-03 05:01:00 Description: This week on 'A Way with Words': Feel like having a little 'hair of the dog'? Grant and Martha explain what dog hair has to do with hangover cures. And what do you call it when random objects form a recognizable image, like a cloud resembling a bunny...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines (minicast) - 3 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-03 05:02:00 Description: Last year British slang lexicographer Jonathon Green struck a deal with the publisher Chambers Harrap to create an exhaustive dictionary of English slang. Now, says the London Telegraph, the first fruit of that relationship has appeared in the form o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pwned Prose, Stat! - 10 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-10 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired September 13, 2008.]When you get to the end of a wonderful book, your first impulse is to tell someone else about it. In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss what they've been reading and the delights of great prose...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Of Gossamer and Geese (minicast) - 10 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-10 05:02:00 Description: It's a warm day in late autumn. You're out for a stroll in the country. If the air is still, and the sun is at just the right angle, you may see the glint of spider threads floating lazily in the air. Particularly at this time of year, some tiny spid...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Year of Words - 17 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-17 05:01:00 Description: It's that time again, when people start thinking about a 'new or resurgent word or phrase that best captures the spirit of the past year.' And what a year! We heard the words 'bailout' and 'lipstick' more times than we'd ever dreamed, and saw also th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nuke the Fridge - 23 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-24 05:01:00 Description: We kick off our series on contenders for 2008's "Word of the Year" with a look at "nuke the fridge."The American Dialect Society will hold the 19th annual "Word of the Year" vote in January. It's the granddaddy of all wo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dust Bunnies and Ghost Turds - 23 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-24 05:01:00 Description: Feeling fankled? It's a Scots English word that means "messed up" or "confused." In this week's episode, Grant and Martha also discuss a whole litter of synonyms for "dust bunny," a slew of different terms for the piece ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Moonbats and Wingnuts - 1 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-01 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired September 20, 2008.]Here's a bit of political slang now making the rounds: sleepover. No, we're not talking about another pol caught with his pants down. We're talking about spending the night with, well, a voting machine. I...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ground Game (minicast) - 1 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-01 05:02:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Being an election year, it generated a huge amount of political language. One expression that was not new, but which certainly seems to have exploded in use, was 'ground game.'...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Never Bolt Your Door with A Boiled Carrot - 8 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-08 13:02:00 Description: [This episode first aired October 4, 2008.]Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words, no matter which language you speak. Check out this one from Belize: 'Don't call the alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river.' And this t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD PUMA (minicast) - 8 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-08 13:14:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Last week we talked about "ground game."Another political term that we crossed paths with was PUMA. PUMA is an acronym for Party Unity My Ass, which began as a Facebook gro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Almost Up to Possible - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:01:00 Description: We recommend books that make great gifts for language lovers, talk about footwear called go-aheads, and look further into going commando. Also, was the 2008 election a historic event or an historic event?The second edition of the Oxford American Writ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD I Can Has Shimmery Eyez - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:02:00 Description: The death of Martha's favorite cat Typo prompts her to reminisce about him, and about one of her favorite ailurophilic words, chatoyant.My cat Typo was a gray tabby. Greenish-gold eyes, always getting into trouble. In fact, I'm sure that during his 1...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Lipstick Express - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:03:00 Description: Hockey mom, mavericky, snow machines, and--how could we forget that other memorable phrase from the 2008 presidential campaign?--lipstick on a pig. Some new and not-so-new terms leapt onto the national stage during Gov. Sarah Palin's run for the vice...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cut to the Chase - 22 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-22 05:01:00 Description: There's nothing like an oddly phrased headline to brighten your day. How about 'Actor Sent to Jail for Not Finishing Sentence'? Or 'Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped'? Same for signs that make you do a double take, like 'Senior Citizens! Buy One, Get ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 29 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-29 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired May 10, 2008.]We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly' for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Automobile Words of the Year - 29 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-29 05:02:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Last week we talked about words that came from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Gas prices have been all over the place, but worse still than high gas-prices are accidents caused by DWT, wh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD English Down Under - 5 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-05 05:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired October 11, 2008.]This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Australia, including aerial ping-pong, pumpkin squatter, andâkangarooster? They explain the connection between stereotypes and stereos, and why we call t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Moniker for Your Monitor - 12 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-12 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired October 18, 2008.]This week on A Way with Words: Fess up: Do you have a pet name for your car? How about your computer? Martha and Grant discuss the urge to give nicknames to inanimate objects in our lives. Also, why do we s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Hoopoe Heads - 12 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-12 05:30:00 Description: Listen: Can you guess what this is?'Huup huup huup . . . huup huup huup . . . huup huup huup.'No, it's not Morse code. Not a baby chimp. It's the sound of the hoopoe.Funny-looking bird, the hoopoe. It has a pink head, zebra-striped wings, and what lo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Will The Rain Hurt The Rhubarb? - 19 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-19 05:01:00 Description: The hosts discuss two Obamafications: 'Obamanation' and 'Obamination.' Slate's book and widget that include many Barack Obama-derived words are here: <http://www.slate.com/id/2193793/>.You'd be forgiven for wondering if 'eavesdropping' derives ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Will The Rain Hurt The Rhubarb? - 19 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-19 05:01:00 Description: The hosts discuss two Obamafications: 'Obamanation' and 'Obamination.' Slate's book and widget that include many Barack Obama-derived words are here: <http://www.slate.com/id/2193793/>.You'd be forgiven for wondering if 'eavesdropping' derives ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Moniker for Your Monitor - 12 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-12 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired October 18, 2008.]This week on A Way with Words: Fess up: Do you have a pet name for your car? How about your computer? Martha and Grant discuss the urge to give nicknames to inanimate objects in our lives. Also, why do we s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Hoopoe Heads - 12 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-12 05:30:00 Description: Listen: Can you guess what this is?'Huup huup huup . . . huup huup huup . . . huup huup huup.'No, it's not Morse code. Not a baby chimp. It's the sound of the hoopoe.Funny-looking bird, the hoopoe. It has a pink head, zebra-striped wings, and what lo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD English Down Under - 5 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-05 05:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired October 11, 2008.]This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Australia, includingaerial ping-pong, pumpkin squatter, andâkangarooster? They explain the connection between stereotypes and stereos, and why we call th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD English Down Under - 5 Jan. 2009 Updated: 2009-01-05 05:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired October 11, 2008.]This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Australia, including aerial ping-pong, pumpkin squatter, andâkangarooster? They explain the connection between stereotypes and stereos, and why we call t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 29 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-29 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired May 10, 2008.]We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly' for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Automobile Words of the Year - 29 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-29 05:02:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Last week we talked about words that came from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Gas prices have been all over the place, but worse still than high gas-prices are accidents caused by DWT, wh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 29 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-29 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired May 10, 2008.]We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle wordson purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly'for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrotea ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Automobile Words of the Year - 29 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-29 05:02:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Last week we talked about words that came from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Gas prices have been all over the place, but worse still than high gas-prices are accidents caused by DWT, wh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: A Collection of Collective Nouns - 26 Sept. 2007 Updated: 2007-09-26 04:01:00 Description: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: The results of the A Way with Words Collective Noun Contest! What collective noun would you apply to groups of 1) tennis players, 2) aliens from outer space, and 3) language-loving word hosts? You sent...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: The Love Dimple - 3 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-03 04:01:00 Description: What's the name for that little dent in your upper lip? It's called a philtrum. Martha reveals the erotic origins of this word, and proves once again that etymology is nothing if not sexy....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: Appalachian Cackleberries - 10 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-10 04:01:00 Description: Martha reminisces about her family's mountain roots while dipping into the delicious vocabulary of Southernisms found in the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English. Listen to this one, ya'll, and you find out what a cackleberry is, and why you don't wa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Hey, That's Mine! - 17 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-17 04:01:00 Description: When you were a child and wanted to lay claim to something, what did you say? Did you call dibs? Or did you hosey it? A caller is curious about another verb used in such situations: finnie. Grant explains this word's meaning and origin....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Grant: Dangerous Books You Should Read - 24 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-24 04:01:00 Description: Discover the joys (and temptations!) of two new books of collected wisdom: The Yale Book of Quotations, edited by Fred Shapiro, and James Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists. Grant explains why leafing through such books can be rewarding, bu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Let's Blow This Joint - 31 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-31 04:01:00 Description: A caller sends Grant and Martha off on a slang-infested trip about ways of saying a fast good-bye. Listen as they blow pop, popcorn, and taco stands by way of author Jim Harrison, the comic strip Funky Winkerbean, and a Warhol hanger-on....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: The Blue Bark Mystery - 7 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-08 05:01:00 Description: A caller asks a delicate question about the phrase 'blue bark shipment,' a term involving the transport of deceased members of the military. Martha and Grant discuss this puzzling expression and the challenge of tracking down its origins....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Points on a Compass, the Saga Continues Updated: 2007-11-14 05:01:00 Description: Remember Tom, the guy who's still trying to remember a word he insists he learned long ago meaning 'the points on a compass'? That call generated a boatload of more proposed answers from listeners. But one response stood out above all the others, so ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Grant: Nosy Parkers and Butternuts - 20 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-21 05:01:00 Description: Grant goes through the mailbag, offering answers about the terms 'nosy parker,' 'out of pocket,' and about whether the word 'falsehood' has its origins in medieval garb. He also throws a question out to listeners about what is supposedly a mild Briti...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Season Premiere: Howdy, It's a Wit's War! - 26 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-26 05:01:00 Description: It's a brand-new season here on 'A Way with Words!' To celebrate, Martha and Grant are noodling with anagrams--including the one in the title of this episode. Also:A New York schoolteacher asks, 'Why do we call our little finger a 'pinkie'?'Another c...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bite the Wax Tadpole - 17 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-17 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and product names supposedly botched in translation. They also recommend an eclectic mix of books for the word-lover on your holiday list, from military slang to Yiddish.'Biting the Wax Ta...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Words of the Year - 24 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-24 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, Grant offers a peek at some expressions he's nominating for the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year vote in January. Will it be 'w00t,' 'subprime,' or something else? You can also check out Grant's longer look at 'word of the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Jocks Lettered in Language - 31 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-30 05:01:00 Description: Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-friendly' and unlock the etymology of 'skeleton ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Typewriters We Have Loved - 7 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-07 05:01:00 Description: Ding! In this week's episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that it's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it's not the horseless carriage return yet. Martha and Grant wax nostalgic about...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse - 14 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-14 05:01:00 Description: In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past Tense from Language Programs.'By the way, did you ever...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 21 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-21 05:01:00 Description: Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss 'family words,' and Martha re...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Road Trip! - 28 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-28 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, a listener says his friend Harold does all his social phoning while driving, so he's invented a term for mindless calling while in the car. And no, it's not 'car-pe diem.' Also, Martha and Grant also discuss the rules of the road gam...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 04 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-04 05:01:00 Description: This episode first aired December 8th and 9th, 2007.This week Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'parate...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles - 11 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-11 05:01:00 Description: In this week's episode: Just how far back could you go and still understand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trusty time machine to find out. Hint: You'd probably have a tough time getting around in the eighth century, when English p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Expresso Dating and Dying Tongues - 18 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-18 05:01:00 Description: There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some estimates, they're dying off at the rate of one every week. What's lost when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question and efforts to record some endangered languages befo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cruciverbalists Play Across and Down - 25 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-25 05:01:00 Description: Sharpen those pencils! Martha and Grant are doing crossword puzzles on the air again, preparing for their appearance with NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New York City at the end of the month.http://www.cro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Celebrate National Grammar Day - 3 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-03 05:01:00 Description: Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day on March 4.Also, when you're scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and underline your misspellings with squiggl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Paper to Pixels, Pages to Screens - 10 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-10 04:01:00 Description: You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that run on batterie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Barbecue Stoppers and Marmalade Droppers - 17 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-17 04:01:00 Description: Unless you've been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of 'glass pockets'? Or 'horseracism'? Is there an etymological connection between 'caucus'...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bite the Wax Tadpole - 24 March 2008 Updated: 2008-03-24 04:01:00 Description: (This episode first aired December 15, 2007.)In this episode, Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and product names supposedly botched in translation.'Biting the Wax Tadpole'? It's the wacky title of a new book by language enthusiast Elizabe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Typewriters We Have Loved - 31 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-31 04:01:00 Description: (This episode first aired January 5, 2008.)Ding! In this week's episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports thatit's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatlyexaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it's not the horseless carriagereturn y...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies and the Vapors - 7 April 2008 Updated: 2008-04-07 04:01:00 Description: Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And is there a better word than 'retiree' for someone...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Encounters of the First Kind - 14 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-14 04:01:00 Description: There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about some terms that had just that effect on them...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse - 21 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-21 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 12th and 13th, 2008.]In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believedarticles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion,including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past T...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 28 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-28 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 19th and 20th, 2008.]Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? Afunny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visitingrelatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, M...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Put a Snap on the Grouch Bag - 5 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-05 04:01:00 Description: Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'pork steak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifying to someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean to tell someone to 'put a snap on the g...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 12 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-12 04:01:00 Description: We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly' for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Give It the Old College Slang - 19 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-19 04:01:00 Description: If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted? You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated college slang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about Unknown Superheroes! What do we call it when ne...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Road Trip! - 26 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-26 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired January 26 and 27, 2008.]In this episode, a listener says his friend Harold likes to do social phoning while driving, so he's invented a term for mindless calling while in the car. And no, it's not 'car-pe diem.' Also, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired February 9th and 10th, 2008]In this week's episode: Just how far back could you go and stillunderstand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trustytime machine to find out. Hint: You'd probably have a tough ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD An Estival Festival of Summer Minicasts - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:02:00 Description: This week we announce our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online. It's what we're calling an 'estival festival.'--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Word Candidate Minicast - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:03:00 Description: [This is the first of our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online.]We hear a lot about political candidates these days. But did you ever stop to think about where the word 'candidate' comes from? Martha says it goes back to an ancient Roman fashio...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Expresso Dating and Dying Tongues - 9 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-09 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired February 16, 2008.]There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by someestimates, they're dying off at the rate of one every week. What's lostwhen a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question ande...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Careful with That Teakettle Minicast! - 9 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-09 04:02:00 Description: A caller who grew up in New Jersey remembers hearing a neighbor use the expression 'Hak mir nisht ken tshaynik' whenever she wanted to shush someone. He's sure the phrase is Yiddish, but he's never been able to figure out the literal meaning. Grant s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cruciverbalists Play Across and Down - 16 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-16 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired February 23, 2008.]Sharpen those pencils! Martha and Grant are doing crossword puzzles onthe air again, preparing for their appearance with NPR PuzzlemasterWill Shortz at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New YorkC...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How to Address an Envelope to a Married Couple Minicast - 16 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-16 04:02:00 Description: A San Diego woman is bothered by the convention of addressing envelopes to Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. Shouldn't we also include the woman's first name? For her, it's more than just a theoretical question: she spends a lot of time sending thank-you lett...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Celebrate National Grammar Day - 23 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-23 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired March 3, 2008.]Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day.Also,when you're scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourselfexpecting spellcheck to kick in and underli...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD My Brilliant Careen Minicast- 23 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-23 04:02:00 Description: A New York City listener says he's reading lots of thrillers this summer. But a couple of words keep tripping him up. Does a speeding car careen or career? The hosts spell out the differences, and throw in the origin of the word carom for good measur...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Paper to Pixels, Pages to Screens - 30 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-30 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired March 8, 2008.]You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel anydifferently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen ofan electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social andpsychological impl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Do Singers Have Accents? Minicast - 30 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-30 04:02:00 Description: You've heard this happen: A singer belts out a song, and then afterward, she starts talking and you're startled to hear what sounds like a completely different accent. What is it about singing that seems to change some people's accents? A caller from...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Barbecue Stoppers and Marmalade Droppers - 7 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-07 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired March 15, 2008.]Unless you've been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of 'glass pockets'? Or 'horseracism'? Is th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dits and Dat Minicast - 7 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-07 04:02:00 Description: What's a dittler? What's a dit? A traveling preacher named Fred says he's heard these strange terms in parts of Appalachia used to refer to 'baby chicks' and 'little ducklings.' We share some of our own research about these curious terms.--Get your l...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies and the Vapors - 14 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-14 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired April 5, 2008.]Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it.Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behindthem. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And isthe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Emoticons Minicast - 14 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-14 04:02:00 Description: A listener has a question about emoticons, those little sideways symbols you type to suggest emotions in informal electronic writing. You know, like using a colon, dash, and a capital P to stick out your tongue like this :-P or using a colon, dash, a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Encounters of the First Kind - 21 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-21 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired April 12, 2008.]There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about so...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Small Talk, the Word Game Minicast - 21 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-21 04:02:00 Description: Puzzle Guys John Chaneski and Greg Pliska team up to make double trouble for Martha and Grant. The four divide into teams, and the object of the game is to make your partner guess words from a list. The only catch? All of the clues have to be one syl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Put a Snap on the Grouch Bag - 28 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-28 04:01:00 Description: This episode first aired May 5, 2008....Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'porksteak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifyingto someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Index v. Indice Minicast - 28 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-28 04:02:00 Description: A caller has client who uses what sounds like a strange, three-syllable word: indice. The caller knows that the plural of index is indices. But, he wonders...indice? And should he talk about it with his client?...Get your language question answered o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 04 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-04 04:01:00 Description: We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle wordson purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly'for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrotea newspaper column about saying things wro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Name That Accent Minicast - 3 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-04 04:02:00 Description: For true word nerds, it's a guilty pleasure. You meet a stranger, and you find yourself listening closely to that person's way of speaking as you try to guess the accent. Martha and Grant confess they play"Name That Accent" all the time in ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Give It the Old College Slang - 11 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-11 13:08:00 Description: [This episode originally aired May 17, 2008.]If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted?You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated collegeslang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about UnknownSu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines - 11 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-11 13:31:00 Description: Grant dishes up the latest language headlines from around the world.Oh, what a difference a letter can make! The Moscow Times reports this week that Tatyana Tetyorkina was stripped of her Russian citizenship because a government clerk's typewriter wa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Jocks, Lettered in Language - 17 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-17 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired Dec. 1, 2007.]Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as theytackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. Theyalso settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-frien...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD When is a Bell Pepper a Mango? Minicast - 17 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-17 04:02:00 Description: When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it's a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.--Get your language questi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 25 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-25 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired December 8th and 9th, 2007.]This weekMartha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wackyawards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher apuzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'parater...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines Minicast- 25 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-25 04:02:00 Description: Grant has the latest headlines from the world of language, including the debate over the name of the home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Is 'Beijing' pronounced 'bay-JING' or 'bay-ZHING'? Also, a recent court decision concerning an offense that's comin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse -1 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-01 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 12th and 13th, 2008.]In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believedarticles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion,including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past T...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pair o' Docs Paradox Minicast - 1 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-01 04:02:00 Description: A caller from Imperial Beach, California has a punctuation question: Dr. Tei Fu Chen and his wife, Dr. Oi Lin Chen own and operate a large, multinational herbal food company. In company literature, the two doctors are referred to in several ways. The...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 8 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-08 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 19th, 2008.]Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? Afunny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visitingrelatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, Martha and...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Lackabookaphobia? Minicast - 8 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-08 04:02:00 Description: Some people wouldn't be caught without the season's latest fashions, and others never leave home without their asthma inhaler. But for some of us, what strikes fear into our hearts is the thought of being caught without a book. Jeanie in Wisconsin ha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pwned Prose, Stat! - 15 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-15 04:01:00 Description: When you get to the end of a wonderful book, your first impulse is to tell someone else about it. In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss what they've been reading and the delights of great prose.An Illinois man recalls that as a kid, he use...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Maverick and Gobbledygook Minicast - 15 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-15 04:02:00 Description: Mmmmmaverick. Maverick, Maverick, Maverick. Maverick, Maverick, Maverick, Maverick. Maverick.Is it just my imagination, or are we hearing this word a whole LOT more lately?You usually hear it applied a politician who's staunchly independent and stubb...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Moonbats and Wingnuts - 22 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-22 04:01:00 Description: Here's a bit of political slang now making the rounds: sleepover. No, we're not talking about another pol caught with his pants down. We're talking about spending the night with, well, a voting machine. In this week's episode, we examine this and oth...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Txting Db8 - 29 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-29 04:01:00 Description: OMG, text messaging! It's destroying the English language, corrupting young minds, turning us into a nation of illiterates. It's probably shrinking the ozone layer, too.Or is it? In his new book, 'Txting: The Gr8 Db8,' author David Crystal offers a d...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Regional Food Names: When Is a Milkshake Not a Milkshake? Minicast - 29 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-29 04:02:00 Description: Regional Food Names: When Is a Milkshake Not a Milkshake?We asked you to tell us about odd regional food names, and boy did you oblige! Martha reads some of your letters about whoopie pies, hot tamales, pretzel salad, and coolers, plus the frappe vs....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Never Bolt Your Door with A Boiled Carrot - 6 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-06 04:01:00 Description: Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words, no matter which language you speak. Check out this one from Belize: 'Don't call the alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river.' And this truism from Zanzibar: 'When two elephants tu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines (minicast) - 6 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-06 04:02:00 Description: The world of politics tops this week's language headlines, including an explanation of the Bradley effect, and the ongoing debate over bilingual education. Also, what does the word fubsy mean? Grant has the answer, and reports about a new favorite bl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD English Down Under - 13 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-13 04:01:00 Description: This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Australia, including aerial ping-pong, pumpkin squatter, andâkangarooster? They explain the connection between stereotypes and stereos, and why we call the person clearing tables in a restaurant a busbo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Reading the OED from A to Z - 13 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-13 16:04:00 Description: Reading the OED from A to Z (minicast)Word nerd Ammon Shea quit his job as a furniture mover in New York City to spend an entire year reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary. The result, in addition to eyestrain, headaches, and skeptics' puzzlem...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Moniker for Your Monitor - 20 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-20 04:01:00 Description: This week on A Way with Words: Fess up: Do you have a pet name for your car? How about your computer? Martha and Grant discuss the urge to give nicknames to inanimate objects in our lives. Also, why do we speak of 'vetting' a political candidate? And...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Darwinism and the Dictionary (minicast) - 20 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-20 13:00:00 Description: The British publishers of the Collins dictionary have announced 24 words on their endangered species list. They're words like 'vilipend,' which means 'to treat with contempt,' and 'nitid,' that's n-i-t-i-d, which means 'glistening. 'The editors warn ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Riddled Through With Riddles - 27 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-27 04:01:00 Description: Here's a riddle: 'Nature requires five, custom gives seven, laziness takes nine, and wickedness eleven.' Think you know the answer? You'll find it in this week's episode, in which Grant and Martha discuss this and other old-fashioned riddles. Also: h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Hair of the Politics that Bit You - 3 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-03 05:01:00 Description: This week on 'A Way with Words': Feel like having a little 'hair of the dog'? Grant and Martha explain what dog hair has to do with hangover cures. And what do you call it when random objects form a recognizable image, like a cloud resembling a bunny...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines (minicast) - 3 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-03 05:02:00 Description: Last year British slang lexicographer Jonathon Green struck a deal with the publisher Chambers Harrap to create an exhaustive dictionary of English slang. Now, says the London Telegraph, the first fruit of that relationship has appeared in the form o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pwned Prose, Stat! - 10 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-10 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired September 13, 2008.]When you get to the end of a wonderful book, your first impulse is totell someone else about it. In this week's episode, Martha and Grantdiscuss what they've been reading and the delights of great prose.A...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Of Gossamer and Geese (minicast) - 10 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-10 05:02:00 Description: It's a warm day in late autumn. You're out for a stroll in the country. If the air is still, and the sun is at just the right angle, you may see the glint of spider threads floating lazily in the air. Particularly at this time of year, some tiny spid...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Year of Words - 17 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-17 05:01:00 Description: It's that time again, when people start thinking about a 'new or resurgent word or phrase that best captures the spirit of the past year.' And what a year! We heard the words 'bailout' and 'lipstick' more times than we'd ever dreamed, and saw also th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nuke the Fridge - 23 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-24 05:01:00 Description: We kick off our series on contenders for 2008's"Word of the Year" with a look at"nuke the fridge."The American Dialect Society will hold the 19th annual"Word of the Year" vote in January. It's the granddaddy of all word ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dust Bunnies and Ghost Turds - 23 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-24 05:01:00 Description: Feeling fankled? It's a Scots English word that means"messed up" or"confused." In this week's episode, Grant and Martha also discuss a whole litter of synonyms for"dust bunny," a slew of different terms for the piece of ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Moonbats and Wingnuts - 1 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-01 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired September 20, 2008.]Here's a bit of political slang now making the rounds: sleepover. No, we're not talking about another pol caught with his pants down. We're talking about spending the night with, well, a voting machine. I...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ground Game (minicast) - 1 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-01 05:02:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Being an election year, it generated a huge amount of political language.One expression that was not new, but which certainly seems to have exploded in use, was 'ground game.'Gr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Never Bolt Your Door with A Boiled Carrot - 8 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-08 13:02:00 Description: [This episode first aired October 4, 2008.]Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words, no matterwhich language you speak. Check out this one from Belize: 'Don't callthe alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river.' And thistrui...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD PUMA (minicast) - 8 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-08 13:14:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Last week we talked about"ground game."Another political term that we crossed paths with was PUMA.PUMA is an acronym for Party Unity My Ass, which began as a Facebook group...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Almost Up to Possible - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:01:00 Description: We recommend books that make great gifts for language lovers, talk about footwear called go-aheads, and look further into going commando. Also, was the 2008 election a historic event or an historic event?The second edition of the Oxford American Writ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD I Can Has Shimmery Eyez - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:02:00 Description: The death of Martha's favorite cat Typo prompts her to reminisce about him, and about one of her favorite ailurophilic words, chatoyant.My cat Typo was a gray tabby. Greenish-gold eyes, always getting into trouble. In fact, I'm sure that during his 1...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Lipstick Express - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:03:00 Description: Hockey mom, mavericky, snow machines, and--how could we forget that other memorable phrase from the 2008 presidential campaign?--lipstick on a pig. Some new and not-so-new terms leapt onto the national stage during Gov. Sarah Palin's run for the vice...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cut to the Chase - 22 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-22 05:01:00 Description: There's nothing like an oddly phrased headline to brighten your day. How about 'Actor Sent to Jail for Not Finishing Sentence'? Or 'Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped'? Same for signs that make you do a double take, like 'Senior Citizens! Buy One, Get ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Never Bolt Your Door with A Boiled Carrot - 8 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-08 13:02:00 Description: [This episode first aired October 4, 2008.]Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words, no matter which language you speak. Check out this one from Belize: 'Don't call the alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river.' And this t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD PUMA (minicast) - 8 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-08 13:14:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Last week we talked about "ground game."Another political term that we crossed paths with was PUMA. PUMA is an acronym for Party Unity My Ass, which began as a Facebook gro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Almost Up to Possible - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:01:00 Description: We recommend books that make great gifts for language lovers, talk about footwear called go-aheads, and look further into going commando. Also, was the 2008 election a historic event or an historic event?The second edition of the Oxford American Writ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD I Can Has Shimmery Eyez - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:02:00 Description: The death of Martha's favorite cat Typo prompts her to reminisce about him, and about one of her favorite ailurophilic words, chatoyant.My cat Typo was a gray tabby. Greenish-gold eyes, always getting into trouble. In fact, I'm sure that during his 1...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Lipstick Express - 15 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-15 05:03:00 Description: Hockey mom, mavericky, snow machines, and--how could we forget that other memorable phrase from the 2008 presidential campaign?--lipstick on a pig. Some new and not-so-new terms leapt onto the national stage during Gov. Sarah Palin's run for the vice...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cut to the Chase - 22 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-22 05:01:00 Description: There's nothing like an oddly phrased headline to brighten your day. How about 'Actor Sent to Jail for Not Finishing Sentence'? Or 'Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped'? Same for signs that make you do a double take, like 'Senior Citizens! Buy One, Get ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Moonbats and Wingnuts - 1 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-01 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired September 20, 2008.]Here's a bit of political slang now making the rounds: sleepover. No, we're not talking about another pol caught with his pants down. We're talking about spending the night with, well, a voting machine. I...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ground Game (minicast) - 1 Dec. 2008 Updated: 2008-12-01 05:02:00 Description: We're continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008. Being an election year, it generated a huge amount of political language. One expression that was not new, but which certainly seems to have exploded in use, was 'ground game.'...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nuke the Fridge - 23 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-24 05:01:00 Description: We kick off our series on contenders for 2008's "Word of the Year" with a look at "nuke the fridge."The American Dialect Society will hold the 19th annual "Word of the Year" vote in January. It's the granddaddy of all wo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dust Bunnies and Ghost Turds - 23 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-24 05:01:00 Description: Feeling fankled? It's a Scots English word that means "messed up" or "confused." In this week's episode, Grant and Martha also discuss a whole litter of synonyms for "dust bunny," a slew of different terms for the piece ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Year of Words - 17 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-17 05:01:00 Description: It's that time again, when people start thinking about a 'new or resurgent word or phrase that best captures the spirit of the past year.' And what a year! We heard the words 'bailout' and 'lipstick' more times than we'd ever dreamed, and saw also th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pwned Prose, Stat! - 10 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-10 05:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired September 13, 2008.]When you get to the end of a wonderful book, your first impulse is to tell someone else about it. In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss what they've been reading and the delights of great prose...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Of Gossamer and Geese (minicast) - 10 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-10 05:02:00 Description: It's a warm day in late autumn. You're out for a stroll in the country. If the air is still, and the sun is at just the right angle, you may see the glint of spider threads floating lazily in the air. Particularly at this time of year, some tiny spid...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Hair of the Politics that Bit You - 3 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-03 05:01:00 Description: This week on 'A Way with Words': Feel like having a little 'hair of the dog'? Grant and Martha explain what dog hair has to do with hangover cures. And what do you call it when random objects form a recognizable image, like a cloud resembling a bunny...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines (minicast) - 3 Nov. 2008 Updated: 2008-11-03 05:02:00 Description: Last year British slang lexicographer Jonathon Green struck a deal with the publisher Chambers Harrap to create an exhaustive dictionary of English slang. Now, says the London Telegraph, the first fruit of that relationship has appeared in the form o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Riddled Through With Riddles - 27 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-27 04:01:00 Description: Here's a riddle: 'Nature requires five, custom gives seven, laziness takes nine, and wickedness eleven.' Think you know the answer? You'll find it in this week's episode, in which Grant and Martha discuss this and other old-fashioned riddles. Also: h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Moniker for Your Monitor - 20 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-20 04:01:00 Description: This week on A Way with Words: Fess up: Do you have a pet name for your car? How about your computer? Martha and Grant discuss the urge to give nicknames to inanimate objects in our lives. Also, why do we speak of 'vetting' a political candidate? And...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Darwinism and the Dictionary (minicast) - 20 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-20 13:00:00 Description: The British publishers of the Collins dictionary have announced 24 words on their endangered species list. They're words like 'vilipend,' which means 'to treat with contempt,' and 'nitid,' that's n-i-t-i-d, which means 'glistening. ' The editors warn...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD English Down Under - 13 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-13 04:01:00 Description: This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Australia, including aerial ping-pong, pumpkin squatter, andâkangarooster? They explain the connection between stereotypes and stereos, and why we call the person clearing tables in a restaurant a busboy...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Reading the OED from A to Z - 13 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-13 16:04:00 Description: Reading the OED from A to Z (minicast)Word nerd Ammon Shea quit his job as a furniture mover in New York City to spend an entire year reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary. The result, in addition to eyestrain, headaches, and skeptics' puzzlem...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cruciverbalists Play Across and Down - 16 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-16 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired February 23, 2008.]Sharpen those pencils! Martha and Grant are doing crossword puzzles on the air again, preparing for their appearance with NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New Yor...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How to Address an Envelope to a Married Couple Minicast - 16 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-16 04:02:00 Description: A San Diego woman is bothered by the convention of addressing envelopes to Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. Shouldn't we also include the woman's first name? For her, it's more than just a theoretical question: she spends a lot of time sending thank-you lett...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Celebrate National Grammar Day - 23 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-23 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired March 3, 2008.]Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day. Also, when you're scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and unde...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD My Brilliant Careen Minicast- 23 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-23 04:02:00 Description: A New York City listener says he's reading lots of thrillers this summer. But a couple of words keep tripping him up. Does a speeding car careen or career? The hosts spell out the differences, and throw in the origin of the word carom for good measur...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Paper to Pixels, Pages to Screens - 30 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-30 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired March 8, 2008.]You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Do Singers Have Accents? Minicast - 30 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-30 04:02:00 Description: You've heard this happen: A singer belts out a song, and then afterward, she starts talking and you're startled to hear what sounds like a completely different accent. What is it about singing that seems to change some people's accents? A caller from...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Barbecue Stoppers and Marmalade Droppers - 7 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-07 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired March 15, 2008.]Unless you've been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of 'glass pockets'? Or 'horseracism'? Is th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dits and Dat Minicast - 7 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-07 04:02:00 Description: What's a dittler? What's a dit? A traveling preacher named Fred says he's heard these strange terms in parts of Appalachia used to refer to 'baby chicks' and 'little ducklings.' We share some of our own research about these curious terms.--Get your l...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies and the Vapors - 14 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-14 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired April 5, 2008.]Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And is ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Emoticons Minicast - 14 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-14 04:02:00 Description: A listener has a question about emoticons, those little sideways symbols you type to suggest emotions in informal electronic writing. You know, like using a colon, dash, and a capital P to stick out your tongue like this :-P or using a colon, dash, a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Encounters of the First Kind - 21 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-21 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired April 12, 2008.]There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about so...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Small Talk, the Word Game Minicast - 21 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-21 04:02:00 Description: Puzzle Guys John Chaneski and Greg Pliska team up to make double trouble for Martha and Grant. The four divide into teams, and the object of the game is to make your partner guess words from a list. The only catch? All of the clues have to be one syl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Put a Snap on the Grouch Bag - 28 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-28 04:01:00 Description: This episode first aired May 5, 2008....Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'pork steak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifying to someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Index v. Indice Minicast - 28 July 2008 Updated: 2008-07-28 04:02:00 Description: A caller has client who uses what sounds like a strange, three-syllable word: indice. The caller knows that the plural of index is indices. But, he wonders...indice? And should he talk about it with his client? ...Get your language question answered ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 04 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-04 04:01:00 Description: We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly' for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Name That Accent Minicast - 3 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-04 04:02:00 Description: For true word nerds, it's a guilty pleasure. You meet a stranger, and you find yourself listening closely to that person's way of speaking as you try to guess the accent. Martha and Grant confess they play "Name That Accent" all the time in...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Give It the Old College Slang - 11 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-11 13:08:00 Description: [This episode originally aired May 17, 2008.]If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted? You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated college slang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about Unknown...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines - 11 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-11 13:31:00 Description: Grant dishes up the latest language headlines from around the world.Oh, what a difference a letter can make! The Moscow Times reports this week that Tatyana Tetyorkina was stripped of her Russian citizenship because a government clerk's typewriter wa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Jocks, Lettered in Language - 17 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-17 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired Dec. 1, 2007.]Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-fri...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD When is a Bell Pepper a Mango? Minicast - 17 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-17 04:02:00 Description: When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it's a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.--Get your language questi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 25 Aug. 2008 Updated: 2008-08-25 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired December 8th and 9th, 2007.]This week Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'para...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines Minicast- 25 August 2008 Updated: 2008-08-25 04:02:00 Description: Grant has the latest headlines from the world of language, including the debate over the name of the home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Is 'Beijing' pronounced 'bay-JING' or 'bay-ZHING'? Also, a recent court decision concerning an offense that's comin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse -1 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-01 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 12th and 13th, 2008.]In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pair o' Docs Paradox Minicast - 1 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-01 04:02:00 Description: A caller from Imperial Beach, California has a punctuation question: Dr. Tei Fu Chen and his wife, Dr. Oi Lin Chen own and operate a large, multinational herbal food company. In company literature, the two doctors are referred to in several ways. The...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 8 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-08 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 19th, 2008.]Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, Martha a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Lackabookaphobia? Minicast - 8 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-08 04:02:00 Description: Some people wouldn't be caught without the season's latest fashions, and others never leave home without their asthma inhaler. But for some of us, what strikes fear into our hearts is the thought of being caught without a book. Jeanie in Wisconsin ha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pwned Prose, Stat! - 15 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-15 04:01:00 Description: When you get to the end of a wonderful book, your first impulse is to tell someone else about it. In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss what they've been reading and the delights of great prose.An Illinois man recalls that as a kid, he use...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Maverick and Gobbledygook Minicast - 15 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-15 04:02:00 Description: Mmmmmaverick. Maverick, Maverick, Maverick. Maverick, Maverick, Maverick, Maverick. Maverick.Is it just my imagination, or are we hearing this word a whole LOT more lately?You usually hear it applied a politician who's staunchly independent and stubb...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Moonbats and Wingnuts - 22 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-22 04:01:00 Description: Here's a bit of political slang now making the rounds: sleepover. No, we're not talking about another pol caught with his pants down. We're talking about spending the night with, well, a voting machine. In this week's episode, we examine this and oth...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Txting Db8 - 29 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-29 04:01:00 Description: OMG, text messaging! It's destroying the English language, corrupting young minds, turning us into a nation of illiterates. It's probably shrinking the ozone layer, too. Or is it? In his new book, 'Txting: The Gr8 Db8,' author David Crystal offers a ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Regional Food Names: When Is a Milkshake Not a Milkshake? Minicast - 29 Sept. 2008 Updated: 2008-09-29 04:02:00 Description: Regional Food Names: When Is a Milkshake Not a Milkshake?We asked you to tell us about odd regional food names, and boy did you oblige! Martha reads some of your letters about whoopie pies, hot tamales, pretzel salad, and coolers, plus the frappe vs....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Never Bolt Your Door with A Boiled Carrot - 6 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-06 04:01:00 Description: Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words, no matter which language you speak. Check out this one from Belize: 'Don't call the alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river.' And this truism from Zanzibar: 'When two elephants tu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language Headlines (minicast) - 6 Oct. 2008 Updated: 2008-10-06 04:02:00 Description: The world of politics tops this week's language headlines, including an explanation of the Bradley effect, and the ongoing debate over bilingual education. Also, what does the word fubsy mean? Grant has the answer, and reports about a new favorite bl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Expresso Dating and Dying Tongues - 9 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-09 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired February 16, 2008.]There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some estimates, they're dying off at the rate of one every week. What's lost when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question an...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Careful with That Teakettle Minicast! - 9 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-09 04:02:00 Description: A caller who grew up in New Jersey remembers hearing a neighbor use the expression 'Hak mir nisht ken tshaynik' whenever she wanted to shush someone. He's sure the phrase is Yiddish, but he's never been able to figure out the literal meaning. Grant s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired February 9th and 10th, 2008]In this week's episode: Just how far back could you go and stillunderstand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trustytime machine to find out. Hint: You'd probably have a tough ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD An Estival Festival of Summer Minicasts - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:02:00 Description: This week we announce our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online. It's what we're calling an 'estival festival.'--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Word Candidate Minicast - 2 June 2008 Updated: 2008-06-02 04:03:00 Description: [This is the first of our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online.]We hear a lot about political candidates these days. But did you ever stop to think about where the word 'candidate' comes from? Martha says it goes back to an ancient Roman fashio...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Road Trip! - 26 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-26 04:01:00 Description: [This episode originally aired January 26 and 27, 2008.]In this episode, a listener says his friend Harold likes to do social phoning while driving, so he's invented a term for mindless calling while in the car. And no, it's not 'car-pe diem.' Also, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Give It the Old College Slang - 19 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-19 04:01:00 Description: If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted? You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated college slang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about Unknown Superheroes! What do we call it when ne...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 12 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-12 04:01:00 Description: We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly' for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Put a Snap on the Grouch Bag - 5 May 2008 Updated: 2008-05-05 04:01:00 Description: Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'pork steak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifying to someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean to tell someone to 'put a snap on the g...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse - 21 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-21 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 12th and 13th, 2008.]In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 28 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-28 04:01:00 Description: [This episode first aired January 19th and 20th, 2008.]Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode,...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Encounters of the First Kind - 14 Apr. 2008 Updated: 2008-04-14 04:01:00 Description: There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about some terms that had just that effect on them...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies and the Vapors - 7 April 2008 Updated: 2008-04-07 04:01:00 Description: Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And is there a better word than 'retiree' for someone...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Typewriters We Have Loved - 31 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-31 04:01:00 Description: (This episode first aired January 5, 2008.)Ding! In this week's episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that it's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it's not the horseless carriage retur...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bite the Wax Tadpole - 24 March 2008 Updated: 2008-03-24 04:01:00 Description: (This episode first aired December 15, 2007.)In this episode, Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and product names supposedly botched in translation. They also recommend an eclectic mix of books for the word-lover on your holiday list, from...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Barbecue Stoppers and Marmalade Droppers - 17 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-17 04:01:00 Description: Unless you've been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of 'glass pockets'? Or 'horseracism'? Is there an etymological connection between 'caucus'...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Paper to Pixels, Pages to Screens - 10 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-10 04:01:00 Description: You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that run on batterie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Celebrate National Grammar Day - 3 Mar. 2008 Updated: 2008-03-03 05:01:00 Description: Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day on March 4. Also, when you're scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and underline your misspellings with squigg...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cruciverbalists Play Across and Down - 25 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-25 05:01:00 Description: Sharpen those pencils! Martha and Grant are doing crossword puzzles on the air again, preparing for their appearance with NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New York City at the end of the month.http://www.cro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Expresso Dating and Dying Tongues - 18 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-18 05:01:00 Description: There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some estimates, they're dying off at the rate of one every week. What's lost when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question and efforts to record some endangered languages befo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles - 11 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-11 05:01:00 Description: In this week's episode: Just how far back could you go and still understand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trusty time machine to find out. Hint: You'd probably have a tough time getting around in the eighth century, when English p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 04 Feb. 2008 Updated: 2008-02-04 05:01:00 Description: This episode first aired December 8th and 9th, 2007.This week Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'parate...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Road Trip! - 28 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-28 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, a listener says his friend Harold does all his social phoning while driving, so he's invented a term for mindless calling while in the car. And no, it's not 'car-pe diem.' Also, Martha and Grant also discuss the rules of the road gam...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Secret Language of Families - 21 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-21 05:01:00 Description: Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss 'family words,' and Martha re...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD See A Man About A Horse - 14 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-14 05:01:00 Description: In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past Tense from Language Programs.'By the way, did you ever...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Typewriters We Have Loved - 7 Jan. 2008 Updated: 2008-01-07 05:01:00 Description: Ding! In this week's episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that it's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it's not the horseless carriage return yet. Martha and Grant wax nostalgic about...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Jocks Lettered in Language - 31 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-30 05:01:00 Description: Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-friendly' and unlock the etymology of 'skeleton ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Words of the Year - 24 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-24 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, Grant offers a peek at some expressions he's nominating for the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year vote in January. Will it be 'w00t,' 'subprime,' or something else? You can also check out Grant's longer look at 'word of the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bite the Wax Tadpole - 17 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-17 05:01:00 Description: In this episode, Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and product names supposedly botched in translation. They also recommend an eclectic mix of books for the word-lover on your holiday list, from military slang to Yiddish.'Biting the Wax Ta...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 10 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-10 05:01:00 Description: This week Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'paratereseomaniac' mean?A electronic teenager repellent? A...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Word Jocks Lettered in Language - 3 Dec. 2007 Updated: 2007-12-03 05:01:00 Description: Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-friendly' and unlock the etymology of 'skeleton ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Season Premiere: Howdy, It's a Wit's War! - 26 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-26 05:01:00 Description: It's a brand-new season here on 'A Way with Words!' To celebrate, Martha and Grant are noodling with anagrams--including the one in the title of this episode. Also:A New York schoolteacher asks, 'Why do we call our little finger a 'pinkie'?'Another c...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Grant: Nosy Parkers and Butternuts - 20 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-21 05:01:00 Description: Grant goes through the mailbag, offering answers about the terms "nosy parker," "out of pocket," and about whether the word "falsehood" has its origins in medieval garb. He also throws a question out to listeners about w...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Points on a Compass, the Saga Continues Updated: 2007-11-14 05:01:00 Description: Remember Tom, the guy who's still trying to remember a word he insists he learned long ago meaning "the points on a compass"? That call generated a boatload of more proposed answers from listeners. But one response stood out above all the o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: A Collection of Collective Nouns - 26 Sept. 2007 Updated: 2007-09-26 04:01:00 Description: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: The results of the A Way with Words Collective Noun Contest! What collective noun would you apply to groups of 1) tennis players, 2) aliens from outer space, and 3) language-loving word hosts? You sent...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: The Love Dimple - 3 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-03 04:01:00 Description: What's the name for that little dent in your upper lip? It's called a philtrum. Martha reveals the erotic origins of this word, and proves once again that etymology is nothing if not sexy. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha: Appalachian Cackleberries - 10 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-10 04:01:00 Description: Martha reminisces about her family's mountain roots while dipping into the delicious vocabulary of Southernisms found in the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English. Listen to this one, ya'll, and you find out what a cackleberry is, and why you don't wa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Hey, That's Mine! - 17 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-17 04:01:00 Description: When you were a child and wanted to lay claim to something, what did you say? Did you call dibs? Or did you hosey it? A caller is curious about another verb used in such situations: finnie. Grant explains this wordâs meaning and origin. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Grant: Dangerous Books You Should Read - 24 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-24 04:01:00 Description: Discover the joys (and temptations!) of two new books of collected wisdom: The Yale Book of Quotations, edited by Fred Shapiro, and James Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists. Grant explains why leafing through such books can be rewarding, bu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: Let's Blow This Joint - 31 Oct. 2007 Updated: 2007-10-31 04:01:00 Description: A caller sends Grant and Martha off on a slang-infested trip about ways of saying a fast good-bye. Listen as they blow pop, popcorn, and taco stands by way of author Jim Harrison, the comic strip Funky Winkerbean, and a Warhol hanger-on. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Martha and Grant: The Blue Bark Mystery - 7 Nov. 2007 Updated: 2007-11-08 05:01:00 Description: A caller asks a delicate question about the phrase _blue bark shipment_, a term involving the transport of deceased members of the military. Martha and Grant discuss this puzzling expression and the challenge of tracking down its origins. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Grant: Dangerous Books You Should Read Updated: 2007-10-26 13:17:49 Description: Discover the joys (and temptations!) of two new books of collected wisdom: The Yale Book of Quotations edited by Fred Shapiro, and James Geary's "Guide to the World's Great Aphorists." Grant explains why leafing through such books can be rewarding...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Fun with Mnemonics Updated: 2007-06-15 10:34:05 Description: Did you memorize the colors of the rainbow using the mnemonic "Roy G. Biv"? Martha and Grant discuss how word combinations can help you recall passwords and other information. Grant explains the origin of the phrase "Who's Your Daddy?" Martha reveals...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Blog This! Updated: 2007-06-15 10:34:04 Description: Calling all blogophiles! Martha and Grant discuss some of their favorite online reading. A caller asks if there's a word for "fear of palindromes." Grant explains the origins of the expression "don't have a cow." Martha rhapsodizes about her favorite...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Baby Talk Updated: 2007-03-17 10:00:40 Description: Do babies just babble, or are they really trying to tell us something? Martha and Grant discuss a new video that supposedly helps parents decode a"universal language"of infants. A priest explains how he got busted by readers of his blog for using the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD M'waukee Talk Updated: 2007-02-20 22:19:05 Description: Can you understand Milwaukee talk? Martha and Grant get a call from behind Wisconsin's"cheddar curtain."They'll also try to figure out the origins of odd words like"cuckold"and"nincompoop."They'll also play a game about famous word trios that'll make...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Spelling Matters Updated: 2007-02-21 20:05:17 Description: Think spelling's not important? Wait until you hear the story of the spelling boo-boo that cost one Michigan county $40,000.Then Martha and Grant rant about computer spellcheckers, discuss how things get"borked,"and advise a third-grade teacher who's...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What's Wrong with"Senior Citizen"? Updated: 2007-02-27 02:02:02 Description: Does the term"senior citizen"annoy you? Is there a better word for it? Martha and Grant revisit the question. Also, what does the expression"pushing the envelope"really mean, and what's the origin of the term"dry run"? Should you be flattered if some...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD "Banned"Words? Updated: 2007-03-03 15:13:10 Description: Are you bothered by the phrase"went missing"? How about when fathers-to-be say,"'WE'RE pregnant!"? What does it mean to"pre-board"an airplane, anyway? Martha and Grant discuss the pet peeves that drive some people crazy, and offer suggestions for buy...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Triple-Threat Challenge Updated: 2007-01-09 03:18:16 Description: Richard and Martha face a triple-threat Verbivore Challenge from Greg Pliska, John Chaneski, and Eric Berman....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Message from Martha Updated: 2007-01-09 03:17:57 Description: Greetings, word lovers! If you're looking for new episodes of A Way with Words, I have great news: Right now, we're hard at work on some brand-new episodes. Our 2007 season kicks off in January, and I can't wait! This version of A Way with Words wi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Fugitive Words Updated: 2006-12-16 02:50:37 Description: The Verbivores go on the lam with some word fugitives, elusive phrases that are not in the dictionary but should be....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Message from Martha Updated: 2006-12-16 02:50:37 Description: Greetings, word lovers! If you're looking for new episodes of A Way with Words, I have great news: Right now, we're hard at work on some brand-new episodes. Our 2007 season kicks off in January, and I can't wait! This version of A Way with Words wi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Etymology Updated: 2006-11-13 21:09:40 Description: The Verbivores talk about word sleuths, otherwise known as etymologists, who try to solve linguistic mysteries....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pirates, Bootleggers, and Getting Updated: 2006-10-04 15:39:05 Description: Richard and Martha take questions from listeners about the shady side of life as they celebrate the coming of the fall season. And speaking of "fall," Quizzicist Greg Pliska presents a Verbivore Challenge on words that are synonymous with the new sea...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Fugitive Words Updated: 2006-09-02 18:05:40 Description: The Verbivores go on the lam with some word fugitives, elusive phrases that are not in the dictionary but should be....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Wordaholics Anonymous Updated: 2006-08-21 00:00:00 Description: The Verbivores convene another meeting of Wordaholics Anonymous, a support group for those of us who are intoxicated by syntax and besotted with language....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Australian Slang Updated: 2006-08-14 14:58:32 Description: The Verbivores look at the wild and wonderful world of Australian slang....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Quizzicist Greg Pliska Updated: 2006-01-28 04:00:00 Description: Richard and Martha will get a vexing Verbivore Challenge from the new puzzle guy, musician and composer Greg Pliska....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Manners Updated: 2006-01-14 04:00:00 Description: The Verbivores will discuss modern manners, or the lack thereof, with author Lynne Truss....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Business Speak Updated: 2006-01-21 12:00:00 Description: Richard and Martha will take a look at some confounding corporate lingo and will speak with the author of the book Why Business People Speak Like Idiots....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD |
|
||||
| Podcast listings come from Podcast Directory.comxx | ||||||
