Podcasts by A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over

Strawberry Moon (Rebroadcast) - 11 December 2023 from 2023-12-11T08:00

We asked for your thoughts about whether cursive writing should be taught in schools — and many of you replied with a resounding "Yes!" You said cursive helps develop fine motor skills, improves me...

Spill the Tea (Rebroadcast) - 27 November 2023 from 2023-11-27T08:00

If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don’t want you tipping over a hot beverage. Originally, the tea here was the letter T, as in “truth.” To spill the T means to “pass along truthf...

Dirty Laundry (Rebroadcast) - 20 November 2023 from 2023-11-20T08:00

When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In some places, you call those bedclothes and blankets a pallet. This word comes from an old term for...

Strong Coffee - 13 November 2023 from 2023-11-13T08:00

During the late 19th and early 20th century, thousands of volunteers helped crowdsource the Oxford English Dictionary. This venerable reference work includes citations sent in by inventors, eccentr...

Keep Your Powder Dry (Rebroadcast) - 6 November 2023 from 2023-11-06T08:00

Jacuzzi and silhouette are eponyms — that is, they derive from the names of people. An Italian immigrant to California invented the bubbly hot tub called a jacuzzi. And the word silhouette commemor...

One-Armed Paper Hanger (Rebroadcast) - 30 October 2023 from 2023-10-30T07:01

The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time better spent studying other things? A handwritt...

Hair on Your Tongue (Rebroadcast) - 23 October 2023 from 2023-10-23T07:00

If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling experience is so common among polyglots that linguists...

Train of Thought (Rebroadcast) - 16 October 2023 from 2023-10-16T07:00

Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, such as the powers that be and bottomless pit, which both first appeare...

Space Cadet (Rebroadcast) - 9 October 2023 from 2023-10-09T07:00

We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer involves the Boy Scouts, a baby, a craft project...

Howling Fantods (Rebroadcast) - 2 October 2023 from 2023-10-02T07:00

Are there words and phrases that you misunderstood for an embarrassingly long time? Maybe you thought that money laundering literally meant washing drug-laced dollar bills, or that AM radio station...

Pizza Bones - 25 September 2023 from 2023-09-25T07:00

If your last name is Cook or Smith, your ancestors probably worked in those professions. But what if your last name is Pope? Or Abbott? And if you have enough food for Coxey’s army, you have more t...

Bottled Sunshine (Rebroadcast) - 18 September 2023 from 2023-09-18T07:00

If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term, adapted into English from Dutch, means “an L-shaped tear in a piece of fabric.” And: What’s your relation...

Endless Summer - 11 September 2023 from 2023-09-11T07:00

Surf’s up! When surfers describe the waves as going gangbusters, it’s a great time out on the water. But why that word? Plus, a thesaurus of flavors serves up delicious writing about the taste of f...

Care Package (Rebroadcast) - 4 September 2023 from 2023-09-04T07:00

Sending someone a care package shows you care, of course. But the first care packages were boxes of food and personal items for survivors of World War II. They were from the Committee for American ...

Cootie Shot (Rebroadcast) - 28 August 2023 from 2023-08-28T07:00

Perfect sentences and slang that tickles your mind! A new book of writing advice says a good sentence “imposes a logic on the world’s weirdness” and pares away options for meaning, word by word. • ...

Sticky Wicket - 21 August 2023 from 2023-08-21T07:00

Is listening to an audiobook for a book club somehow “cheating”? Is there no substitute for engaging with the printed page, or do audiobooks adds a whole new dimension? Plus, a mocktail os an artis...

Ding Ding Man (Rebroadcast) - 14 August 2023 from 2023-08-14T07:00

In 1803, a shy British pharmacist wrote a pamphlet that made him a reluctant celebrity. The reason? He proposed a revolutionary new system for classifying clouds — with Latin names we still use tod...

Gleam in Your Eye - 7 August 2023 from 2023-08-07T07:00

A remarkable new documentary explores the world of amateur and professional mermaiding and the language bubbling up within it. Some mermaiding enthusiasts greet each other with a friendly "Shello!"...

Alligator Mouth - 24 July 2023 from 2023-07-24T07:00

Kinbank is a new database that illustrates the global diversity of family terms. English, for example, specifies sibling relationships with just one of two terms: sister or brother. But most other ...

Sun Dog (Rebroadcast) - 17 July 2023 from 2023-07-17T07:00

A clever pun can make the difference between a so-so phrase and a memorable one. The phrase “the last straw” refers to an old fable about too many items in a load, but it takes on a whole new meani...

High Jinks - 10 July 2023 from 2023-07-10T07:00

For many people, religion provides language and rituals for key milestones in life, from births to weddings to funerals. But what if you don’t ascribe to any particular religion? What words do you ...

Oh For Cute (Rebroadcast) - 3 July 2023 from 2023-07-03T07:00

A stereotype is a preconceived notion about a person or group. Originally, though, the word stereotype referred to a printing device used to produce lots of identical copies. • The link between tin...

Coinkydink (Rebroadcast) - 26 June 2023 from 2023-06-26T07:00

Sometimes it’s a challenge to give a book a chance: How many pages should you read before deciding it’s not worth your time? There’s a new formula to help with that decision — and it’s all based on...

Spinning Cookies - 19 June 2023 from 2023-06-19T07:00

A book of photographs and essays by famous writers celebrates libraries — and the librarians who changed their lives. Plus cutting doughnuts, spinning cookies, and pulling brodies: There are lots o...

Up Your Alley (Rebroadcast) - 12 June 2023 from 2023-06-12T07:00

Book recommendations, including a collection of short stories inspired by dictionaries, and a techno-thriller for teens. Or, how about novels with an upbeat message? Publishers call this genre up l...

Just Skylarking - 5 June 2023 from 2023-06-05T07:00

The art of the invitation can be tricky. An inviter’s idea of invitation may be taken by an invitee as merely mentioning an event while they’re nearby. One such a misunderstanding went on for month...

Piping Hot (Rebroadcast) - 29 May 2023 from 2023-05-29T07:00

The game of baseball has alway inspired colorful commentary. Sometimes that means using familiar words in unfamiliar ways. The word stuff, for example, can refer to a pitcher’s repertoire, to the s...

Folding Money - 22 May 2023 from 2023-05-22T07:00

Barbara Kingsolver’s book Demon Copperhead is a retelling of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield set in today’s Appalachia. Martha shares memories of a long-ago visit to Kingsolver’s family farm in ...

Mimeographs and Dittos (Rebroadcast) - 15 May 2023 from 2023-05-15T07:00

How colors got their names, and a strange way to write. The terms blue and orange arrived in English via French, so why didn’t we also adapt the French for black and white? • Not every example of w...

Takes the Cake - 8 May 2023 from 2023-05-08T07:00

What do you call a long sandwich filled with lots of ingredients? Whether you call it a sub, a hoagie, a grinder, or something else entirely depends on where you’re from. And: Martha’s visit to an ...

Truth and Beauty (Rebroadcast) - 1 May 2023 from 2023-05-01T07:00

Malamute, kayak, and parka are just some of the words that have found their way into English from the language of indigenous people in northern climes. • In the 1970s, some scientists argued that t...

Dessert Stomach (Rebroadcast) - 24 April 2023 from 2023-04-24T07:00

Funny cat videos and cute online photos inspire equally adorable slang terms we use to talk about them. • Also, when a salamander is not a salamander, the story of an Italian term for a dish towel ...

Blessing Box - 17 April 2023 from 2023-04-17T07:00

Is there such a thing as a “neutral” accent, and if so what does it sound like? And that quirk in the way southern Californians talk about freeways. They’ll say things like take the 405 and get on ...

Cool Your Soup (Rebroadcast) - 10 April 2023 from 2023-04-10T07:00

According to Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, it’s important to master the basics of writing, but there comes a time when you have to strike out on your own and teach yourself. Also: Spanish idioms i...

Cats and Dogs - 5 April 2023 from 2023-04-05T07:00

It’s cats and dogs, and a few other critters, too. Animals prowl around inside several English words, including sleuth, which was originally sleuth-hound, a synonym for bloodhound. Plus, the langua...

Fair Dinkum - 3 April 2023 from 2023-04-03T07:00

A magnificent new book celebrates the richness and diversity of 450 years of written and spoken English in what is now the United States. It’s called The People’s Tongue, and it’s a sumptuous colle...

Put on the Dog (Rebroadcast) - 27 March 2023 from 2023-03-27T07:00

Why isn’t “you’re welcome” the default response to “thank you” for everyone? Plus lies that kids tell, Philadelphia lawyer, cowbelly, skutch, mind-bottling vs. mind-boggling, tsundoku, infanticipat...

Excuse the Hogs (Rebroadcast) - 20 March 2023 from 2023-03-20T07:00

When a teenager went a week without talking as part of a school project, he noticed a surprising side effect: Instead of rehearsing a response to what other people were saying to him, he was focuse...

By a Landslide - 13 March 2023 from 2023-03-13T07:00

How do you transform ancient Chinese script for use in the modern age? English uses a keyboard with just 26 letters, but the first Chinese typewriter looked like a small table under a huge disk wit...

All That and a Bag of Chips (Rebroadcast) - 6 March 2023 from 2023-03-06T08:00

We tend to take the index of a book for granted, but centuries ago, these helpful lists were viewed with suspicion. Some even worried that indexes would harm reading comprehension! A witty new book...

Big Dog - 27 February 2023 from 2023-02-27T08:00

If you’re ever near a sundial, step closer and look for a message. Many sundials bear haunting, poetic inscriptions about the brevity of life. Plus, language development in toddlers: why and how li...

Familiar Strangers (Rebroadcast) - 20 February 2023 from 2023-02-20T08:00

If you take up texting and social media late in life, there’s a lot to learn! A twenty-something wants advice getting her dad up to speed on memes, Instagram, and animated images. Plus, when you’re...

Hot Gossip - 13 February 2023 from 2023-02-12T08:00

Gossip goes by many names: the poop, the scoop, the lowdown, the dope, the scuttlebutt, the 411, the grapes, the gore, and hot tea. Plus, John Donne’s love poems are among the greatest in the Engli...

Word Hoard (Rebroadcast) - 6 February 2023 from 2023-02-06T08:00

Ever wonder what medieval England looked and sounded like? In Old English, the word hord meant "treasure" and your wordhord was the treasure of words locked up inside you. A delightful new book use...

In the Ballpark - 30 January 2023 from 2023-01-30T00:00

Novelist Charles Dickens and the musician Prince were very different types of artists, but they also had a lot in common. A new book chronicling their extraordinary careers becomes a larger meditat...

You Talk Like a Sausage (Rebroadcast) - 23 January 2023 from 2023-01-23T00:00

Do you refer to your dog or cat as “somebody”? As in: When you love somebody that much, you don’t mind if they slobber. In other words, is your pet a somebody or a something? Also, for centuries, t...

Old College Try - 16 January 2023 from 2023-01-16T08:00

In just seconds, online text generators and chatbots can produce whole paragraphs of sophisticated prose. But what do advances in artificial intelligence mean for writers? What is lost and what’s g...

Pushing the Envelope (Rebroadcast) - 9 January 2023 from 2023-01-09T08:00

Sure, there’s winter, spring, summer, and fall. But the seasons in between have even more poetic names. In Alaska, greenup describes a sudden, dramatic burst of green after a long, dark winter. And...

Primary Colors (Rebroadcast) - 2 January 2023 from 2023-01-02T08:00

Centuries ago, monks who took a vow of silence developed their own hand signs, with hundreds of gestures, that are still in use today. Plus, how do speakers of different languages distinguish simil...

Deep-Fried Air (Rebroadcast) - 26 December 2022 from 2022-12-28T01:20

Eels, orts, and Wordle! Sweden awarded its most prestigious literary award to a book about…eels. The Book of Eels reveals the mysterious life cycle of this sea creature and its significance for fam...

Stub Your Toe - 19 December 2022 from 2022-12-19T08:00

Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view th...

Big Bang - 12 December 2022 from 2022-12-12T08:00

A savory Sicilian sausage roll is always a hit for the holidays. This dish goes by a long list of names that are equally delicious to say. Plus, why are those promotional quotes you see on the back...

East Overshoe (Rebroadcast) - 5 December 2022 from 2022-12-05T08:00

Some people work hard to lose their accent in order to fit in. Others may be homesick for the voices they grew up with and try to reclaim them. How can you regain your old accent? Also, a compellin...

Snookums and Snicklefritz - 28 November 2022 from 2022-11-28T08:00

A new book about how animals perceive their environment reveals immense worlds beyond our own. A bee can see ultraviolet light, catfish have taste buds all over their bodies, and manatees use highl...

If Grandma Had Wheels - 14 November 2022 from 2022-11-14T08:00

While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you ea...

Mittens in Moonlight (Rebroadcast) - 7 November 2022 from 2022-11-07T08:00

Need a slang term that can replace just about any noun? Try chumpie. If you're from Philadelphia, you may already know this handy placeholder word. And there's Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manh...

Diamond Dust (Rebroadcast) - 31 October 2022 from 2022-10-31T07:00

Diamond dust, tapioca snow, and sugar icebergs — a 1955 glossary of arctic and subarctic terms describes the environment in ways that sound poetic. And a mom says her son is dating someone who's no...

Sleepy Winks (Rebroadcast) - 24 October 2022 from 2022-10-24T07:00

It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fancifu...

Touch Grass - 17 October 2022 from 2022-10-17T07:00

High school students in Alabama share some favorite slang terms. If someone tells you to touch grass, they’re telling you to get a reality check — but the last thing you’d actually want to touch is...

Made from Scratch (Rebroadcast) - 10 October 2022 from 2022-10-10T07:00

Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha's savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist who revolutionized our understanding of nature and ...

Salad Days (Rebroadcast) - 3 October 2022 from 2022-10-03T07:00

A documentary film called My Beautiful Stutter follows youngsters at a summer camp specifically for stutterers. It's a place for finding acceptance, support, and confidence for navigating the large...

Funny Papers - 26 September 2022 from 2022-09-26T07:00

There are word nerds, and then there’s the woman who set up a folding chair on sidewalks throughout the country, cheerfully dispensing tips about grammar. She recounts her adventures in a new book....

Your Imaginary Boyfriend (Rebroadcast) - 19 September 2022 from 2022-09-19T07:00

We use the term Milky Way for that glowing arc across the sky. But how people picture it varies from culture to culture. In Sweden, that starry band goes by a name that means "Winter Street," and i...

Go Bananas - 12 September 2022 from 2022-09-12T07:00

A caller wonders if she’s being hypersensitive about the way her boss addresses her in emails. Can the use of an employee’s first name ever reflect a power differential? And: a community choir dire...

Beefed It (Rebroadcast) - 5 September 2022 from 2022-09-05T07:00

The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don't they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you...

What in Tarnation - 29 August 2022 from 2022-08-29T07:00

Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding a...

Forty Eleven Zillion (Rebroadcast) - 22 August 2022 from 2022-08-22T07:00

When there's no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? Some people apply acronyms like YOYO — "you're on your own" — or CORN, for "Clean Ou...

Blue Streak - 15 August 2022 from 2022-08-15T07:00

How long can a newly married woman be called a bride? Does bride apply only as long as her wedding day, or does it extend right on through the couple’s silver anniversary and beyond? Plus, insightf...

Mystery Date (Rebroadcast) - 8 August 2022 from 2022-08-08T07:00

A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child's letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stor...

I Don't Have the Spoons - 1 August 2022 from 2022-08-01T07:00

Whether it's a Rubik's cube or a round of Wordle, why do so many of us find puzzles irresistible? A new book celebrates the allure and psychological benefits of brain teasers. Plus, powerful langua...

Sour Pickle (Rebroadcast) - 25 July 2022 from 2022-07-25T07:00

You know that Yogi Berra quote about how Nobody ever comes here; it's too crowded? Actually, the first person to use this was actress Suzanne Ridgeway, who appeared in several movies with The Three...

Not My Circus (Rebroadcast) - 18 July 2022 from 2022-07-18T07:00

Throwing cheese and shaky cheese are two very different things. In baseball, hard cheese refers to a powerful fastball, and probably comes from a similar-sounding word in Farsi, Urdu, and Hindi. Sh...

Excuse the Hogs - 11 July 2022 from 2022-07-11T07:00

When a teenager went a week without talking as part of a school project, he noticed a surprising side effect: Instead of rehearsing a response to what other people were saying to him, he was focuse...

Scooter Pooting (Rebroadcast) - 4 July 2022 from 2022-07-04T07:00

Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to describe how she feels about her age. And: a ling...

All That and a Bag of Chips - 27 June 2022 from 2022-06-27T07:00

We tend to take the index of a book for granted, but centuries ago, these helpful lists were viewed with suspicion. Some even worried that indexes would harm reading comprehension! A witty new book...

Gold Dance (Rebroadcast) - 20 June 2022 from 2022-06-20T07:00

People who hunt treasure with metal detectors have a lingo all their own. Canslaw means the shreds of aluminum cans left after a lawnmower ran over them. And gold dance? That's the happy jig you do...

By a Long Shot (Rebroadcast) - 13 June 2022 from 2022-06-13T07:00

Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within 10 miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words a...

Familiar Strangers - 6 June 2022 from 2022-06-06T07:00

If you take up texting and social media late in life, there’s a lot to learn! A twenty-something wants advice getting her dad up to speed on memes, Instagram, and animated images. Plus, when you’re...

Word Hoard - 30 May 2022 from 2022-05-30T07:00

Ever wonder what medieval England looked and sounded like? In Old English, the word hord meant “treasure” and your wordhord was the treasure of words locked up inside you. A delightful new book use...

When Pigs Fly (Rebroadcast) - 23 May 2022 from 2022-05-23T07:00

Don’t move my cheese! It’s a phrase middle managers use to talk about adapting to change in the workplace. Plus, the origin story of the name William, and why it’s Guillermo in Spanish. And a five-...

Cool Beans (Rebroadcast) - 16 May 2022 from 2022-05-16T07:00

If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new tongue. But does this milestone mean you’re actually fluent? And a couple’s dispute over the word re...

You Talk Like a Sausage - 9 May 2022 from 2022-05-09T07:00

Do you refer to your dog or cat as “somebody”? As in: When you love somebody that much, you don’t mind if they slobber. In other words, is your pet a somebody or a something? Also, for centuries, t...

Love Bites (Rebroadcast) - 2 May 2022 from 2022-05-02T07:00

The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the high seas. Today it refers to hijacking a piece of legislation. Plus, the language of yoga teache...

Pushing the Envelope - 25 April 2022 from 2022-04-25T07:00

Sure, there’s winter, spring, summer, and fall. But the seasons in between have even more poetic names. In Alaska, greenup describes a sudden, dramatic burst of green after a long, dark winter. And...

Lasagna Hog (Rebroadcast) - 18 April 2022 from 2022-04-18T07:00

Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you’re understood and being insulted. “High-involvement” speakers interrupt or talk along with someone e...

Primary Colors - 11 April 2022 from 2022-04-11T07:00

Centuries ago, monks who took a vow of silence developed their own hand signs, with hundreds of gestures, that are still in use today. Plus, how do speakers of different languages distinguish simil...

Kiss the Cow (Rebroadcast) - 4 April 2022 from 2022-04-04T07:00

An anadrome is a word that forms a whole new word when you spell it backwards. For example, the word “stressed” spelled backwards is “desserts.” Some people’s first names are anadromes. There’s the...

Deep Fried Air - 28 March 2022 from 2022-03-28T07:00

Eels, orts, and Wordle! Sweden awarded its most prestigious literary award to a book about…eels. The Book of Eels reveals the mysterious life cycle of this sea creature and its significance for fam...

No Cap, No Lie (Rebroadcast) - 21 March 2022 from 2022-03-21T07:00

We take our voices for granted, but it’s truly miraculous that we communicate complex thoughts simply by moving our mouths while exhaling. A fascinating new book reveals the science, history, and l...

East Overshoe - 14 March 2022 from 2022-03-14T07:00

Some people work hard to lose their accent in order to fit in. Others may be homesick for the voices they grew up with and try to reclaim them. How can you regain your old accent? Also, a compellin...

Lead on MacDuff (Rebroadcast) - 7 March 2022 from 2022-03-07T08:00

For rock climbers, skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, the word send has taken on a whole new meaning. You might cheer on a fellow snowboarder with Send it, bro! — and being sendy is a really gr...

Herd of Turtles - 28 February 2022 from 2022-02-28T08:00

Some college students are using the word loyalty as a synonym for monogamy. Are the meanings of these words now shifting? Plus, a biologist discovers a new species of bat, then names it after a poe...

Tribble Trouble (Rebroadcast) - 21 February 2022 from 2022-02-21T08:00

In Cockney rhyming slang, apples and pears is a synonym for "stairs," and dustbin lids means kids. Plus, sniglets are clever coinages for things we don't already have words for. Any guesses what in...

Mittens in Moonlight (#1586) from 2022-02-14T08:00

Need a slang term that can replace just about any noun? Try chumpie. If you're from Philadelphia, you may already know this handy placeholder word. And there's Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manh...

Ring-Tailed Tooter (Rebroadcast) - 7 February 2022 from 2022-02-07T08:00

National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you trul...

What the Blazes (Rebroadcast) - 31 January 2022 from 2022-01-31T08:00

What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distr...

Mudlarking (Rebroadcast) - 24 January 2022 from 2022-01-24T08:01

Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks stroll the surface searching for objects that have found their way into the river over the centuries, ...

Snaggletooth (Rebroadcast) - 3 January 2021 from 2022-01-03T08:01

Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley th...

Like a Boiled Owl (Rebroadcast) - 27 December 2021 from 2021-12-27T08:01

What’s it like to hike the Pacific Crest Trail all the way from Mexico to Canada? You’ll end up with sore muscles and blisters, and great stories to tell. Along the way, you’ll also pick up some sl...

Your Two Cents (Rebroadcast) - 20 December 2021 from 2021-12-20T07:59

Astronauts returning from space say they experience what's called the overview effect, a new understanding of the fragility of our planet and our need to reflect on what humans all share as a speci...

Deviled Eggs (Rebroadcast) - 6 December 2021 from 2021-12-06T08:01

Some TV commercials launch catchphrases that stick around long after the original ads. The exclamation Good stuff, Maynard! is still a compliment almost 40 years after it was used in a commercial f...

Good Vibrations (Rebroadcast) - 29 November 2021 from 2021-11-29T08:01

Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the ...

Mystery Drawer (Rebroadcast) - 15 November 2021 from 2021-11-15T08:02

Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange assignment: find a monarch caterpillar. The result...

Sock it to Me (Rebroadcast) - 1 November 2021 from 2021-11-01T06:59

In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, base...

Moon Palace (Rebroadcast) - 18 October 2021 from 2021-10-18T06:59

What happens in a classroom of refugee and immigrant youngsters learning English? Their fresh approach to language can result in remarkable poetry — some of which is collected in the anthology Engl...

Cherry Bombs (Rebroadcast) - 4 October 2021 from 2021-10-04T06:59

An ornithologist says there’s a growing movement to change the name of a pink-footed bird currently called the flesh-footed shearwater. The movement reflects a growing understanding that using fles...

Navel Gazing (Rebroadcast) - 27 September 2021 from 2021-09-27T06:59

In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city's youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One o...

Yak Shaving (Rebroadcast) - 20 September 2021 from 2021-09-20T06:59

There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little seven-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding — and all in Latin. A new book argues that this rigorous curriculum act...

Today I Learned (#1578) - 6 September 2021 from 2021-09-06T06:59

Youngsters want to know: What's the difference between barely and nearly, and what's so clean about a whistle, anyway? Plus, adults recount some misunderstandings from when they were knee-high to a...

Singing Sand (Rebroadcast) - 30 August 2021 from 2021-08-30T06:59

Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means “money.” In the same way, cat beer isn’t alcoholic — some people use cat beer as a joking term for “milk.” And ...

Baby's Breath (Rebroadcast) - 16 August 2021 from 2021-08-16T06:59

Have you ever googled your own name and found someone else who goes by the very same moniker? There’s a word for that: googleganger. Plus, the language of hobbyists and enthusiasts: If you’re a bee...

Hog On Ice (Rebroadcast) - 2 August 2021 from 2021-08-02T06:59

One secret to writing well is … there is no secret! There’s no substitute for simply sitting down day after day to practice the craft and learn from your mistakes. Plus, childhood mixups around wor...

Scooter Pooting - 26 July 2021 from 2021-07-26T06:59

Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to describe how she feels about her age. And: a ling...

Goody Two-Shoes (Rebroadcast) - 19 July 2021 from 2021-07-19T06:59

She sells seashells by the seashore. Who is the she in this tongue twister? Some claim it's the young Mary Aning, who went on to become a famous 19th-century British paleontologist. Dubious perhaps...

Gold Dance - 12 July 2021 from 2021-07-12T06:59

Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org/contact. Be a part of the show: call...

Join us for our video cookout July 14th! from 2021-07-06T22:45:52

Join Martha and Grant of A Way with Words, the public radio show and podcast about language, for a live video Q&A and chat on Wednesday, July 14, at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific. They're burstin...

Baby Blues (Rebroadcast) - 5 July 2021 from 2021-07-05T06:59

A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn't about "suffering." It's from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: milita...

By a Long Shot - 28 June 2021 from 2021-06-28T06:59

Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within 10 miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words a...

Walkie Talkie (Rebroadcast) - 21 June 2021 from 2021-06-21T06:59

One of the most powerful words you'll ever hear -- and one of the most poignant -- isn't in dictionaries yet. But it probably will be one day. The word is endling, and it means "the last surviving ...

When Pigs Fly - 14 June 2021 from 2021-06-14T06:59

Don't move my cheese! It's a phrase middle managers use to talk about adapting to change in the workplace. It comes from a popular 1990s business book featuring a fable about mice and tiny humans i...

Tiger Tail (Rebroadcast) - 7 June 2021 from 2021-06-07T06:59

You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojala is especially handy for expressing hopefulness and derives from Arabic for "God wil...

Tiger Tail (Rebroadcast) - 7 June 2021 from 2021-06-07T06:59

You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojala is especially handy for expressing hopefulness and derives from Arabic for "God wil...

Cool Beans - 31 May 2021 from 2021-05-31T06:59

If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new tongue. But does this milestone mean you're actually fluent? And a couple's dispute over the word re...

Clever Clogs (Rebroadcast) - 24 May 2021 from 2021-05-24T06:59

Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won't find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers in the book Home Ground: A Guide to the American L...

Love Bites - 17 May 2021 from 2021-05-17T06:59

The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the high seas. Today it refers to hijacking a piece of legislation. Plus, the language of yoga teache...

Little Shavers (Rebroadcast) - 10 May 2021 from 2021-05-10T07:38:55

The word "hipster" might seem recent, but it actually originated in the 1930s, and referred to jazz aficionados who were in the know about the best nightclubs and cool music. Speaking of music, a p...

Lasagna Hog - 3 May 2021 from 2021-05-03T06:59

Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you're understood and being insulted. "High involvement" speakers interrupt or talk along with someone e...

Bug in Your Ear (Rebroadcast) - 26 April 2021 from 2021-04-26T06:59

Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? No, Not at all. The answer lies with politics and c...

Kiss the Cow - 19 April 2021 from 2021-04-19T06:59

An anadrome is a word that forms a whole new word when you spell it backwards. For example, the word "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts." Some people's first names are actually anadromes. Th...

The Black Dog (Rebroadcast) - 12 April 2021 from 2021-04-12T06:59

Books were rare treasures in the Middle Ages, painstakingly copied out by hand. So how to protect them from theft? Scribes sometimes added a curse to the first page of those books that was supposed...

No Cap, No Lie - 5 April 2021 from 2021-04-05T06:59

We take our voices for granted, but it's truly miraculous that we communicate complex thoughts simply by moving our mouths while exhaling. A fascinating new book reveals the science, history, and l...

Beside Myself (Rebroadcast) - 29 March 2021 from 2021-03-29T06:59

The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the vocabulary of the early 20th century? It may be j...

Lead on, Macduff! (#1565) from 2021-03-22T06:59

For rock climbers, skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, the word "send" has a whole new meaning. You might cheer on a fellow snowboarder with "Send it, bro!" -- and being "sendy" is a really grea...

Skookum (Rebroadcast) - 15 March 2021 from 2021-03-15T06:59

So you've long dreamed of writing fiction, but don't know where to begin? There are lots of ways to get started -- creative writing classes, local writing groups, and books with prompts to get you ...

Tribble Trouble - 8 March 2021 from 2021-03-07T20:00

In Cockney rhyming slang, apples and pears is a synonym for "stairs," and dustbin lids means kids. Plus, sniglets are clever coinages for things we don't already have words for. Any guesses what in...

Life of Riley (Rebroadcast) - 1 March 2021 from 2021-03-01T07:59

Unwrap the name of a candy bar, and you just might find a story inside. For instance, one chewy treat found in many a checkout lane is named after a family's beloved horse. And: 50 years ago in the...

Ring-Tailed Tooter - 22 February 2021 from 2021-02-22T07:59

National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you trul...

Off the Turnip Truck (Rebroadcast) - 15 February 2021 from 2021-02-15T07:59

It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with Ahoy! but Thomas Edison was p...

What the Blazes? - 8 February 2021 from 2021-02-08T07:59

What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance Novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are . . . dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and d...

Loaded for Bear (Rebroadcast) - 2 February 2021 from 2021-02-01T07:59

One way to make your new business look trendy is to use two nouns separated by an ampersand, like Peach&Creature . . . or Rainstorm&Egg. A tongue-in-cheek website will generate names like that for ...

Mudlarking - 25 January 2021 from 2021-01-25T07:59

Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks stroll the surface searching for objects that have found their way into the river over the centuries -...

Mrs. Astor's Horse (Rebroadcast) - 18 January 2021 from 2021-01-18T07:59

"What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like a cat, but isn't a cat?" Answer: a kitten! A 1948 children's joke book has lots of these to share with kids. Plus: an easy explanation for ...

Snaggletooth - 11 January 2021 from 2021-01-11T07:59

Many of us struggled with the Old English poem "Beowulf" in high school. But what if you could actually hear "Beowulf" in the English of today? There's a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley th...

Snaggletooth - 11 January 2021 from 2021-01-11T07:59

Many of us struggled with the Old English poem "Beowulf" in high school. But what if you could actually hear "Beowulf" in the English of today? There's a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley th...

At First Blush (Rebroadcast) - 4 January 2021 from 2021-01-04T07:59

Book recommendations and the art of apology. Martha and Grant share some good reads, including an opinionated romp through English grammar, a Spanish-language adventure novel, an account of 19th-ce...

Gift Horse (Rebroadcast) - 28 December 2020 from 2020-12-28T07:59

The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop, or a medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you're close to another dimension of space and time. There's a term for such l...

Like a Boiled Owl - 21 December 2020 from 2020-12-21T07:59

What's it like to hike the Pacific Crest Trail all the way from Mexico to Canada? You'll end up with sore muscles and blisters, and great stories to tell. Along the way, you'll also pick up some sl...

Had the Radish (Rebroadcast) - 14 December 2020 from 2020-12-14T07:59

This week on A Way with Words: Your first name is very personal, but what if you don't like it? For some people, changing their name works out great, but for others, it may create more problems tha...

Your Two Cents - 7 December 2020 from 2020-12-07T07:59

Astronauts returning from space say they experience what's called the overview effect, a new understanding of the fragility of our planet and our need to reflect on what humans all share as a speci...

Abso Bloomin Lutely (Rebroadcast) - 30 November 2020 from 2020-11-30T07:59

The autocomplete function on your phone comes in handy, of course. But is it changing the way we write and how linguists study language? Also, suppose you could invite any two authors, living or de...

Niblings and Nieflings (Rebroadcast) - 23 November 2020 from 2020-11-23T07:59

How do actors bring Shakespeare's lines to life so that modern audiences immediately understand the text? One way is to emphasize the names of people and places at certain points. That technique is...

Sock it to Me - 16 November 2020 from 2020-11-16T07:59

In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, base...

Kite in a Phonebooth (Rebroadcast) - 9 November 2020 from 2020-11-09T07:59

Stunt performers in movies have their own jargon for talking about their dangerous work. They refer to a stunt, for example, as a gag. Across the country in Brooklyn, the slang term brick means "co...

Strawberry Moon (Rebroadcast) - 2 November 2020 from 2020-11-02T07:59

We asked for your thoughts about whether cursive writing should be taught in schools -- and you replied with a resounding "Yes!" Here's why: Cursive helps develop fine motor skills, improves mental...

Good Vibrations - 26 October 2020 from 2020-10-26T06:59

Asthenosphere, a geologist's term for the molten layer beneath the earth's crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Plus: What the ...

Spill The Tea (Rebroadcast) - 19 October 2020 from 2020-10-19T06:59

If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don't want you tipping over a hot beverage. Originally, the tea here was the letter T, as in truth. To spill the T means to pass along truthful ...

Mystery Drawer - 12 October 2020 from 2020-10-12T06:59

Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange assignment: find a monarch caterpillar. The result...

Dirty Laundry (Rebroadcast) - 5 October 2020 from 2020-10-05T06:59

When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In some places, you call those bedclothes and blankets a pallet. This word comes from an old term for...

Keep Your Powder Dry (Rebroadcast) - 28 September 2020 from 2020-09-28T07:47:18

Jacuzzi and silhouette are eponyms – that is, they derive from the names of people. An Italian immigrant to California invented the bubbly hot tub called a jacuzzi. And the word silhouette commemor...

One Armed Paper Hanger (Rebroadcast) - 21 September 2020 from 2020-09-21T06:59

The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time better spent studying other things? A handwritt...

Deviled Eggs - 14 September 2020 from 2020-09-14T06:59

Some TV commercials launch catchphrases that stick around long after the original ads. The exclamation Good stuff, Maynard! is still a compliment almost 40 years after it was used in a commercial f...

Hair On Your Tongue (Rebroadcast) - 7 September 2020 from 2020-09-07T06:59

If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling experience is so common among polyglots that linguists...

Play It By Ear - 31 August 2020 from 2020-08-31T06:59

How does social context shape our perception of language? When hiking the Appalachian Trail, a young woman from Wyoming found that fellow hikers assumed she was from another country, not only becau...

Train of Thought (Rebroadcast) - 24 August 2020 from 2020-08-24T06:59

Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and the root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, though, some of which may surprise you: the powers that be and bott...

Moon Palace - 17 August 2020 from 2020-08-17T06:59

What happens in a classroom of refugee and immigrant youngsters learning English? Their fresh approach to language can result in remarkable poetry -- some of which is collected in the anthology Eng...

Space Cadet (Rebroadcast) - 10 August 2020 from 2020-08-10T06:59

We have books that should be on every language lover's wish list, plus a couple of recommendations for history buffs. Plus: how did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer...

Howling Fantods (Rebroadcast) - 3 August 2020 from 2020-08-03T06:59

Are there words and phrases that you misunderstood for an embarrassingly long time? Maybe you thought that money laundering literally meant washing drug-laced dollar bills, or that AM radio station...

Cherry Bombs (#1551) from 2020-07-27T06:59

An ornithologist says there's a growing movement to change the name of a pink-footed bird currently called the flesh-footed shearwater. The movement reflects a growing understanding that using fles...

Bottled Sunshine (Rebroadcast) - 20 July 2020 from 2020-07-20T06:59

If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term was adapted into English from Dutch, and means "an L-shaped tear in a piece of fabric." And: What's your r...

Queen Bee - 13 July 2020 from 2020-07-13T06:59

An artist asks strangers to write haiku about the pandemic, and gets back poetic, poignant glimpses of life under lockdown. Plus, the new book Queenspotting features the colorful language of beekee...

Cootie Shot (Rebroadcast) - 6 July 2020 from 2020-07-06T06:59

Perfect sentences and slang that tickles your mind. A new book of writing advice says that a good sentence "imposes a logic on the world's weirdness" and pares away options for meaning, word by wor...

Navel Gazing - 29 June 2020 from 2020-06-29T06:59

In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One o...

Ding Ding Man (Rebroadcast) - 22 June 2020 from 2020-06-22T06:59

In 1803, a shy British pharmacist wrote a pamphlet that made him a reluctant celebrity. The reason? He proposed a revolutionary new system for classifying clouds--with Latin names we still use toda...

Take Tea for the Fever (Rebroadcast) - 15 June 2020 from 2020-06-15T06:59

Silence comes in lots of different forms. In fact, says writer Paul Goodman, there are several kinds: There's the noisy silence of "resentment and self-recrimination," and the helpful, participator...

Yak Shaving - 8 June 2020 from 2020-06-08T06:59

There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little 7-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding -- and all in Latin. A new book argues that this rigorous curriculum actual...

Sun Dog (Rebroadcast) - 1 June 2020 from 2020-06-01T06:59

A clever pun can make the difference between a so-so phrase and a memorable one. The phrase "the last straw" refers to an old fable about too many items in a load, but it takes on a whole new meani...

Oh For Cute (Rebroadcast) - 25 May 2020 from 2020-05-25T06:59

A stereotype is a preconceived notion about a person or group. Originally, though, the word stereotype referring to a printing device used to produce lots of identical copies. If you suspect there'...

Coinkydink (Rebroadcast) - 18 May 2020 from 2020-05-18T06:59

Sometimes it's a challenge to give a book a chance: How many pages should you read before deciding it's not worth your time? There's a new formula to help with that decision -- and it's all based o...

Up Your Alley (Rebroadcast) - 11 May 2020 from 2020-05-11T06:59

Martha and Grant have book recommendations, including a collection of short stories inspired by dictionaries, and a techno-thriller for teens. Or, how about novels with an upbeat message? Publisher...

Piping Hot (Rebroadcast) - 4 May 2020 from 2020-05-04T06:59

The game of baseball has always inspired colorful commentary. Sometimes that means using familiar words in unfamiliar ways. The word "stuff," for example, can refer to a pitcher's repertoire, or to...

Mimeographs and Dittos (Rebroadcast) - 27 April 2020 from 2020-04-27T06:59

How colors got their names, and a strange way to write. The terms "blue" and "orange" arrived in English via French, so why didn't we also adapt the French for black and white? Plus, not every exam...

Cabin Fever - 20 April 2020 from 2020-04-20T06:59

The adjectives canine and feline refer to dogs and cats. But how does English address other groups of animals? Plus, cabin fever has been around much longer than the current pandemic. That restless...

Chopped Liver (Rebroadcast) - 13 April 2020 from 2020-04-13T06:59

There's a proverb that goes "Beloved children have many names." That's at least as true when it comes to the names we give our pets. "Fluffy" becomes "Fluffers" becomes "FluffFace" becomes "Fluffer...

Singing Sand - 6 April 2020 from 2020-04-05T22:05:36

Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means "money." In the same way, cat beer isn't alcoholic -- some people use cat beer as a joking term for "milk." And...

Truth and Beauty (Rebroadcast) from 2020-03-30T06:59

Vocabulary that trickles down from the top of the world. Malamute, kayak, and parka are just some of the words that have found their way into English from the language of indigenous people in north...

Baby's Breath - 23 March 2020 from 2020-03-23T06:59

Have you ever googled your own name and found someone else who goes by the very same moniker? There's a word for that: googleganger. Plus, the language of hobbyists and enthusiasts: If you're a bee...

Dessert Stomach - 16 March 2020 from 2020-03-16T06:59

Funny cat videos and cute online photos inspire equally adorable slang terms we use to talk about them. When a cat leaves its tongue out, that's a blep. A boop is a gentle tap on its nose. Also, wh...

Hog on Ice - 9 March 2020 from 2020-03-09T06:59

One secret to writing well is . . . there is no secret! There's no substitute for simply sitting down day after day to practice the craft and learn from your mistakes. Plus, childhood mixups around...

Brollies and Bumbershoots (Rebroadcast) - 2 March 2020 from 2020-03-02T07:59

If you think they refer to umbrellas as bumbershoots in the UK, think again. The word bumbershoot actually originated in the United States! In Britain, it's a brolly. Plus, a man who works a ski re...

Goody Two-Shoes - 24 February 2020 from 2020-02-24T07:59

She sells seashells by the seashore. Who is the she in this tongue twister? Some claim it's the young Mary Aning, who went on to become a famous 19th-century British paleontologist. Dubious perhaps...

Cool Your Soup (Rebroadcast) - 17 February 2020 from 2020-02-17T07:59

According to Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, it's important to master the basics of writing, but there comes a time when you have to strike out on your own and teach yourself. Also, some Spanish idi...

Baby Blues - 10 February 2020 from 2020-02-10T07:59

A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn't about "suffering." It's from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: milita...

Put on the Dog (Rebroadcast) - 3 February 2020 from 2020-02-03T07:59

Ever wonder whatever happened to responding to "Thank you" with the words "You're welcome"? A listener asks why so many radio interviews end with the interviewee thanking the host. Also, we all kne...

Walkie Talkie - 27 January 2020 from 2020-01-27T07:59

One of the most powerful words you'll ever hear -- and one of the most poignant -- isn't in dictionaries yet. But it probably will be one day. The word is endling, and it means "the last surviving ...

Tiger Tail - 20 January 2020 from 2020-01-20T07:59

You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojala is especially handy for expressing hopefulness and derives from Arabic for "God wil...

Gee and Haw (Rebroadcast) - 13 January 2020 from 2020-01-13T07:59

The highly specialized vocabulary of people who work outdoors, like farmers and fishermen, can bring us closer to the natural world. Also, a woman who trains sled dogs discusses the words she uses ...

Gung Ho (Rebroadcast) - 6 January 2020 from 2020-01-06T07:59

The stories behind symbols and expressions around the world. The peace symbol popular during 1960's antiwar demonstrations had been around for decades.It originated in the antinuclear movement in t...

Crusticles and Fenderbergs (Rebroadcast) - 30 December 2019 from 2019-12-30T07:59

A second-generation Filipino-American finds that when he speaks English, his personality is firm, direct, and matter-of-fact. But when he speaks with family members in Tagalog, he feels more soft-s...

Clever Clogs - 23 December 2019 from 2019-12-23T07:59

Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won't find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers in the book Home Ground: A Guide to the American L...

Son of a gun! - a special minicast from Grant from 2019-12-19T08:10

Today I shoot holes in a story that just won’t die that about "son of a gun" and babies born aboard sailing ships.  Podcast listeners like you will make the show possible in 2020. Go to https://wa...

Little Shavers - 16 December 2019 from 2019-12-16T07:59

The word "hipster" might seem recent, but it actually originated in the 1930s, and referred to jazz aficionados who were in the know about the best nightclubs and cool music. Speaking of music, a p...

Electrifying! - a special minicast from Martha from 2019-12-12T08:10

Martha here with a special minicast of A Way with Words. Today I want to tell you an electrifying story — and make a request for you to support A Way with Words. https://www.waywordradio.org/donat...

Bug in Your Ear - 9 December 2019 from 2019-12-09T07:59

Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? No, Not at all. The answer lies with politics and c...

Bun in the Oven (Rebroadcast) - 1 December 2019 from 2019-12-02T15:10:23

Family words, and words about being in a family way. How many different ways ARE there to say you have a baby on the way? Sure, you can say you're pregnant, or that you're great with child. But the...

The Black Dog - 25 November 2019 from 2019-11-25T07:59

Books were rare treasures in the Middle Ages, painstakingly copied out by hand. So how to protect them from theft? Scribes sometimes added a curse to the first page of those books that was supposed...

Flying Pickle (Rebroadcast) - 18 November 2019 from 2019-11-18T07:59

How would you like to be welcomed to married life by friends and neighbors descending on your home for a noisy celebration, tearing off the labels of all your canned foods and scattering cornflakes...

The Last Straw (Rebroadcast) - 11 November 2019 from 2019-11-11T07:59

Books for word lovers, plus the stories behind some familiar terms. Want a gift for your favorite bibliophile? Martha and Grant have recommendations, from a collection of curious words to some fun ...

Beside Myself - 4 November 2019 from 2019-11-04T07:59

The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the vocabulary of the early 20th century? It may be j...

Hidden Treasures (Rebroadcast) - 28 October 2019 from 2019-10-28T06:59

Civil War letters and the opposite of prejudice. A new online archive of Civil War letters offers a vivid portrait of the everyday lives of enlisted men. These soldiers lacked formal education, so ...

Skookum - 21 October 2019 from 2019-10-21T06:59

So you've long dreamed of writing fiction, but don't know where to begin? There are lots of ways to get started -- creative writing classes, local writing groups, and books with prompts to get you ...

Butterflies in the Stomach (Rebroadcast) - 14 October 2019 from 2019-10-14T15:57:16

If you're not using a dictionary to look up puzzling words as you read them, you're missing out on a whole other level of enjoyment. Also, when you're cleaning house, why not clean like there's lit...

Life of Riley - 7 October 2019 from 2019-10-07T06:59

Unwrap the name of a candy bar, and you just might find a story inside. For instance, one chewy treat found in many a checkout lane is named after a family's beloved horse. And: 50 years ago in the...

Catch You on the Flip Side (Rebroadcast) - 30 September 2019 from 2019-09-30T06:59

Some countries have strict laws about naming babies. New Zealand authorities, for example, denied a request to name some twins Fish and Chips.  Plus, Halley's Comet seen centuries before English as...

Off the Turnip Truck - 23 September 2019 from 2019-09-23T06:59

It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with Ahoy! but Thomas Edison was p...

Loaded For Bear - 16 September 2019 from 2019-09-16T06:59

One way to make your new business look trendy is to use two nouns separated by an ampersand, like Peach&Creature . . . or Rainstorm&Egg. A tongue-in-cheek website will generate names like that for ...

All Verklempt (Rebroadcast) - 9 September 2019 from 2019-09-09T06:59

SUMMARY Of all the letters in the alphabet, which two or three are your favorites? If your short list includes one or more of your initials, that's no accident. Psychological research shows we're ...

Hunk Waffle (Rebroadcast) - 2 September 2019 from 2019-09-03T06:59

Decisions by dictionary editors, wacky wordplay, and Walt Whitman's soaring verse.  How do lexicographers decide which historical figures deserve a mention or perhaps even an illustration in the di...

Pants On Fire (Rebroadcast) - 26 August 2019 from 2019-08-26T06:59

A highly anticipated children's book and the epic history behind a familiar vegetable. Fans of illustrator Maurice Sendak are eagerly awaiting the publication of a newly discovered manuscript by th...

Frozen Rope (Rebroadcast) - 19 August 2019 from 2019-08-19T06:59

Where would you find a sports commentator talking about high cheese and ducks on a pond? Here's a hint: both terms are part of what make the language of America’s pastime so colorful. And: a govern...

Flop Sweat (Rebroadcast) - 12 August 2019 from 2019-08-12T06:59

Gerrymandering is the practice of redistricting to tip the political scales. Originally, though, this strategy was called "GARY-mandering" with a hard "g." But why? And: Mark Twain and Helen Keller...

Smile Belt (Rebroadcast) - 5 August 2019 from 2019-08-05T06:59

The only time you'll ever see the sun's outer atmosphere is during a full solar eclipse, when sun itself is completely covered. That hazy ring is called the corona, from the Latin word for "crown" ...

Mrs. Astor's Horse - 29 July 2019 from 2019-07-29T06:59

"What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like a cat, but isn't a cat?" Answer: a kitten! A 1948 children's joke book has lots of these to share with kids. Plus: an easy explanation for ...

A Shoo-In (Rebroadcast) - 22 July 2019 from 2019-07-22T06:59

This week it’s butterflies, belly flowers, plot bunnies, foxes, and cuckoos. Also, writing advice from Mark Twain and a wonderful bit of prose from Sara Pennypacker's book Pax. And are there word o...

At First Blush - 15 July 2019 from 2019-07-15T06:59

Book recommendations and the art of apology. Martha and Grant share some good reads, including an opinionated romp through English grammar, a Spanish-language adventure novel, an account of 19th-ce...

Noon Of Night (Rebroadcast) - 8 July 2019 from 2019-07-08T06:59

Pranks, cranks, and chips. As a kid, you may have played that game where you phone someone to say, "Is your refrigerator running? Then you better go catch it!" What's the term for that kind of prac...

Gift Horse - 1 July 2019 from 2019-07-01T06:59

The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop, or a medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you're close to another dimension of space and time. There's a term for such l...

Naked as a Jaybird (Rebroadcast) - 24 June 2019 from 2019-06-24T06:59

What's the best way for someone busy to learn lots of new words quickly for a test like the GRE? Looking up their origins can help. Or record yourself reading the words and definitions and play the...

Had the Radish - 17 June 2019 from 2019-06-17T06:59

This week on A Way with Words: Your first name is very personal, but what if you don't like it? For some people, changing their name works out great, but for others, it may create more problems tha...

Hot Dog, Cold Turkey (Rebroadcast) - 10 June 2019 from 2019-06-10T06:59

Why do we call a frankfurter a "hot dog"? It seems an unsettling 19th-century rumor is to blame. Also, if someone quits something abruptly, why do we say they quit "cold turkey"? This term's roots ...

Abso-Bloomin-Lutely - 3 June 2019 from 2019-06-03T06:59

The autocomplete function on your phone comes in handy, of course. But is it changing the way we write and how linguists study language? Also, suppose you could invite any two authors, living or de...

Skedaddle (Rebroadcast) - 27 May 2019 from 2019-05-27T06:59

The months of September, October, November, and December take their names from Latin words meaning "seven," "eight," "nine," and "ten." So why don't their names correspond to where they fall in the...

Coast is Clear (Rebroadcast) - 20 May 2019 from 2019-05-20T06:59

In the military, if you've "lost the bubble," then you can't find your bearings. The term first referred to calibrating the position of aircraft and submarines. And the phrase "the coast is clear" ...

Niblings and Nieflings - 13 May 2019 from 2019-05-13T13:03:46

How do actors bring Shakespeare's lines to life so that modern audiences immediately understand the text? One way is to emphasize the names of people and places at certain points. That technique is...

Gone to Seed (Rebroadcast) - 6 May 2019 from 2019-05-06T06:59

Restaurant jargon, military slang, and modern Greek turns of phrase. Some restaurants now advertise that they sell "clean" sandwiches. But that doesn't mean they're condiment-free or the lettuce go...

Kite in a Phonebooth - 29 April 2019 from 2019-04-29T06:59

Stunt performers in movies have their own jargon for talking about their dangerous work. They refer to a stunt, for example, as a gag. Across the country in Brooklyn, the slang term brick means "co...

Hell's Half Acre (Rebroadcast) - 22 April 2019 from 2019-04-22T06:59

Hundreds of years ago, the word girl didn't necessarily mean a female child. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the term "girl" could refer to a child of either sex. Only later did its meaning become ...

Steamed Bun (Rebroadcast) - 15 April 2019 from 2019-04-15T06:59

This week on "A Way with Words”: The language we use to cover up our age, and covering up a secret message. Do you ever find yourself less-than-specific about your age? Listeners share some of thei...

Kids Are Asking - 11 April 2019 from 2019-04-11T22:44:29

Questions from young listeners and conversations about everything from shifting slang to a bizarre cooking technique. Kids ask about how to talk about finding information on the internet, how tarta...

Strawberry Moon - 8 April 2019 from 2019-04-08T06:59

We asked for your thoughts about whether cursive writing should be taught in schools -- and you replied with a resounding "Yes!" Here's why: Cursive helps develop fine motor skills, improves mental...

Charismatic Megafauna (Rebroadcast) - 1 April 2019 from 2019-04-01T06:59

Choosing language that helps resolve interpersonal conflict. Sometimes a question is really just a veiled form of criticism. Understanding the difference between "ask culture" and "guess culture" c...

Spill the Tea - 25 March 2019 from 2019-03-25T06:59

If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don't want you tipping over a hot beverage. Originally, the tea here was the letter T, as in truth. To spill the T means to pass along truthful ...

Knuckle Down (Rebroadcast) - 18 March 2019 from 2019-03-18T06:59

A wingnut is a handy, stabilizing piece of hardware. So why is it a pejorative term for those of a certain political persuasion? Also, is there something wrong with the phrase "committed suicide"? ...

Dirty Laundry - 11 March 2019 from 2019-03-11T06:59

When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In some places, you call those bedclothes and blankets a pallet. This word comes from an old term for...

Lie Like A Rug (Rebroadcast) - 4 March 2019 from 2019-03-04T07:59

The words we choose can change attitudes--and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He insists that using words like "leader" and "fo...

Keep Your Powder Dry - 25 February 2019 from 2019-02-25T07:59

Jacuzzi and silhouette are eponyms – that is, they derive from the names of people. An Italian immigrant to California invented the bubbly hot tub called a jacuzzi. And the word silhouette commemor...

One Armed Paper Hanger - 18 February 2019 from 2019-02-18T07:59

The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time better spent studying other things? A handwritt...

Hair on Your Tongue - 11 February 2019 from 2019-02-11T07:59

If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling experience is so common among polyglots that linguists...

Train of Thought - 4 February 2019 from 2019-02-04T07:59

Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and the root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, though, some of which may surprise you: the powers that be and bott...

Colonial English - 28 January 2019 from 2019-01-28T07:59

The anatomy of effective prose, and the poetry of anatomy. Ever wonder what it'd be like to audit a class taught by a famous writer? A graduate student's essay offers a taste of a semester studying...

Pig Latin (Rebroadcast) - 21 January 2019 from 2019-01-21T07:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Grant and Martha discuss the L-word--or two L-words, actually: liberal and libertarian. They reflect different political philosophies, so why do they look so simila...

Whistle in the Dark (Rebroadcast) - 14 January 2019 from 2019-01-14T07:59

Echoes of the Greatest Generation, and a tasty bite of history. The language and melodies of military marching songs can connect grown children with their parents who served. Is there a collection ...

Fickle Finger of Fate (Rebroadcast) - 7 January 2019 from 2019-01-07T07:59

Clean cursing for modern times, more about communicating after a brain injury, and 1970's TV lingo with roots in the Second World War. A young woman wants a family-friendly way to describe a statem...

Stars and Garters (Rebroadcast) - 31 December 2018 from 2018-12-31T07:59

Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he's also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like "flummox" and "butterfingers." Also, the life's work of sla...

Space Cadet - 24 December 2018 from 2018-12-24T07:59

We have books that should be on every language lover's wish list, plus a couple of recommendations for history buffs. Plus: how did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer...

Howling Fantods - 17 December 2018 from 2018-12-17T07:59

Are there words and phrases that you misunderstood for an embarrassingly long time? Maybe you thought that money laundering literally meant washing drug-laced dollar bills, or that AM radio station...

Cootie Shot - 10 December 2018 from 2018-12-10T07:59

Perfect sentences and slang that tickles your mind. A new book of writing advice says that a good sentence "imposes a logic on the world's weirdness" and pares away options for meaning, word by wor...

Boss of Me (Rebroadcast) - 3 December 2018 from 2018-12-03T07:59

If you want to be a better writer, try skipping today's bestsellers, and read one from the 1930's instead. Or read something besides fiction in order to find your own metaphors and perspective. Plu...

Spur of the Moment (Rebroadcast) - 26 November 2018 from 2018-11-26T07:59

A caller with a 25-year-old parrot wonders: How much language do birds really understand? Plus, Knock-knock. Who's there? Boo. Well . . .  you can guess the rest. But there was a time when these go...

Bottled Sunshine - 19 November 2018 from 2018-11-19T07:59

If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term was adapted into English from Dutch, and means "an L-shaped tear in a piece of fabric." And: What's your r...

Care Package - 12 November 2018 from 2018-11-12T07:59

Sending someone a care package shows you care, of course. But the first care packages were boxes of food and personal items for survivors of World War II. They were from the Committee for American ...

Hell for Leather (Rebroadcast) - 5 November 2018 from 2018-11-05T07:59

Victorian slang and a modern controversy over language and gender. In the early 1900's, a door-knocker wasn't just what visitors used to announce their arrival, it was a type of beard with a simila...

Ding Ding Man - 29 October 2018 from 2018-10-29T06:59

In 1803, a shy British pharmacist wrote a pamphlet that made him a reluctant celebrity. The reason? He proposed a revolutionary new system for classifying clouds--with Latin names we still use toda...

Take Tea for the Fever - 22 October 2018 from 2018-10-22T14:02:22

Silence comes in lots of different forms. In fact, says writer Paul Goodman, there are several kinds: There's the noisy silence of "resentment and self-recrimination," and the helpful, participator...

Sun Dog - 15 October 2018 from 2018-10-15T06:59

A clever pun can make the difference between a so-so phrase and a memorable one. The phrase "the last straw" refers to an old fable about too many items in a load, but it takes on a whole new meani...

Oh For Cute - 8 October 2018 from 2018-10-08T06:59

A stereotype is a preconceived notion about a person or group. Originally, though, the word stereotype referring to a printing device used to produce lots of identical copies. If you suspect there'...

Coinkydink - 1 October 2018 from 2018-10-01T06:59

Sometimes it's a challenge to give a book a chance: How many pages should you read before deciding it's not worth your time? There's a new formula to help with that decision -- and it's all based o...

Sweet Dreams (Rebroadcast) - 24 September 2018 from 2018-09-24T19:16:40

In deafening workplaces, like sawmills and factories, workers develop their own elaborate sign language to discuss everything from how their weekend went to when the boss is on his way. Plus, Engli...

Gangbusters (Rebroadcast) - 17 September 2018 from 2018-09-17T06:59

Sensuous words and terms of endearment. Think of a beautiful word. Now, is it simply the word's sound that makes it beautiful? Or does its appeal also depend on meaning? Also, pet names for lovers ...

XYZ PDQ (Rebroadcast) - 10 September 2018 from 2018-09-10T06:59

How often do you hear the words campaign and political in the same breath? Oddly enough, 19th-century grammarians railed against using campaign to mean "an electoral contest." Martha and Grant disc...

Hang a Ralph (Rebroadcast) - 3 September 2018 from 2018-09-03T06:59

The names of professional sports teams often have surprising histories -- like the baseball team name inspired by, of all things, trolley-car accidents. Plus, some questions to debate at your next ...

You Bet Your Boots (Rebroadcast) - 27 August 2018 from 2018-08-27T06:59

You may have heard the advice that to build your vocabulary you should read, read, and then read some more--and make sure to include a wide variety of publications. But what if you just don't have ...

Pink Slip (Rebroadcast) - 20 August 2018 from 2018-08-20T06:59

This week on "A Way with Words": The language of political speech. Politicians have to repeat themselves so often that they naturally develop a repertoire of stock phrases to fall back on. But is t...

Criss Cross Applesauce (Rebroadcast) - 13 August 2018 from 2018-08-13T06:59

How do languages change and grow? Does every language acquire new words in the same way? Martha and Grant focus on how that process happens in English and Spanish. Plus, the stories behind the Span...

Whistle Pig (Rebroadcast) - 6 August 2018 from 2018-08-06T06:59

The stories behind slang, political and otherwise. The dated term "jingoism" denotes a kind of belligerent nationalism. But the word's roots lie in an old English drinking-house song that was popul...

Up Your Alley - 30 July 2018 from 2018-07-30T06:59

Martha and Grant have book recommendations, including a collection of short stories inspired by dictionaries, and a techno-thriller for teens. Or, how about novels with an upbeat message? Publisher...

Piping Hot - 23 July 2018 from 2018-07-23T06:59

The game of baseball has always inspired colorful commentary. Sometimes that means using familiar words in unfamiliar ways. The word "stuff," for example, can refer to a pitcher's repertoire, or to...

Copacetic (Rebroadcast) - 16 July 2018 from 2018-07-16T06:59

Brand names, children's games, and the etiquette of phone conversations. Those clever plastic PEZ dispensers come in all shapes and sizes -- but where did the word PEZ come from? The popular candy'...

Mustard on It (Rebroadcast) - 9 July 2018 from 2018-07-09T06:59

When does a word's past make it too sensitive to use in the present? In contra dancing, there's a particular move that dancers traditionally call a gypsy. But there's a growing recognition that man...

Proof in the Pudding (Rebroadcast) - 2 July 2018 from 2018-07-02T06:59

Have you ever offered to foster a dog or cat, but wound up adopting instead? There's an alliterative term for that. And when you're on the job, do niceties like "Yes, ma'am" and "No, sir" make you ...

We have an attitude — 27 June 2018 from 2018-06-27T07:01

It’s a positive attitude. It’s who we really are. Go to https://waywordradio.org/mission . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mimeographs and Dittos - 25 June 2018 from 2018-06-25T06:59

How colors got their names, and a strange way to write. The terms "blue" and "orange" arrived in English via French, so why didn't we also adapt the French for black and white? Plus, not every exam...

Spicy Jambalaya - 18 June 2018 from 2018-06-18T06:59

Teen slang from the South, and food words that are tricky to pronounce. High schoolers in Huntsville, Alabama, give Martha and Grant an earful about their slang -- including a term particular to th...

A request from Martha — 13 June 2018 from 2018-06-13T07:01

Have you ever wanted to know who we really are? How Grant and I really see ourselves? Go to https://waywordradio.org/mission . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chopped Liver — 11 June 2018 from 2018-06-11T06:59

There's a proverb that goes "Beloved children have many names." That's at least as true when it comes to the names we give our pets. "Fluffy" becomes "Fluffers" becomes "FluffFace" becomes "Fluffer...

Busted Melon (Rebroadcast) - 4 June 2018 from 2018-06-04T06:59

When writing textbooks about slavery, which words best reflect its cold, hard reality? Some historians are dropping the word "slave" in favor of terms like "enslaved person" and "captive," arguing ...

Truth and Beauty - 28 May 2018 from 2018-05-28T06:59

Vocabulary that trickles down from the top of the world. Malamute, kayak, and parka are just some of the words that have found their way into English from the language of indigenous people in north...

Jump Steady (Rebroadcast) - 21 May 2018 from 2018-05-21T06:59

Secret codes, ciphers, and telegrams. It used to be that in order to transmit information during wartime, various industries encoded their messages letter by letter with an elaborate system--much l...

Dessert Stomach - 14 May 2018 from 2018-05-14T06:59

Funny cat videos and cute online photos inspire equally adorable slang terms we use to talk about them. When a cat leaves its tongue out, that's a blep. A boop is a gentle tap on its nose. Also, wh...

Scat Cat (Rebroadcast) - 7 May 2018 from 2018-05-07T06:59

The dilemma continues over how to spell dilemma! Grant and Martha try to suss out the backstory of why some people spell that word with an "n." At lot of them, it seems, went to Catholic school. Ma...

Far Out, Man - 30 April 2018 from 2018-04-30T06:59

An Ohio community is divided over the name of the local high school's mascot. For years, their teams have been called the Redskins. Is that name derogatory -- or does it honor the history of Native...

Beat the Band (Rebroadcast) - 23 April 2018 from 2018-04-24T15:09:48

This week on "A Way with Words": This week on "A Way with Words": Can language change bad behavior in crowded places? The Irish Railway system has launched ad campaign to encourage passengers to be...

Brollies and Bumbershoots - 16 April 2018 from 2018-04-16T06:59

If you think they refer to umbrellas as bumbershoots in the UK, think again. The word bumbershoot actually originated in the United States! In Britain, it's a brolly. Plus, a man who works a ski re...

Cool Your Soup - 9 April 2018 from 2018-04-09T06:59

According to Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, it's important to master the basics of writing, but there comes a time when you have to strike out on your own and teach yourself. Also, some Spanish idi...

Put on the Dog - 2 April 2018 from 2018-04-02T06:59

Why isn’t “you’re welcome” the default response to “thank you” for everyone? Plus lies that kids tell, Philadelphia lawyer, cowbelly, skutch, mind-bottling vs. mind-boggling, tsundoku, infanticipat...

Fighting Artichokes (Rebroadcast) - 26 March 2018 from 2018-03-26T07:00

What’s in a mascot name? Maybe you’re a fan of the Banana Slugs, or you cheer for the Winged Beavers. Perhaps your loyalty lies with the Fighting Artichokes. There are some strange names for sports...

Burn Bag (Rebroadcast) - 19 March 2018 from 2018-03-19T06:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Slang from the 19th century. The slang coming out of Victorian mouths was more colorful than you might think. A 1909 collection of contemporary slang records clever...

Gee and Haw - 12 March 2018 from 2018-03-12T06:59

The highly specialized vocabulary of people who work outdoors, like farmers and fishermen, can bring us closer to the natural world. Also, a woman who trains sled dogs discusses the words she uses ...

Gung Ho - 5 March 2018 from 2018-03-05T07:59

The stories behind symbols and expressions around the world. The peace symbol popular during 1960's antiwar demonstrations had been around for decades. It originated in the antinuclear movement in ...

Flop Sweat (Rebroadcast) - 26 February 2018 from 2018-02-27T01:37:33

Gerrymandering is the practice of redistricting to tip the political scales. Originally, though, this strategy was called "GARY-mandering" with a hard "g." But why? And: Mark Twain and Helen Keller...

Smile Belt (Rebroadcast) - 19 February 2018 from 2018-02-19T07:59

The only time you'll ever see the sun's outer atmosphere is during a full solar eclipse, when sun itself is completely covered. That hazy ring is called the corona, from the Latin word for "crown" ...

Crusticles and Fenderbergs - 12 February 2018 from 2018-02-12T07:59

A second-generation Filipino-American finds that when he speaks English, his personality is firm, direct, and matter-of-fact. But when he speaks with family members in Tagalog, he feels more soft-s...

Bun in the Oven - 5 February 2018 from 2018-02-05T07:59

Family words, and words about being in a family way. How many different ways ARE there to say you're have a baby on the way? Sure, you can say you're pregnant, or that you're great with child. But ...

Flying Pickle - 29 January 2018 from 2018-01-29T07:59

How would you like to be welcomed to married life by friends and neighbors descending on your home for a noisy celebration, tearing off the labels of all your canned foods and scattering cornflakes...

Happy as Larry - 22 January 2018 from 2018-01-22T07:59

New research shows that you may be less influenced by superstitious behavior like walking under ladders or the magic of four-leaf clovers if you're reading about it in another language. And: someti...

A Shoo In (Rebroadcast) - 15 January 2018 from 2018-01-15T07:59

This week it’s butterflies, belly flowers, plot bunnies, foxes, and cuckoos. Also, writing advice from Mark Twain and a wonderful bit of prose from Sara Pennypacker's book Pax. And are there word o...

Noon of Night (Rebroadcast) - 8 January 2018 from 2018-01-08T07:59

Pranks, cranks, and chips. As a kid, you may have played that game where you phone someone to say, "Is your refrigerator running? Then you better go catch it!" What's the term for that kind of prac...

Naked as a Jaybird - 1 January 2018 from 2018-01-01T07:59

What's the best way for someone busy to learn lots of new words quickly for a test like the GRE? Looking up their origins can help. Or record yourself reading the words and definitions and play the...

Hot Dog, Cold Turkey (Rebroadcast) - 25 December 2017 from 2017-12-25T19:46:27

Why do we call a frankfurter a "hot dog"? It seems an unsettling 19th-century rumor is to blame. Also, if someone quits something abruptly, why do we say they quit "cold turkey"? This term's roots ...

There's more of everything! from 2017-12-21T14:00

We’ve got a curious problem here at A Way with Words. Over the last decade, we’ve grown the show from just 12 stations in four states to more than 300 signals in 37 states. What that means is that...

Brand Spanking New - 18 December 2017 from 2017-12-18T07:59

Words of the year and correcting a mispronounced name. Taking a look back at some notable words and phrases from 2017: Remember path of totality? How about "milkshake duck"? Also, a committee has t...

The Last Straw - 11 December 2017 from 2017-12-11T07:59

Books for word lovers, plus the stories behind some familiar terms. Want a gift for your favorite bibliophile? Martha and Grant have recommendations, from a collection of curious words to some fun ...

A gift for your language nerd! from 2017-12-08T17:52:15

Donate to support A Way with Words https://waywordradio.org/donate ....Making the show takes money, of course. We don’t get any from NPR. And we don’t get any from your local station. We get much o...

Skedaddle (Rebroadcast) - 4 December 2017 from 2017-12-04T07:59

The months of September, October, November, and December take their names from Latin words meaning "seven," "eight," "nine," and "ten." So why don't their names correspond to where they fall in the...

Coast Is Clear (Rebroadcast) - 27 November 2017 from 2017-11-27T17:43:26

In the military, if you've "lost the bubble," then you can't find your bearings. The term first referred to calibrating the position of aircraft and submarines. And the phrase "the coast is clear" ...

Hidden Treasures - 20 November 2017 from 2017-11-20T07:59

Civil War letters and the opposite of prejudice. A new online archive of Civil War letters offers a vivid portrait of the everyday lives of enlisted men. These soldiers lacked formal education, so ...

Butterflies in Your Stomach - 13 November 2017 from 2017-11-13T07:59

If you're not using a dictionary to look up puzzling words as you read them, you're missing out on a whole other level of enjoyment. Also, when you're cleaning house, why not clean like there's lit...

Catch You on the Flip Side - 6 November 2017 from 2017-11-06T07:59

Some countries have strict laws about naming babies. New Zealand authorities, for example, denied a request to name some twins Fish and Chips.  Plus, Halley's Comet seen centuries before English as...

All Verklempt - 30 October 2017 from 2017-10-30T06:59

Of all the letters in the alphabet, which two or three are your favorites? If your short list includes one or more of your initials, that's no accident. Psychological research shows we're drawn to ...

Hunk Waffle - 23 October 2017 from 2017-10-23T06:59

Decisions by dictionary editors, wacky wordplay, and Walt Whitman's soaring verse.  How do lexicographers decide which historical figures deserve a mention or perhaps even an illustration in the di...

Pants on Fire - 16 October 2017 from 2017-10-16T03:59

A highly anticipated children's book and the epic history behind a familiar vegetable. Fans of illustrator Maurice Sendak are eagerly awaiting the publication of a newly discovered manuscript by th...

Frozen Rope - 9 October 2017 from 2017-10-09T03:59

Where would you find a sports commentator talking about high cheese and ducks on a pond? Here's a hint: both terms are part of what make the language of America’s pastime so colorful. And: a govern...

Gone to Seed (Rebroadcast) - 2 October 2017 from 2017-10-02T03:59

Restaurant jargon, military slang, and modern Greek turns of phrase. Some restaurants now advertise that they sell "clean" sandwiches. But that doesn't mean they're condiment-free or the lettuce go...

Hell's Half Acre (Rebroadcast) - 25 September 2017 from 2017-09-25T16:55:39

Hundreds of years ago, the word girl didn't necessarily mean a female child. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the term "girl" could refer to a child of either sex. Only later did its meaning become ...

Steamed Bun (Rebroadcast) - 18 September 2017 from 2017-09-18T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words”: The language we use to cover up our age, and covering up a secret message. Do you ever find yourself less-than-specific about your age? Listeners share some of thei...

Charismatic Megafauna (Rebroadcast) - 11 September 2017 from 2017-09-11T17:47:25

Choosing language that helps resolve interpersonal conflict. Sometimes a question is really just a veiled form of criticism. Understanding the difference between "ask culture" and "guess culture" c...

Knuckle Down (Rebroadcast) - 4 September 2017 from 2017-09-04T03:59

A wingnut is a handy, stabilizing piece of hardware. So why is it a pejorative term for those of a certain political persuasion? Also, is there something wrong with the phrase "committed suicide"? ...

What Kids Know and Want to Find Out - 1 September 2017 from 2017-09-01T16:07:56

Our youngest listeners have questions about everything from love to one of their favorite foods. Kids ask why we might end a text with the letters xoxo, what the word "canoodle" means, and how pizz...

Lie Like a Rug (Rebroadcast) - 28 August 2017 from 2017-08-28T03:59

The words we choose can change attitudes--and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He insists that using words like "leader" and "fo...

Pig Latin (Rebroadcast) - 21 August 2017 from 2017-08-27T17:53:46

This week on "A Way with Words": Grant and Martha discuss the L-word--or two L-words, actually: liberal and libertarian. They reflect different political philosophies, so why do they look so simila...

Whistle in the Dark (Rebroadcast) - 14 August 2017 from 2017-08-14T03:59

Echoes of the Greatest Generation, and a tasty bite of history. The language and melodies of military marching songs can connect grown children with their parents who served. Is there a collection ...

Chocolate Gravy (Rebroadcast) - 7 August 2017 from 2017-08-07T03:59

Say you have an acquaintance you always see at the dog park or the playground. But one night, you run into them at the movies, and for a moment, it's confusing. Is there a word for that disorientin...

Fickle Finger of Fate (Rebroadcast) - 31 July 2017 from 2017-07-31T03:59

Clean cursing for modern times, more about communicating after a brain injury, and 1970's TV lingo with roots in the Second World War. A young woman wants a family-friendly way to describe a statem...

Flop Sweat - 24 July 2017 from 2017-07-24T03:59

Gerrymandering is the practice of redistricting to tip the political scales. Originally, though, this strategy was called "GARY-mandering" with a hard "g." But why? And: Mark Twain and Helen Keller...

Smile Belt - 17 July 2017 from 2017-07-17T03:59

The only time you'll ever see the sun's outer atmosphere is during a full solar eclipse, when sun itself is completely covered. That hazy ring is called the corona, from the Latin word for "crown" ...

A Shoo-In - 10 July 2017 from 2017-07-10T03:59

This week it’s butterflies, belly flowers, plot bunnies, foxes, and cuckoos. Also, writing advice from Mark Twain and a wonderful bit of prose from Sara Pennypacker's book Pax. And are there word o...

Stars and Garters (Rebroadcast) - 3 July 2017 from 2017-07-03T03:59

Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he's also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like "flummox" and "butterfingers." Also, the life's work of sla...

Noon of Night - 26 June 2017 from 2017-06-26T03:59

Pranks, cranks, and chips. As a kid, you may have played that game where you phone someone to say, "Is your refrigerator running? Then you better go catch it!" What's the term for that kind of prac...

Boss of Me (Rebroadcast) - 19 June 2017 from 2017-06-19T03:59

If you want to be a better writer, try skipping today's bestsellers, and read one from the 1930's instead. Or read something besides fiction in order to find your own metaphors and perspective. Plu...

Sunny Side Up (Rebroadcast) - 12 June 2017 from 2017-06-12T03:59

Baseball has a language all its own: On the diamond, a snow cone isn't what you think it is, and Three Blind Mice has nothing to do with nursery rhymes. And how do you describe someone who works at...

Naked as a Jaybird - 5 June 2017 from 2017-06-05T03:59

What's the best way for someone busy to learn lots of new words quickly for a test like the GRE? Looking up their origins can help. Or record yourself reading the words and definitions and play the...

Hot Dog Cold Turkey - 29 May 2017 from 2017-05-29T03:59

Why do we call a frankfurter a "hot dog"? It seems an unsettling 19th-century rumor is to blame. Also, if someone quits something abruptly, why do we say they quit "cold turkey"? This term's roots ...

Spur of the Moment (Rebroadcast) - 22 May 2017 from 2017-05-22T03:59

A caller with a 25-year-old parrot wonders: How much language do birds really understand? Plus, Knock-knock. Who's there? Boo. Well . . .  you can guess the rest. But there was a time when these go...

Hell For Leather (Rebroadcast) - 15 May 2017 from 2017-05-15T03:59

Victorian slang and a modern controversy over language and gender. In the early 1900's, a door-knocker wasn't just what visitors used to announce their arrival, it was a type of beard with a simila...

Skedaddle - 8 May 2017 from 2017-05-08T03:59

The months of September, October, November, and December take their names from Latin words meaning "seven," "eight," "nine," and "ten." So why don't their names correspond to where they fall in the...

Pop Stand (Rebroadcast) - 1 May 2017 from 2017-05-01T03:59

When it comes to learning new things, what's on your bucket list? A retired book editor decided to try to learn Latin, and ended up learning a lot about herself. There's a word for someone who lear...

Coast Is Clear - 24 April 2017 from 2017-04-24T03:59

In the military, if you've "lost the bubble," then you can't find your bearings. The term first referred to calibrating the position of aircraft and submarines. And the phrase "the coast is clear" ...

Punch List (Rebroadcast) - 17 April 2017 from 2017-04-17T03:59

Books for sale, books for free, and wisdom passed down through the ages. Libraries aren't just repositories for books -- they're often a great place to find gently used volumes for sale. Or you can...

Sweet Dreams (Rebroadcast) - 10 April 2017 from 2017-04-08T17:38:03

In deafening workplaces, like sawmills and factories, workers develop their own elaborate sign language to discuss everything from how their weekend went to when the boss is on his way. Plus, Engli...

Gone To Seed - 3 April 2017 from 2017-04-03T03:59

Restaurant jargon, military slang, and modern Greek turns of phrase. Some restaurants now advertise that they sell "clean" sandwiches. But that doesn't mean they're condiment-free or the lettuce go...

Hell's Half Acre - 27 March 2017 from 2017-03-27T03:59

Hundreds of years ago, the word girl didn't necessarily mean a female child. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the term "girl" could refer to a child of either sex. Only later did its meaning become ...

Steamed Bun - 20 March 2017 from 2017-03-20T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words”: The language we use to cover up our age, and covering up a secret message. Do you ever find yourself less-than-specific about your age? Listeners share some of thei...

Gangbusters (Rebroadcast) - 13 March 2017 from 2017-03-13T03:59

Sensuous words and terms of endearment. Think of a beautiful word. Now, is it simply the word's sound that makes it beautiful? Or does its appeal also depend on meaning? Also, pet names for lovers ...

XYZ PDQ (Rebroadcast) - 6 March 2017 from 2017-03-06T04:59

How often do you hear the words campaign and political in the same breath? Oddly enough, 19th-century grammarians railed against using campaign to mean "an electoral contest." Martha and Grant disc...

Hang a Ralph (Rebroadcast) - 27 February 2017 from 2017-02-27T04:59

The names of professional sports teams often have surprising histories -- like the baseball team name inspired by, of all things, trolley-car accidents. Plus, some questions to debate at your ne...

Charismatic Megafauna - 20 February 2017 from 2017-02-20T04:59

Choosing language that helps resolve interpersonal conflict. Sometimes a question is really just a veiled form of criticism. Understanding the difference between "ask culture" and "guess culture...

Knuckle Down - 13 February 2017 from 2017-02-13T04:59

A wingnut is a handy, stabilizing piece of hardware. So why is it a pejorative term for those of a certain political persuasion? Also, is there something wrong with the phrase "committed suicide...

Lie Like A Rug - 5 February 2017 from 2017-02-06T04:59

The words we choose can change attitudes--and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He insists that using words like "leader" and ...

Pig Latin - 29 January 2017 from 2017-01-30T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Grant and Martha discuss the L-word--or two L-words, actually: liberal and libertarian. They reflect different political philosophies, so why do they look so sim...

You Bet Your Boots (Rebroadcast) - 23 January 2016 from 2017-01-23T04:59

You may have heard the advice that to build your vocabulary you should read, read, and then read some more--and make sure to include a wide variety of publications. But what if you just don't ha...

Pink Slip (Rebroadcast) - 16 January 2017 from 2017-01-16T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": The language of political speech. Politicians have to repeat themselves so often that they naturally develop a repertoire of stock phrases to fall back on. But i...

Criss-Cross Applesauce (Rebroadcast) - 9 January 2016 from 2017-01-09T04:59

How do languages change and grow? Does every language acquire new words in the same way? Martha and Grant focus on how that process happens in English and Spanish. Plus, the stories behind the S...

Flee Fly Flo - 2016 December 31 from 2017-01-02T17:42:17

SUMMARY

Wrapping up 2016 with words from the past year and some newsy limericks. Bigly and Brexit were on lots of li...

We've come a long way! from 2016-12-30T16:20:44

 In 2007, the public media organization that created A Way with Words had a problem. They loved our show but a deep recession meant the station couldn't afford to keep producin...

Whistle Pig (Rebroadcast) - 26 December 2016 from 2016-12-26T20:04:02

The stories behind slang, political and otherwise. The dated term "jingoism" denotes a kind of belligerent nationalism. But the word's roots lie in an old English drinking-house song that was po...

Copacetic (Rebroadcast) - 19 December 2016 from 2016-12-19T04:59

Brand names, children's games, and the etiquette of phone conversations. Those clever plastic PEZ dispensers come in all shapes and sizes -- but where did the word PEZ come from? The popular can...

Whistle in the Dark - 12 December 2016 from 2016-12-12T04:59

Echoes of the Greatest Generation, and a tasty bite of history. The language and melodies of military marching songs can connect grown children with their parents who served. Is there a collecti...

Chocolate Gravy - 5 December 2016 from 2016-12-05T04:59

Say you have an acquaintance you always see at the dog park or the playground. But one night, you run into them at the movies, and for a moment, it's confusing. Is there a word for that disorien...

Mustard On It (Rebroadcast) - 28 November 2016 from 2016-11-28T04:59

When does a word's past make it too sensitive to use in the present? In contra dancing, there's a particular move that dancers traditionally call a gypsy. But there's a growing recognition that ...

Fickle Finger of Fate (#1459) from 2016-11-21T04:59

Clean cursing for modern times, more about communicating after a brain injury, and 1970's TV lingo with roots in the Second World War. A young woman wants a family-friendly way to describe a sta...

Stars and Garters - 14 November2016 from 2016-11-14T08:22:35

Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he's also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like "flummox" and "butterfingers." Also, the life's work of ...

Proof in the Pudding (Rebroadcast) - 7 November 2016 from 2016-11-07T04:59

Have you ever offered to foster a dog or cat, but wound up adopting instead? There's an alliterative term for that. And when you're on the job, do niceties like "Yes, ma'am" and "No, sir" make y...

Boss Of Me - 31 October 2016 from 2016-10-31T03:59

If you want to be a better writer, try skipping today's bestsellers, and read one from the 1930's instead. Or read something besides fiction in order to find your own metaphors and perspective. ...

Sunny Side Up - 24 October 2016 from 2016-10-24T03:59

Baseball has a language all its own: On the diamond, a snow cone isn't what you think it is, and Three Blind Mice has nothing to do with nursery rhymes. And how do you describe someone who works...

Spur of the Moment - 17 October 2016 from 2016-10-17T03:59

A caller with a 25-year-old parrot wonders: How much language do birds really understand? Plus, Knock-knock. Who's there? Boo. Well . . .  you can guess the rest. But there was a time when these...

Hell For Leather - 10 October 2016 from 2016-10-10T03:59

Victorian slang and a modern controversy over language and gender. In the early 1900's, a door-knocker wasn't just what visitors used to announce their arrival, it was a type of beard with a sim...

Busted Melon (Rebroadcast) - 3 October 2016 from 2016-10-03T03:59

When writing textbooks about slavery, which words best reflect its cold, hard reality? Some historians are dropping the word "slave" in favor of terms like "enslaved person" and "captive," argui...

Jump Steady (Rebroadcast) - 26 September 2016 from 2016-09-26T03:59

Secret codes, ciphers, and telegrams. It used to be that in order to transmit information during wartime, various industries encoded their messages letter by letter with an elaborate system--muc...

Scat Cat (Rebroadcast) - 19 September 2016 from 2016-09-19T03:59

The dilemma continues over how to spell dilemma! Grant and Martha try to suss out the backstory of why some people spell that word with an "n." A lot of them, it seems, went to Catholic school. ...

Listening Is Only Half Of It - 18 September 2016 from 2016-09-19T03:12:35

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There's Something About A Way with Words... - 14 September 2016 from 2016-09-14T14:47:29

Please donate to A Way With Words.  Visit http://waywordradio.org for more info.  Thanks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tennessee Top Hat (Rebroadcast) - 12 September 2016 from 2016-09-12T15:25:50

It's hard enough to get a new word into the dictionary. But what happens when lawmakers get involved? New Jersey legislators passed a resolution as part of an anti-bullying campaign urging dicti...

Beat The Band (Rebroadcast) - 5 September 2016 from 2016-09-05T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": This week on "A Way with Words": Can language change bad behavior in crowded places? The Irish Railway system has launched ad campaign to encourage passengers to...

Fighting Artichokes (Rebroadcast) - 29 August 2016 from 2016-08-29T03:59

What's in a mascot name? Maybe you're a fan of the Banana Slugs, or you cheer for the Winged Beavers. Perhaps your loyalty lies with the Fighting Artichokes. There are some strange names for spo...

Burn Bag (Rebroadcast) - 22 August 2016 from 2016-08-22T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Slang from the 19th century. The slang coming out of Victorian mouths was more colorful than you might think. A 1909 collection of contemporary slang records cle...

Bingo Fuel (Rebroadcast) - 15 August 2016 from 2016-08-15T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": "If you come to a fork in the road . . . take it!" Baseball legend Yogi Berra was famous for such head-scratching observations.. What most people don't realize, ...

Spit Game (Rebroadcast) - 8 August 2016 from 2016-08-08T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": People in ancient times could be just as bawdy and colorful as we are today. To prove it, we found some graffiti written on the walls in the city of Pompeii, and...

Pop Stand - 1 August 2016 from 2016-08-01T03:59

When it comes to learning new things, what's on your bucket list? A retired book editor decided to try to learn Latin, and ended up learning a lot about herself. There's a word for someone who l...

Punch List - 25 July 2016 from 2016-07-25T03:59

Books for sale, books for free, and wisdom passed down through the ages. Libraries aren't just repositories for books -- they're often a great place to find gently used volumes for sale. Or you ...

Shakespeare's Insults (Rebroadcast) - 18 July 2016 from 2016-07-18T03:59

If you don't have anything nice to say, say it like Shakespeare: Thou unhandsome smush-mouthed mush-rump! Thou obscene rug-headed hornbeast! The Shakespeare Insult Generator helps you craft crea...

Pebble Picker (Rebroadcast) - 11 July 2016 from 2016-07-11T03:59

Right off the bat, it's easy to think of several everyday expressions that derive from America's pastime. Including right off the bat. The Dickson Baseball Dictionary catalogues not just those c...

There Once Was A Gal From (Rebroadcast) - 4 July 2016 from 2016-07-04T03:59

Ever try to write a well-known passage in limerick form? It's harder than you think. How about this one:  "There once was a lady who's sure / All that glitters is golden and pure/ There's a stai...

Shiver Me Timbers (Rebroadcast) - 27 June 2016 from 2016-06-27T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Careful what you criticize! Not long ago, some words that sound perfectly normal today were considered gauche and grating on the ear. If the complainers had had ...

Sweet Dreams - 20 June 2016 from 2016-06-20T03:59

In deafening workplaces, like sawmills and factories, workers develop their own elaborate sign language to discuss everything from how their weekend went to when the boss is on his way. Plus, En...

How We Roll - 13 June 2016 from 2016-06-13T03:59

If you're serious about writing a memoir, what topics should you include, and what can you leave out? And how honest can you really be about the other people in your life? Some of America's lead...

Hector's Pup (Rebroadcast) - 6 June 2016 from 2016-06-06T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Sharing a secret language. Did you ever speak in gibberish with a childhood pal, adding extra syllables to words so the adults couldn't understand what you were ...

Gangbusters - 30 May 2016 from 2016-05-30T03:59

Sensuous words and terms of endearment. Think of a beautiful word. Now, is it simply the word's sound that makes it beautiful? Or does its appeal also depend on meaning? Also, pet names for love...

XYZ PDQ - 23 May 2016 from 2016-05-18T19:19:27

How often do you hear the words campaign and political in the same breath? Oddly enough, 19th-century grammarians railed against using campaign to mean "an electoral contest." Martha and Grant d...

Hang a Ralph - 16 May 2016 from 2016-05-16T03:59

The names of professional sports teams often have surprising histories -- like the baseball team name inspired by, of all things, trolley-car accidents. Plus, some questions to debate at your ne...

You Bet Your Boots - 9 May 2016 from 2016-05-09T03:59

You may have heard the advice that to build your vocabulary you should read, read, and then read some more--and make sure to include a wide variety of publications. But what if you just don't ha...

Eat The Grindstone (Rebroadcast) - 2 May 2016 from 2016-05-02T10:31:20

The books we love as children may influence our careers more
than we realize. As a child, Martha was fascinated with stories of
cracking codes, and Grant loved books with glossaries--not...

Pickle Seeder (Rebroadcast) - 25 April 2016 from 2016-04-25T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Constructing imaginary languages and deconstructing the lingo of Hollywood. For example, would you rather live in a world with no adjectives . . . or no verbs--a...

Green Eyed Monster (Rebroadcast) - 18 April 2016 from 2016-04-18T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": We often hear that English is going to hell in a handbasket. Actually, though, linguistic handwringing about sinking standards and sloppy speech has been going o...

Pink Slip - 11 April 2016 from 2016-04-11T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": The language of political speech. Politicians have to repeat themselves so often that they naturally develop a repertoire of stock phrases to fall back on. But i...

Criss Cross Applesauce - 4 April 2016 from 2016-04-04T03:59

How do languages change and grow? Does every language acquire new words in the same way? Martha and Grant focus on how that process happens in English and Spanish. Plus, the stories behind the S...

Whistle Pig - 28 March 2016 from 2016-03-28T03:59

The stories behind slang, political and otherwise. The dated term "jingoism" denotes a kind of belligerent nationalism. But the word's roots lie in an old English drinking-house song that was po...

Idiom's Delight (Rebroadcast) - 21 March 2016 from 2016-03-21T03:34:56

This week on "A Way with Words": What's in a name? A recent study found that some names crop up more frequently than others in certain professions. The name William is especially common among at...

Blind Tiger (Rebroadcast) - 14 March 2016 from 2016-03-14T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": The best way to read poetry. When you pick up a book of poems, how many do you read in one sitting? Some people devour several in a row, while others savor them ...

Whistle Britches (Rebroadcast) - 7 March 2016 from 2016-03-07T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words: Writers and where they do their best creative work.  A new book on Geoffrey Chaucer describes the dark, noisy, smelly room where he wrote his early work. Which ra...

Copacetic - 29 February 2016 from 2016-02-29T04:59

Brand names, children's games, and the etiquette of phone conversations. Those clever plastic PEZ dispensers come in all shapes and sizes -- but where did the word PEZ come from? The popular can...

Mustard on It - 22 February 2016 from 2016-02-22T04:59

When does a word's past make it too sensitive to use in the present? In contra dancing, there's a particular move that dancers traditionally call a gypsy. But there's a growing recognition that ...

Proof in the Pudding - 15 February 2016 from 2016-02-15T04:59

Have you ever offered to foster a dog or cat, but wound up adopting instead? There's an alliterative term for that. And when you're on the job, do niceties like "Yes, ma'am" and "No, sir" make y...

Hot Mess - 8 February 2016 from 2016-02-08T04:59

Sneaky contract lingo, advice for writing well, and preserving a dying language. Say you’re scrolling through an online transaction where you're asked to read the "Terms and Conditions." Do you ...

Noon Balloon to Rangoon (Rebroadcast) - 1 February 2016 from 2016-02-01T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words," tricks and tips for writers: Is there a word you keep having to look up in the dictionary, no matter how many times you've looked it up before? Maybe it's time f...

Catch My Fade (Rebroadcast) - 25 January 2016 from 2016-01-25T17:24:37

This week on "A Way with Words," reaching out in the digital age: If you're sending out party invitations, what's a sure-fire way to get hold of everyone? Email? Snailmail? Facebook? Texting? Tw...

Buckle Down (Rebroadcast) - 18 January 2016 from 2016-01-18T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": 'Tis the season for book recommendations! Martha's enjoying an armchair tour of important places in the history of our language, and Grant recommends relaxing wi...

Curse of Knowledge (Rebroadcast) - 11 January 2016 from 2016-01-11T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words," it's all about terms of endearment: If your loved one is far away for a long time, you're probably tired of just saying "I miss you" over and over. For variety's...

An Ear For Wine (Rebroadcast) - 4 January 2016 from 2016-01-04T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Creative communication in a noisy world! Writing a clever 140-character tweet isn't easy. But you know what's even more impressive? Working all 26 letters of the...

Electric Hootenanny (Rebroadcast) - 28 December 2015 from 2015-12-28T07:55:35

Bathroom walls, missing graffiti, and social media. Where have all the cute quips on bathroom stalls gone?  We wonder about the apparent decline of restroom graffiti. Are people saving their wit...

Do Me a Solid (Rebroadcast) - 21 December 2015 from 2015-12-21T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": What's in YOUR spice rack? Say you're cooking up a pot of chili, and you need to add more of that warm, earthy, powdered spice. Do you reach for a bottle of KOO-...

Wolf Whistle - 14 December 2015 from 2015-12-14T04:59

Gifts for book lovers. Martha recommends one for lovers of libraries and another for students of Spanish. Grant suggests some enchanting novels for young readers. When it comes to books, though,...

Busted Melon - 7 December 2015 from 2015-12-07T04:59

When writing textbooks about slavery, which words best reflect its cold, hard reality? Some historians are dropping the word "slave" in favor of terms like "enslaved person" and "captive," argui...

Hell's Bells (Rebroadcast) - 30 November 2015 from 2015-11-30T17:04:51

This week on A Way with Words: The language of restaurant menus. Need a dictionary to get through a dinner menu? Research shows the longer the description of a particular dish, the more expensiv...

Jump Steady - 23 November 2015 from 2015-11-23T04:59

Secret codes, ciphers, and telegrams. It used to be that in order to transmit information during wartime, various industries encoded their messages letter by letter with an elaborate system--muc...

I'll Be Sheep-Dipped (Rebroadcast) - 16 November 2015 from 2015-11-16T04:59

What a difference pronunciation makes! The United States has a Department of Defense, and an individual might take classes in self-defense. So why do football and basketball coaches say they're pro...

Fat Buttery Words (Rebroadcast) - 9 November 2015 from 2015-11-09T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Teaching our children, and some advice for writers. Suppose your child is eager to tackle a difficult subject--ancient Greek, for example--but you know his reach...

Month of Sundays (Rebroadcast) - 2 November 2015 from 2015-11-02T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Modern language with very old origins. If you're on tenterhooks, it means you're in a state of anxious anticipation or suspense. But what IS a tenterhook? The an...

Scat Cat - 26 October 2015 from 2015-10-26T03:59

The dilemma continues over how to spell dilemma! Grant and Martha try to suss out the backstory of why some people spell that word with an "n." At lot of them, it seems, went to Catholic school....

Tennessee Top Hat - 19 October 2015 from 2015-10-19T03:59

It's hard enough to get a new word into the dictionary. But what happens when lawmakers get involved? New Jersey legislators passed a resolution as part of an anti-bullying campaign urging dicti...

Beat the Band - 12 October 2015 from 2015-10-12T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Can language change bad behavior in crowded places? The Irish Railway system has launched ad campaign to encourage passengers to be more generous at boarding tim...

Fighting Artichokes - 5 October 2015 from 2015-10-05T03:59

What's in a mascot name? Maybe you're a fan of the Banana Slugs, or you cheer for the Winged Beavers. Perhaps your loyalty lies with the Fighting Artichokes. There are some strange names for spo...

Burn Bag - 28 September 2015 from 2015-09-28T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Slang from the 19th century. The slang coming out of Victorian mouths was more colorful than you might think. A 1909 collection of contemporary slang records cle...

Lord Love a Duck (Rebroadcast) - 21 September 2015 from 2015-09-21T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Someone should write a love letter to a new book called "Letters of Note." It's a splendid collection of all kinds of correspondence through the ages: Elvis Pres...

Pumpkin Floater (Rebroadcast) - 14 September 2015 from 2015-09-14T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Your telephone is for talking, right? Or is it? We're guessing it's been a while since you sat next to a telephone waiting for it to ring. In fact, maybe you're ...

Upstairs Basement (Rebroadcast) - 7 September 2015 from 2015-09-07T17:23:43

This week on "A Way with Words": Giving your baby an unusual moniker may seem like a great idea at the time. But what if you have second thoughts? One mother of a newborn had such bad namer's remor...

Hang a Salami (Rebroadcast) - 31 August 2015 from 2015-08-31T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words":  What's so special about the phrase Sit on a pan, Otis!? It's an example of a palindrome -- a word or phrase that's spelled the same backwards as it is forwards....

Hard Words Are Hard (Rebroadcast) - 24 August 2015 from 2015-08-24T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": The SAT is changing things up, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Just because words like membranous are no longer in the verbal section doesn't mean kids aren...

Brown as a Berry (Rebroadcast) - 17 August 2015 from 2015-08-17T03:59

It used to be that you called any mixed-breed dog a mutt. But at today's dog parks, you're just as likely to run into schnugs, bassadors, and dalmadoodles. Also, if someone has a suntan, you might ...

Keep Your Pants On (Rebroadcast) - 10 August 2015 from 2015-08-10T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": If everyone on the planet spoke a single language, wouldn't that make life a whole lot easier? For that matter, is a common world language even possible? Maybe f...

Springtime Twitterpation (Rebroadcast) - 3 August 2015 from 2015-08-03T03:59

Springtime is the right time to feel twitterpated—you know, you're smitten beyond a crush. Speaking of relationships, are dog owners really owners, or should they call themselves something else, li...

Dust Bunnies (Rebroadcast) - 27 July 2015 from 2015-07-27T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Is it cheating to say you've read a book if you only listened to it on tape? Over the centuries, the way we think about reading has changed a lot. There was a time,...

Sound of a Kiss (Rebroadcast) - 20 July 2015 from 2015-07-20T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": You're at a social gathering and meet someone you'd like to know better. What do you ask to get a real conversation going? Some people lead with "What do you do?...

Bingo Fuel - 13 July 2015 from 2015-07-13T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": "If you come to a fork in the road . . . take it!" Baseball legend Yogi Berra was famous for such head-scratching observations.. What most people don't realize, ...

Feeling Gruntled (Rebroadcast) - 6 July 2015 from 2015-07-06T03:59

Hyperbolic Headlines Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity!!!! Or maybe not. You've seen those breathless headlines on the internet, like "You Won't Believe What This 7-year-old Said to The Presid...

Spit Game - 29 June 2015 from 2015-06-29T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": People in ancient times could be just as bawdy and colorful as we are today. To prove it, we found some graffiti written on the walls in the city of Pompeii, and...

By the Seat of Your Pants (Rebroadcast) - 22 June 2015 from 2015-06-22T16:24:13

Dude! We're used to hearing the word "dude" applied to guys. But increasingly, young women use the word "dude" to address each other. Grant and Martha talk about linguistic research about the me...

How America Talks (Rebroadcast) - 15 June 2015 from 2015-06-15T03:59

For language lovers, it's like New Year's, Fourth of July, and the Super Bowl all rolled into one: The brand-new online edition of the Dictionary of American Regional English. Martha and Grant e...

Thrown for a Loop (Rebroadcast) - 8 June 2015 from 2015-06-08T03:59

We all lead busy lives--so are speed reading courses a good idea? Plus, if you hear someone speaking with a British accent, do you tend to assume they're somehow more intelligent? And some common E...

Shakespeare's Insults - 1 June 2015 from 2015-06-01T03:59

If you don't have anything nice to say, say it like Shakespeare: Thou unhandsome smush-mouthed mush-rump! Thou obscene rug-headed hornbeast! The Shakespeare Insult Generator helps you craft crea...

Not Quite A Boyfriend (Rebroadcast) - 25 May 2015 from 2015-05-25T23:37:30

If an older man and woman spend lots of time together, going to family gatherings and the like, but they're NOT dating, what do you call their relationship? Best friends? Dear friends? Or . . . ...

Pebble Picker from 2015-05-18T03:59

Right off the bat, it's easy to think of several everyday expressions that derive from America's pastime. Including right off the bat. The Dickson Baseball Dictionary catalogues not just those c...

There Once Was A Gal From - 11 May 2015 from 2015-05-11T03:59

Ever try to write a well-known passage in limerick form? It's harder than you think. How about this one:  "There once was a lady who's sure / All that glitters is golden and pure/ There's a stai...

Wet Brick (Rebroadcast) - 4 May 2015 from 2015-05-04T03:59

What the fox says may be a mystery, but we do know that dogs bark differently around the world. In China, for example, they say not bow-wow but wang wang.  Also, the story behind the British tradit...

Catbird Seat (Rebroadcast) - 27 April 2015 from 2015-04-27T03:59

Online recaps of Mad Men or Breaking Bad can be as much fun as the shows themselves. So why not recap classic literature -- like, say, Dante's Inferno? A literary website is doing just that. And, y...

Shiver Me Timbers - 20 April 2015 from 2015-04-20T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Careful what you criticize! Not long ago, some words that sound perfectly normal today were considered gauche and grating on the ear. If the complainers had had ...

Hector's Pup - 13 April 2015 from 2015-04-13T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Sharing a secret language. Did you ever speak in gibberish with a childhood pal, adding extra syllables to words so the adults couldn't understand what you were ...

Jumped Up Bald-Headed (Rebroadcast) - 6 April 2015 from 2015-04-06T03:59

What do your pronouns say about your own psychological makeup? If you use the word I a lot, does it mean you're a leader . . . or a follower? A surprising study suggests that people of lower sta...

I'll Be Your Boo (Rebroadcast) - 30 March 2015 from 2015-03-30T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words":  It's the language of Wisconsin: If you're nibbling on slippery Jims or sipping sweet soup, chances are you're in the Badger State. Also, the famous abolitionist wh...

Eat the Grindstone - 23 March 2015 from 2015-03-23T03:59

The books we love as children may influence our careers more than we realize. As a child, Martha was fascinated with stories of cracking codes, and Grant loved books with glossaries--not that fa...

Pickle Seeder - 16 March 2015 from 2015-03-16T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Constructing imaginary languages and deconstructing the lingo of Hollywood. For example, would you rather live in a world with no adjectives . . . or no verbs--a...

Green Eyed Monster - 9 March 2015 from 2015-03-09T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": We often hear that English is going to hell in a handbasket. Actually, though, linguistic handwringing about sinking standards and sloppy speech has been going o...

Blind Tiger - 2 March 2015 from 2015-03-02T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": The best way to read poetry. When you pick up a book of poems, how many do you read in one sitting? Some people devour several in a row, while others savor them ...

Idiom's Delight - 23 February 2015 from 2015-02-23T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": What's in a name? A recent study found that some names crop up more frequently than others in certain professions. The name William is especially common among at...

Whistle Britches - 16 February 2015 from 2015-02-16T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words: Writers and where they do their best creative work.  A new book on Geoffrey Chaucer describes the dark, noisy, smelly room where he wrote his early work. Which ra...

Noon Balloon to Rangoon - 9 February 2015 from 2015-02-09T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words," tricks and tips for writers: Is there a word you keep having to look up in the dictionary, no matter how many times you've looked it up before? Maybe it's time f...

Above Your Raisin - 2 February 2015 from 2015-02-02T04:30

This week on "A Way with Words," slang online and jargon in the workplace: There's a new kind of hamburger menu that involves pixels, not pickles. It's that little stack of horizontal lines in t...

Monkey's Wedding (Rebroadcast) - 26 January 2015 from 2015-01-30T21:49:41

It's the art of constructive feedback: If you're a teacher with a mountain of papers to grade, you may find yourself puzzling over which kinds of notes in the margins work best. Martha and Grant...

Writerly Insults (Rebroadcast) - 19 January 2015 from 2015-01-19T04:59

A query letter from SlushPile Hell, the blog of a curmudgeonly literary agent, reads, "Have you ever wished you had represented the author of the Holy Bible and placed it with a publisher?" Erm, su...

Mr. Can't Died (Rebroadcast) - 12 January 2015 from 2015-01-12T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": You pick up what you think a glass of water and take a sip, but it turns out to be Sprite. What's the word for that sensation when you're expecting one thing and...

Drop A Dime (Rebroadcast) - 5 January 2015 from 2015-01-05T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Why call it a doggy bag when it's really for your husband? This week on "A Way with Words": Why call it a doggy bag when it's really for your husband? Grant and ...

That Old-Book Smell (Rebroadcast) - 29 December 2014 from 2014-12-29T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": You walk into a used bookstore, or pull down an old volume at the library, and there it is: The smell of old books. If you detect notes of vanilla in that intoxi...

Catch My Fade - 22 December 2014 from 2014-12-22T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words," reaching out in the digital age: If you're sending out party invitations, what's a sure-fire way to get hold of everyone? Email? Snailmail? Facebook? Texting? Tw...

An Urgent Need from A Way with Words from 2014-12-21T13:43:44

Give Now! http://waywordradio.org/donate  Dear friends and listeners, As we near the end of our biggest year yet, we must raise $75,000 to cover the remainder of this season. We need your help to ...

Buckle Down - 15 December 2014 from 2014-12-15T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": It's time for book recommendations! Martha's enjoying an armchair tour of important places in the history of our language, and Grant recommends relaxing with boo...

Curse of Knowledge from 2014-12-08T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words," it's all about terms of endearment: If your loved one is far away for a long time, you're probably tired of just saying "I miss you" over and over. For variety's...

Polyglot Problems (Rebroadcast) - 1 December 2014 from 2014-12-01T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Say you're in line at the drugstore. Does it bother you if the cashier says, "Next guest"? In department stores and coffeeshops, does the term "guest" suggest re...

Ride the Merry Go Round (Rebroadcast) - 24 November 2014 from 2014-11-24T04:59

A pint-sized mad scientist, a green-haired girl with a contagious sense of wonder, and a 10-year-old detective. They're all characters in the books on Grant's latest list of recommended books fo...

Bouncy House of Language (Rebroadcast) - 17 November 2014 from 2014-11-17T04:59

Some people proudly embrace the label cancer survivor, while others feel that's not quite the right word. Is there a better term for someone who's battled cancer? Writers and listeners share the...

An Ear For Wine - 10 November 2014 from 2014-11-10T04:59

This week on "A Way with Words": Creative communication in a noisy world! Writing a clever 140-character tweet isn't easy. But you know what's even more impressive? Working all 26 letters of the...

Electric Hootenanny - 3 November 2014 from 2014-11-03T04:59

Bathroom walls, missing graffiti, and social media. Where have all the cute quips on bathroom stalls gone?  We wonder about the apparent decline of restroom graffiti. Are people saving their wit...

Do Me a Solid - 27 October 2014 from 2014-10-27T03:59

This week on "A Way with Words": What's in YOUR spice rack? Say you're cooking up a pot of chili, and you need to add more of that warm, earthy, powdered spice. Do you reach for a bottle of KOO-...

Hell's Bells - 20 October 2014 from 2014-10-20T03:59

This week on A Way with Words: The language of restaurant menus. Need a dictionary to get through a dinner menu? Research shows the longer the description of a particular dish, the more expensiv...

I'll Be Sheep Dipped - 13 October 2014 from 2014-10-13T03:59

What a difference pronunciation makes! The United States has a Department of Defense, and an individual might take classes in self-defense. So why do football and basketball coaches say they're ...

Fat Buttery Words - 6 October 2014 from 2014-10-05T19:17:51

This week on "A Way with Words": Teaching our children, and some advice for writers. Suppose your child is eager to tackle a difficult subject--ancient Greek, for example--but you know his reach...

Our Eighth Independent Season Is On The Way — And We Need Your Help from 2014-09-24T21:07:37

Great news! A brand-new season of A Way with Words starts this weekend!

The reason we're able to start another year of a show that informs, inspires, and connects listeners...

Month of Sundays - 29 September 2014 from 2014-09-22T19:42:05

This week on "A Way with Words": Modern language with very old origins. If you're on tenterhooks, it means you're in a state of anxious anticipation or suspense. But what IS a tenterhook? The an...

On The Shoe Phone (Rebroadcast) - 22 September 2014 from 2014-09-22T00:48:36

First names like "Patience," "Hope," and "Charity" are inspired by worthy qualities. But how about "Be-courteous" or "Hate-evil"? The Puritans sometimes gave children such names hoping that thei...

Got Your Six (Rebroadcast) - 15 September 2014 from 2014-09-14T18:27:02

Starting this year, Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants not only have to spell words correctly. A controversial new rule means they'll have to answer vocabulary questions, too. Also, when ...

A Hole to China (Rebroadcast) - 8 September 2014 from 2014-09-08T03:54:04

Have a question about objective pronouns? Whom ya gonna call? Wait--is that right? Or would it be "who ya gonna call"? "Whom" may be technically correct, but insisting on it can get you called a...

Whistling Dixie (Rebroadcast) - 1 September 2014 from 2014-09-01T14:44:28

SUMMARY

Today's most popular dog names are Max and Bella. In the Middle Ages, though, dogs would answer to names like Amiable. Or Nosewise. Or even . . . Clench. And is t...

Gnarly Foot (Rebroadcast) - 25 August 2014 from 2014-08-24T22:57:26

It's the Up Goer Five Challenge! Try to describe something complex using only the thousand most common words in English. It's a useful mental exercise that's harder than you might think. Also, i...

Bump and Grind (Rebroadcast) - 18 August 2014 from 2014-08-18T02:32:48

Remember a few years ago when Amazon introduced that mysterious device called a Kindle? People worried that electronic readers would replace traditional books. Turns out the death of the hardcov...

Gracious Plenty (Rebroadcast) - 11 August 2014 from 2014-08-11T02:09:30

When somebody sneezes, you say, Bless you or Gesundheit. But suppose that person coughs. Are you supposed to say something--or are they?  Plus, Mexican standoffs, gracious plenty, linguistic fal...

Cute As a Button (Rebroadcast) - 3 August 2014 from 2014-08-03T21:30:57

Did you ever wonder why we capitalize the pronoun "I," but not any other pronoun? There's a reason, and it may not be what you think. Also, the romantic story behind our term "halcyon days," the...

South End of a Chicken (Rebroadcast) - 28 July 2014 from 2014-07-28T00:09:11

Are your nightstand books all over the place? Why not stack 'em into a bookmash? A bookmash is a kind of found poetry formed from book titles! And we all know that honesty is the best policy. Bu...

Little Pitchers (Rebroadcast) - 21 July 2014 from 2014-07-20T20:40:58

Can reading poetry make you a better writer? Grant and Martha discuss how reading poetry improves your prose. Also, how linguists guess where you come from based on how you speak. And what do yo...

Kissed Her on the Stairs (Rebroadcast) - 14 July 2014 from 2014-07-13T23:59:39

SUMMARY

Do Americans use the same sign language as the Brits? And what do Japanese people use instead of "umm?" Grant and Martha cover language shifts across the globe. Plus, why we v...

A Dancer Who Walks for a Living (Rebroadcast) - 7 July 2014 from 2014-07-06T19:34:47

You dream of writing the great American novel, but to make ends meet, you spend your days writing boring corporate reports. There's a difference between writing for love and writing for a living...

Lord Love a Duck - 30 June 2014 from 2014-06-29T23:10:21

This week on "A Way with Words": Someone should write a love letter to a new book called "Letters of Note." It's a splendid collection of all kinds of correspondence through the ages: Elvis Pres...

Now You're Cooking with Gas - 23 June 2014 from 2014-06-23T16:31:58

This week on "A Way with Words": Some of us can't go anywhere without a book or something to read. And one fast food joint hears you: Chipotle is now printing the work of famous writers on their...

Pumpkin Floater - 16 June 2014 from 2014-06-15T17:14:05

This week on "A Way with Words": Your telephone is for talking, right? Or is it? We're guessing it's been a while since you sat next to a telephone waiting for it to ring. In fact, maybe you're ...

Upstairs Basement - 9 June 2014 from 2014-06-09T04:15:01

This week on "A Way with Words": Giving your baby an unusual moniker may seem like a great idea at the time. But what if you have second thoughts? One mother of a newborn had such bad namer's re...

Make a Train Take a Dirt Road (Rebroadcast) - 2 June 2014 from 2014-06-01T16:38:29

Remember the classic films Dogumentary and $3000? Those were their working titles, before they became Best In Show and Pretty Woman. We look at how movie titles evolve and change. Also, is Spang...

The One Who Brung You (Rebroadcast) - 26 May 2014 from 2014-05-26T00:01:34

You've been reading a book but you're just not into it. How do you quit it, guilt-free? How do you break up with a book? Also, what do you ask for when you go through the grocery checkout line: ...

Fake English (Rebroadcast) - 19 May 2014 from 2014-05-14T06:00:07

Everyone knows you don't start a sentence with "But." But why? We sort out the confusion over this little word. Also, how voice recognition technology is changing the way we think and write, and...

Hang a Salami - 12 May 2014 from 2014-05-12T02:28:15

This week on "A Way with Words":  What's so special about the phrase Sit on a pan, Otis!? It's an example of a palindrome -- a word or phrase that's spelled the same backwards as it is forwards....

Hard Words Are Hard - 5 May 2014 from 2014-05-04T21:46:37

This week on "A Way with Words": The SAT is changing things up, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Just because words like membranous are no longer in the verbal section doesn't mean kids a...

Brown As a Berry - 28 April 2014 from 2014-04-27T19:47:05

It used to be that you called any mixed-breed dog a mutt. But at today's dog parks, you're just as likely to run into schnugs, bassadors, and dalmadoodles. Also, if someone has a suntan, you might ...

Can of Worms (Rebroadcast) - 21 April 2014 from 2014-04-20T23:05:35

What do you call a guy with a bald pate? A chrome dome? Maybe the lucky fellow is sporting a solar panel for a sex machine. Also, which would you rather open: a can of worms or Pandora's Box? Pl...

Nothing to Sneeze At - 14 April 2014 from 2014-04-13T20:56:52

This week, forensic linguists use what they know about speech and writing to testify in courtrooms. And get out your hankies! Martha and Grant are talking about the language of … sneezing. And w...

Keep Your Pants On - 7 April 2014 from 2014-04-06T21:49:12

This week on "A Way with Words": If everyone on the planet spoke a single language, wouldn't that make life a whole lot easier? For that matter, is a common world language even possible? Maybe f...

Springtime Twitterpation - 31 March 2014 from 2014-03-31T01:16:04

Springtime is the right time to feel twitterpated—you know, you're smitten beyond a crush. Speaking of relationships, are dog owners really owners, or should they call themselves something else, li...

Dust Bunnies - 24 March 2014 from 2014-03-24T02:41:37

This week on "A Way with Words": Is it cheating to say you've read a book if you only listened to it on tape? Over the centuries, the way we think about reading has changed a lot.There was a time, ...

Sound of a Kiss - 17 March 2014 from 2014-03-17T16:49:14

This week on "A Way with Words": You're at a social gathering and meet someone you'd like to know better. What do you ask to get a real conversation going? Some people lead with "What do you do?...

Blow a Gasket - 10 March 2014 from 2014-03-10T02:00:33

The Pope is tweeting in Latin! But can an ancient language adapt to a world of selfies and hashtags? Speaking of the future, cars are now talking to each other with V-2-V communication. And pit bul...

Dog-and-Pony Show (Rebroadcast) - 3 March 2014 from 2014-03-02T20:46:40

Remember getting caught sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G? Grant and Martha wax nostalgic on some classic schoolyard rhymes. What do you call your offspring once they've grown up? Adult children?...

Good Juju (Rebroadcast) - 24 February 2014 from 2014-02-24T06:11:56

Imagine a time when heroin was marketed for the whole family. It really happened. Also, how Twitter, M&M's, and Hallmark cards got their names. Plus, restaurant slang, bad juju, having a wild ha...

Feeling Gruntled - 17 February 2014 from 2014-02-17T00:09:09

Hyperbolic Headlines Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity!!!! Or maybe not. You've seen those breathless headlines on the internet, like "You Won't Believe What This 7-year-old Said to The Presid...

The Big Cheese - 10 February 2014 from 2014-02-09T17:04:22

Is it time to replace the expression "the mentally ill"? Some argue that it's is stigmatizing and doesn't reflect the diversity of the human condition. And why do we say "put on your shoes and sock...

By the Seat of Your Pants - 3 February 2014 from 2014-02-02T19:48

Dude! We're used to hearing the word "dude" applied to guys. But increasingly, young women use the word "dude" to address each other. Grant and Martha talk about linguistic research about the me...

How America Talks - 27 January 2014 from 2014-01-26T23:33

For language lovers, it's like New Year's, Fourth of July, and the Super Bowl all rolled into one: The brand-new online edition of the Dictionary of American Regional English. Martha and Grant e...

Polyglot Problems (Rebroadcast) - 20 January 2014 from 2014-01-20T01:07

This week on "A Way with Words": Say you're in line at the drugstore. Does it bother you if the cashier says, "Next guest"? In department stores and coffeeshops, does the term "guest" suggest re...

Ride the Merry-Go-Round (Rebroadcast) - 13 January 2014 from 2014-01-13T05:06

A pint-sized mad scientist, a green-haired girl with a contagious sense of wonder, and a 10-year-old detective. They're all characters in the books on Grant's latest list of recommended books fo...

Bouncy House of Language (Rebroadcast) - 6 January 2014 from 2014-01-06T03:17

SUMMARY

Some people proudly embrace the label cancer survivor, while others feel that's not quite the right word. Is there a better term for someone who's battled cancer? Writers and ...

On the Shoe Phone (Rebroadcast) - 30 December 2013 from 2013-12-30T01:09

First names like "Patience," "Hope," and "Charity" are inspired by worthy qualities. But how about "Be-courteous" or "Hate-evil"? The Puritans sometimes gave children such names hoping that thei...

Thrown for a Loop - 23 December 2013 from 2013-12-22T23:26

We all lead busy lives--so are speed reading courses a good idea? Plus, if you hear someone speaking with a British accent, do you tend to assume they're somehow more intelligent? And some common E...

Sexy Prunes - 16 December 2013 from 2013-12-15T19:45

You're in a business meeting. Is it bad manners to take out phone to send or read a text? A new study suggests that how you feel about mid-meeting texting differs depending on your age and sex. Gra...

Not Quite a Boyfriend - 9 December 2013 from 2013-12-09T04:20

If an older man and woman spend lots of time together, going to family gatherings and the like, but they're NOT dating, what do you call their relationship? Best friends? Dear friends? Or . . . ...

Got Your Six (Rebroadcast) - 2 December 2013 from 2013-12-02T00:46

Starting this year, Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants not only have to spell words correctly. A controversial new rule means they'll have to answer vocabulary questions, too. Also, when ...

Wet Brick - 25 November 2013 from 2013-11-24T17:12

What the fox says may be a mystery, but we do know that dogs bark differently around the world. In China, for example, they say not bow-wow but wang wang.  Also, the story behind the British tradit...

Catbird Seat - 18 November 2013 from 2013-11-17T21:16

Online recaps of Mad Men or Breaking Bad can be as much fun as the shows themselves. So why not recap classic literature -- like, say, Dante's Inferno? A literary website is doing just that. And...

Jumped Up Bald-Headed - 11 November 2013 from 2013-11-11T00:55

What do your pronouns say about your own psychological makeup? If you use the word I a lot, does it mean you're a leader . . . or a follower? A surprising study suggests that people of lower sta...

I'll Be Your Boo - 4 November 2013 from 2013-11-03T19:54

This week on "A Way with Words":  It's the language of Wisconsin: If you're nibbling on slippery Jims or sipping sweet soup, chances are you're in the Badger State. Also, the famous abolitionist wh...

Monkey's Wedding - 28 October 2013 from 2013-10-28T00:29

It's the art of constructive feedback: If you're a teacher with a mountain of papers to grade, you may find yourself puzzling over which kinds of notes in the margins work best. Martha and Grant...

Writerly Insults - 21 October 2013 from 2013-10-20T23:51

This week on "A Way with Words": Sure, it's scary to send your writing to a literary agent. But pity the poor agent who must wade through hundreds of terrible query letters a week! One of them s...

Mr. Can't Died - 14 October 2013 from 2013-10-14T02:02

This week on "A Way with Words": You pick up what you think a glass of water and take a sip, but it turns out to be Sprite. What's the word for that sensation when you're expecting one thing and...

Drop a Dime - 7 October 2013 from 2013-10-06T16:42

This week on "A Way with Words": Why call it a doggy bag when it's really for your husband? This week on "A Way with Words": Why call it a doggy bag when it's really for your husband? Grant and ...

That Old-Book Smell - 30 September 2013 from 2013-09-29T17:33

This week on "A Way with Words": You walk into a used bookstore, or pull down an old volume at the library, and there it is: The smell of old books. If you detect notes of vanilla in that intoxi...

A Hole to China (Rebroadcast) - 23 September 2013 from 2013-09-22T21:08

Have a question about objective pronouns? Whom ya gonna call? Wait--is that right? Or would it be "who ya gonna call"? "Whom" may be technically correct, but insisting on it can get you called a...

Whistling Dixie (Rebroadcast) - 16 September 2013 from 2013-09-16T00:32

Today's most popular dog names are Max and Bella.  In the Middle Ages, though, dogs would answer to names like Amiable. Or Nosewise. Or even . . . Clench. And is the term redneck derogatory? Som...

Gnarly Foot (Rebroadcast) - 9 September 2013 from 2013-09-08T18:08

It's the Up Goer Five Challenge! Try to describe something complex using only the thousand most common words in English. It's a useful mental exercise that's harder than you might think. Also, i...

Bump and Grind (Rebroadcast) - 2 September 2013 from 2013-09-01T00:53

Remember a few years ago when Amazon introduced that mysterious device called a Kindle? People worried that electronic readers would replace traditional books. Turns out the death of the hardcov...

Gracious Plenty (Rebroadcast) - 26 August 2013 from 2013-08-26T03:40

When somebody sneezes, you say, Bless you or Gesundheit. But suppose that person coughs. Are you supposed to say something--or are they?  Plus, Mexican standoffs, gracious plenty, linguistic fal...

Cute As a Button (Rebroadcast) - 19 August 2013 from 2013-08-19T01:03

Did you ever wonder why we capitalize the pronoun "I," but not any other pronoun? There's a reason, and it may not be what you think. Also, the romantic story behind our term "halcyon days," the...

South End of a Chicken (Rebroadcast) - 12 August 2013 from 2013-08-11T17:31

Are your nightstand books all over the place? Why not stack 'em into a bookmash? A bookmash is a kind of found poetry formed from book titles! And we all know that honesty is the best policy. Bu...

Pie in the Sky (Rebroadcast) August 3, 2013 from 2013-08-05T15:23:02

Looking for a book to read with the kids, or maybe a guide to becoming a better writer? Why are leg cramps called charley horses? And where’d we get a phrase like pie in the sky? If you happen to b...

Little Pitchers (Rebroadcast) - 29 July 2013 from 2013-07-28T22:20

Can reading poetry make you a better writer? Grant and Martha discuss how reading poetry improves your prose. Also, how linguists guess where you come from based on how you speak. And what do yo...

Kissed Her on the Stairs (Rebroadcast) - 22 July 2013 from 2013-07-22T00:10

Do Americans use the same sign language as the Brits? And what do Japanese people use instead of "umm?" Grant and Martha cover language shifts across the globe. Plus, why we vote at polling plac...

A Dancer Who Walks for a Living (Rebroadcast) - 15 July 2013 from 2013-07-14T22:51

You dream of writing the great American novel, but to make ends meet, you spend your days writing boring corporate reports. There's a difference between writing for love and writing for a living...

Make a Train Take a Dirt Road (Rebroadcast) - 8 July 2013 from 2013-07-05T16:58

Would some Hollywood classics still have been box-office hits if they'd stuck with their original names? Take Anhedonia, which later became Annie Hall. Or $3000, which became Pretty Woman. And c...

Polyglot Problems - 1 July 2013 from 2013-06-24T22:06

This week on "A Way with Words": Say you're in line at the drugstore. Does it bother you if the cashier says, "Next guest"? In department stores and coffeeshops, does the term "guest" suggest re...

Ride the Merry-Go-Round - 24 June 2013 from 2013-06-23T21:18

A pint-sized mad scientist, a green-haired girl with a contagious sense of wonder, and a 10-year-old detective. They're all characters in the books on Grant's latest list of recommended books fo...

Bouncy House of Language - 17 June 2013 from 2013-06-16T14:45

Some people proudly embrace the label cancer survivor, while others feel that's not quite the right word. Is there a better term for someone who's battled cancer? Writers and listeners share the...

The One Who Brung You (Rebroadcast) - 10 June 2013 from 2013-06-09T15:40

You've been reading a book but you're just not into it. How do you quit it, guilt-free? How do you break up with a book? Also, what do you ask for when you go through the grocery checkout line: ...

On the Shoe Phone - 3 June 2013 from 2013-06-02T16:19

First names like "Patience," "Hope," and "Charity" are inspired by worthy qualities. But how about "Be-courteous" or "Hate-evil"? The Puritans sometimes gave children such names hoping that thei...

Fake English (Rebroadcast) - 27 May 2013 from 2013-05-26T16:31

Everyone knows you don't start a sentence with "But." But why? We sort out the confusion over this little word. Also, how voice recognition technology is changing the way we think and write, and...

Can of Worms (Rebroadcast) - 20 May 2013 from 2013-05-19T23:48

What do you call a guy with a bald pate? A chrome dome? Maybe the lucky fellow is sporting a solar panel for a sex machine. Also, which would you rather open: a can of worms or Pandora's Box? Pl...

Got Your Six - 13 May 2013 from 2013-05-12T19:45

Starting this year, Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants not only have to spell words correctly. A controversial new rule means they'll have to answer vocabulary questions, too. Also, when ...

Nothing to Sneeze At (Rebroadcast) - 6 May 2013 from 2013-05-05T16:27

This week, forensic linguists use what they know about speech and writing to testify in courtrooms. And get out your hankies! Martha and Grant are talking about the language of … sneezing. And w...

Gone Pecan (Rebroadcast) - 29 April 2013 from 2013-04-29T00:12

How did the word "gay" go from meaning "happy" to "homosexual"? Martha and Grant discuss the evolution of this word. Also, why are elementary schools sometimes called grammar schools? Plus, imel...

Dog-and-Pony Show (Rebroadcast) - 22 April 2013 from 2013-04-22T02:04:22

Remember getting caught sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G? Grant and Martha wax nostalgic on some classic schoolyard rhymes. What do you call your offspring once they've grown up? Adult children?...

Good Juju (Rebroadcast) - 15 April 2013 from 2013-04-12T17:59

Imagine a time when heroin was marketed for the whole family. It really happened. Also, how Twitter, M&M's, and Hallmark cards got their names. Plus, restaurant slang, bad juju, having a wild ha...

What is a Hipster (Rebroadcast) - 8 April 2013 from 2013-04-07T17:52

Get out your skinny jeans and pass the PBR! Martha and Grant discuss the definition of the word hipster. Also, what happens when you pull a brodie? And why do we describe something cheap or poor...

A Hole to China - 1 April 2013 from 2013-03-31T19:10

Have a question about objective pronouns? Whom ya gonna call? Wait--is that right? Or would it be "who ya gonna call"? "Whom" may be technically correct, but insisting on it can get you called a...

Crazy Crossword Clues (Rebroadcast) - 25 March 2013 from 2013-03-24T16:48

Should youngsters learn cursive handwriting in school? Plus, someone can be ruthless, but can that same person be ruthful? Which word refers to something larger, humongous or gargantuan? Also, f...

Whistling Dixie - 18 March 2013 from 2013-03-17T18:31

Today's most popular dog names are Max and Bella.  In the Middle Ages, though, dogs would answer to names like Amiable. Or Nosewise. Or even . . . Clench. And is the term redneck derogatory? Som...

Gnarly Foot - 11 March 2013 from 2013-03-11T01:01

It's the Up Goer Five Challenge! Try to describe something complex using only the thousand most common words in English. It's a useful mental exercise that's harder than you might think. Also, i...

Bump and Grind - 4 March 2013 from 2013-03-03T23:09

Remember a few years ago when Amazon introduced that mysterious device called a Kindle? People worried that electronic readers would replace traditional books. Turns out the death of the hardcov...

Two Shades of Grey (Rebroadcast) - 25 February 2013 from 2013-02-24T23:16

You've probably noticed how work always seems to expand to fill the time given to complete it. But did you know there's a term for that? Also this week, the New England exclamation So don't I!, ...

Raining Cats and Dogs (Rebroadcast) - 18 February 2013 from 2013-02-17T21:04

Get out your umbrellas -- it's raining pitchforks and . . . bullfrogs? This week, it's odd expressions that mean "a heavy downpour." Also, holistic vs. wholistic, recurrence vs. reoccurrence, fl...

Gracious Plenty - 11 February 2013 from 2013-02-10T19:01

When somebody sneezes, you say, Bless you or Gesundheit. But suppose that person coughs. Are you supposed to say something--or are they?  Plus, Mexican standoffs, gracious plenty, linguistic fal...

Cute As a Button - 4 February 2013 from 2013-02-03T00:00

Did you ever wonder why we capitalize the pronoun "I," but not any other pronoun? There's a reason, and it may not be what you think. Also, the romantic story behind our term "halcyon days," the...

South End of a Chicken - 28 January 2013 from 2013-01-27T16:44

Are your nightstand books all over the place? Why not stack 'em into a bookmash? A bookmash is a kind of found poetry formed from book titles! And we all know that honesty is the best policy. Bu...

Like a Bad Penny (Rebroadcast) - 21 January 2013 from 2013-01-20T00:08

What did you call the cliques in your high school? Were you a member of the nerds, the jocks, or maybe the "grits" or the "heshers"? Also, what's the meaning of the phrase "rolling in the deep"?...

The Horse You Rode In On (Rebroadcast) - 14 January 2013 from 2013-01-13T20:45

What colorful language do you use to when you're angry and  tempted to use a four-letter word? There's a difference between cursing and cussing: It takes a slow mind to curse, but an active, vib...

The Shank of the Evening (Rebroadcast) - 7 January 2013 from 2013-01-07T16:11

What time is it if it's "the crack of chicken"? And when exactly is the "shank of the evening"? How do you pronounce the word spelled H-O-V-E-R? Did Warren G. Harding really coin the word normal...

Rock, Paper, Scissors (Rebroadcast) - 30 December 2012 from 2012-12-30T18:45

Does the thought of going without your cellphone fill you with separation anxiety? Grant and Martha coin some monikers for this modern-day phobia. Also, what's the best way to win at the game of...

Clean As a Whistle - 24 December 2012 from 2012-12-24T04:47

Finding that special bottle of wine can be tough, and even tougher if you're not fluent in winespeak. "Strawberries, rhubarb, and hints of leather are present in the nose." Say what? We discuss ...

Help support A Way with Words today from 2012-12-21T18:19:36

This year, generous gifts from people like you made a difference:We're producing more new episodes than ever. We're taking our mission into communities by partnering with educational and cultural i...

Pie in the Sky - 17 December 2012 from 2012-12-16T23:49

Looking for a book to read with the kids, or maybe a guide to becoming a better writer? Plus, why are leg cramps called charley horses? And where'd we get a phrase like "pie in the sky"? If you ...

Little Pitchers - 10 December 2012 from 2012-12-10T02:07

Can reading poetry make you a better writer? Grant and Martha discuss how reading poetry improves your prose. Also, how linguists guess where you come from based on how you speak. And what do yo...

Kissed Her on the Stairs - 3 December 2012 from 2012-12-02T20:49

Do Americans use the same sign language as the Brits? And what do Japanese people use instead of "umm?" Grant and Martha cover language shifts across the globe. Plus, why we vote at polling plac...

Mute Point (Rebroadcast) - 26 November 2012 from 2012-11-26T17:10

What do you call it when you roll through a stop sign without ever coming to a complete stop? A California stop, a Michigan stop -- or something else? And if someone calls you a voracious reader...

A Dancer Who Walks for a Living - 19 November 2012 from 2012-11-18T21:50

You dream of writing the great American novel, but to make ends meet, you spend your days writing boring corporate reports. There's a difference between writing for love and writing for a living...

Make a Train Take a Dirt Road - 12 November 2012 from 2012-11-11T23:33

Remember the classic films Dogumentary and $3000? Those were their working titles, before they became Best In Show and Pretty Woman. We look at how movie titles evolve and change. Also, is Spang...

The One Who Brung You - 5 November 2012 from 2012-11-05T00:11

You've been reading a book but you're just not into it. How do you quit it, guilt-free? How do you break up with a book? Also, what do you ask for when you go through the grocery checkout line: ...

Fake English - 29 October 2012 from 2012-10-28T21:32

Everyone knows you don't start a sentence with "But." But why? We sort out the confusion over this little word. Also, how voice recognition technology is changing the way we think and write, and...

Can Of Worms - 22 October 2012 from 2012-10-21T17:19

What do you call a guy with a bald pate? A chrome dome? Maybe the lucky fellow is sporting a solar panel for a sex machine. Also, which would you rather open: a can of worms or Pandora's Box? Pl...

Nothing to Sneeze At - 15 October 2012 from 2012-10-15T06:38

This week, forensic linguists use what they know about speech and writing to testify in courtrooms. And get out your hankies! Martha and Grant are talking about the language of … sneezing. And w...

Gone Pecan - 8 October 2012 from 2012-10-07T23:29

How did the word "gay" go from meaning "happy" to "homosexual"? Martha and Grant discuss the evolution of this word. Also, why are elementary schools sometimes called grammar schools? Plus, imel...

Dog-and-Pony Show - 1 October 2012 from 2012-09-30T19:30

Remember getting caught sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G? Grant and Martha wax nostalgic on some classic schoolyard rhymes. What do you call your offspring once they've grown up? Adult children?...

Good Juju - 24 September 2012 from 2012-09-23T22:56

Imagine a time when heroin was marketed for the whole family. It really happened. Also, how Twitter, M&M's, and Hallmark cards got their names. Plus, restaurant slang, bad juju, having a wild ha...

The Uncanny Valley (Rebroadcast) - 17 September 2012 from 2012-09-16T16:52

Do you ever wonder why the almost-human characters that appear in video games can seem downright creepy? That disturbing sensation is called "the uncanny valley." Speaking of creepy, do you know...

Kissing Games (Rebroadcast) - 10 September 2012 from 2012-09-10T00:41

What's the best way to help your child learn to speak a foreign language? One option is an immersion school, where teachers avoid speaking English. Also, did you ever play paddle while riding in...

The Rubber Match - 3 Sept. 2012 (rebroadcast) from 2012-09-03T12:54:17

SHOW SUMMARY

Survey time! Do you call that kind of cap a beanie, a toboggan, or a stocking hat, or something else? What about rubber-soled...

Strange Spelling Bee Words (Rebroadcast) - 27 August 2012 from 2012-08-26T23:29

Why do spelling bees include such bizarre, obsolete words like cymotrichous? And why is New York called the Big Apple? Also, the stinky folk medicine tradition called an asifidity bag. Worn arou...

The Secret Language of Gibberish (Rebroadcast) - 20 August 2012 from 2012-08-19T22:41

What do pigs have to do with piggyback rides? Martha and Grant have the answer. They also get a lesson from a listener in the fine art of speaking gibberish. And what's the correct way to pronou...

By Jingo (Rebroadcast) - 13 August 2012 from 2012-08-12T23:54

If your friend says she's coming to town "Sunday week," exactly when should you expect to see her? And what do you call those typographical symbols that cartoonists use in place of profanity? Ma...

Like a Boss (Rebroadcast) - 6 August 2012 from 2012-08-06T14:53

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's . . . "witches knickers"? Well, what do YOU call those stray plastic bags littering the landscape? Also, what it means to do something "like a boss," how to hyphe...

A Murmuration of Starlings (Rebroadcast) - 30 July 2012 from 2012-07-30T02:49

If you've ever eaten Flavor-Crisp Chicken, it was probably served with JoJo potatoes. And speaking of fried chicken, ever wonder why colonel isn't pronounced "KOH-loh-nell"? Grant and Martha hav...

Not the Thongs You're Thinking Of (Rebroadcast) - 23 July 2012 from 2012-07-22T18:18

Is it cool for parents to use their children's slang? What's wrong with the term "illegal alien"? Grant and Martha discuss possible alternatives. The catchphrase Who's Yehudi refers to the myste...

The Whole Kit and Caboodle (Rebroadcast) - 16 July 2012 from 2012-07-16T01:24

Nothing brightens up an email like an emoticon. But is it appropriate to include a smiley face in an email to your boss? Also, what do time management experts mean when they say you should start...

Why Do Auctioneers Talk So Fast (Rebroadcast) - 9 July 2012 from 2012-07-08T18:42

Why do auctioneers talk so fast?  Martha and Grant discuss the rapid-fire speech of auctioneers, and how it gets you to bid higher. Also, why so many books have ridiculously long titles, where y...

Things Parents Say (Rebroadcast) - 2 July 2012 from 2012-07-02T01:29

Ever drop a reference that just makes you sound, well, of a certain age? Grant and Martha discuss slang that's often lost on a younger or older generation. Why is the entree the main course? Sho...

What's a Hipster? from 2012-06-24T16:54

Get out your skinny jeans and pass the PBR! Martha and Grant discuss the definition of the word hipster. Also, what happens when you pull a brodie? And why do we describe something cheap or poorly ...

Crazy Crossword Clues - 18 June 2012 from 2012-06-17T18:57

Should youngsters learn cursive handwriting in school? Plus, someone can be ruthless, but can that same person be ruthful? Which word refers to something larger, humongous or gargantuan? Also, f...

Behind every hour is you -- we're celebrating five independent years! from 2012-06-11T17:23:07

A Way with Words is celebrating its fifth anniversary as an independent program!

Thanks to Listen

Lousy with Diamonds - 11 June 2012 from 2012-06-11T07:40

Can children adopted from other countries easily re-learn their native languages as adults? And if you're invited to an old-fashioned pound party, what should you bring? Also, regi...

Two Shades of Grey - 4 June 2012 from 2012-06-03T21:36

You've probably noticed how work always seems to expand to fill the time given to complete it. But did you know there's a term for that? Also this week, the New England exclamation So don't I!, ...

Raining Cats and Dogs - 28 May 2012 from 2012-05-28T18:17

Get out your umbrellas -- it's raining pitchforks and . . . bullfrogs? This week, it's odd expressions that mean "a heavy downpour." Also, holistic vs. wholistic, recurrence vs. reoccurrence, fl...

Why Do Girls Wear Pink (Rebroadcast) - 21 May 2012 from 2012-05-21T16:10

We all know that the color pink is for boys and the color blue is for girls--at least, that's how it was 100 years ago. Grant and Martha share the surprising history behind the colors we associa...

Books With a Letter Missing (Rebroadcast) - 14 May 2012 from 2012-05-14T16:25

Remember those children's classics, the Velveteen Rabbi and The Little Price? The Twitterverse is abound with these books with a letter missing. And it turns out there's some pimping going on in...

Like a Bad Penny - 7 May 2012 from 2012-05-07T15:55

What did you call the cliques in your high school? Were you a member of the nerds, the jocks, or maybe the "grits" or the "heshers"? Also, what's the meaning of the phrase "rolling in the deep"?...

The Horse You Rode In On - 30 April 2012 from 2012-04-30T15:55

What colorful language do you use to when you're angry and tempted to use a four-letter word? There's a difference between cursing and cussing: It takes a slow mind to curse, but an active, vibr...

Shank of the Evening - 23 April 2012 from 2012-04-23T17:45

What time is it if it's "the crack of chicken"? And when exactly is the "shank of the evening"? How do you pronounce the word spelled H-O-V-E-R? Did Warren G. Harding really coin the word normal...

Going All City (Rebroadcast) - 16 April 2012 from 2012-04-16T15:08

Have you been dining on a budget lately? Martha recommends the necessity mess, potato bargain, and other tasty regional foods that won't break the bank. Plus, what's a doomaflatchie? And what do...

The College Slang Party (Rebroadcast) - 9 April 2012 from 2012-04-09T15:43

What would you wear to an ABC party? Hint: the letters stand for "Anything But Clothes." Any guesses what you'd wear to a tight-and-bright party? Martha gives a taste of the college party termin...

Him and I or Him and Me (Rebroadcast) - 2 April 2012 from 2012-04-02T17:52

If someone offered you a croaker with an old man's face, would you accept? You should! Croaker is a slang term for "hundred dollar bill." And did you ever wonder why we turn UP the A.C. to bring...

Rock Paper Scissors - 26 March 2012 from 2012-03-26T16:33

Does the thought of going without your cellphone fill you with separation anxiety? Grant and Martha coin some monikers for this modern-day phobia. Also, what's the best way to win at the game of...

Mute Point - 19 March 2012 from 2012-03-19T16:53

What do you call it when you roll through a stop sign without ever coming to a complete stop? A California stop, a Michigan stop -- or something else? And if someone calls you a voracious reader...

The Uncanny Valley - 12 March 2012 from 2012-03-12T16:58

Do you ever wonder why the almost-human characters that appear in video games can seem downright creepy? That disturbing sensation is called "the uncanny valley." Speaking of creepy, do you know...

The Bees Knees (Rebroadcast) - 5 March 2012 from 2012-03-05T17:32

Let's put the moose on the table: You have questions, and Grant and Martha have answers. For example, why would someone have an albatross around his neck? And what's so cool about bees' knees, a...

Put That in Your Pipe and Smoke It (Rebroadcast) - 27 February 2012 from 2012-02-27T03:11

Which came first, orange the color or orange the fruit? And what's a busman's holiday? Martha and Grant talk about bumbershoots, brollies, nursery rhymes, and alternatives to the word "unicycle....

Kissing Games - 20 February 2012 from 2012-02-20T16:38

What's the best way to help your child learn to speak a foreign language? One option is an immersion school, where teachers avoid speaking English. Also, did you ever play padiddle while riding ...

The Rubber Match - 13 February 2012 from 2012-02-12T18:37

Survey time! Do you call that kind of cap a beanie, a toboggan, or a stocking hat, or something else? What about rubber-soled athletic shoes? Do you call them sneakers or tennis shoes? Also, gre...

Strange Spelling Bee Words - 6 February 2012 from 2012-02-06T17:58

Why do spelling bees include such bizarre, obsolete words like cymotrichous? And why is New York called the Big Apple? Also, the stinky folk medicine tradition called an asifidity bag. Worn arou...

Gibberish Language - 30 January 2012 from 2012-01-30T17:29

SUMMARY

What do pigs have to do with piggyback rides? Martha and Grant have the answer. They also get a lesson from a listener in the fine art of speaking gibberish. And what's the co...

By Jingo - 23 January 2012 from 2012-01-22T19:57

SHOW SUMMARY

If your friend says she's coming to town "Sunday week," exactly when should you expect to see her? And what do you call those typographical symbols that cartoonists use i...

Like a Boss - 16 January 2012 from 2012-01-16T16:47

SHOW SUMMARY

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's . . . "witches' knickers"? Well, what do YOU call those stray plastic bags littering the landscape? Also, what it means to do something "l...

Pickles and Ice Cream (rebroadcast) - 9 January 2012 from 2012-01-09T16:08

SUMMARY

How about some wind pudding with a dollop of air sauce? What's in a tavern sandwich? Do pregnant women really crave pickles and ice cream? Grant and Martha dig in to colorful ...

Who You Calling a Jabroney? (rebroadcast) - 2 January 2012 from 2012-01-02T17:40

SHOW SUMMARY

Yo! Who you callin' a jabronie? And what exactly is a jabronie, anyway? Also, what do vintage school buses and hack writers have in common? Grant and Martha trace the ori...

You Bet Your Sweet Bippy (Rebroadcast) - 26 December 2011 from 2011-12-25T01:07

SUMMARY

Why do some puns strike us as clever, while others are plain old groaners? Martha and Grant puzzle over this question. Also, the difference between baggage and luggage, a roya...

Bah Humblebrag - 19 December 2011 from 2011-12-19T18:17

SHOW SUMMARY

What's YOUR choice for the Word of the Year for 2011? What word or phrase best sums up the ideas, events, and themes that speakers of English have been talking about? Gra...

Special Request! -- Help Support A Way with Words from 2011-12-15T00:06

Give Now for the $25,000 Fundraising Challenge Dear friends and listeners, As we near the end of our biggest year yet, we must raise $25,000 to cover the remainder of this season. We ne...

A Murmuration of Starlings - 12 December 2011 from 2011-12-12T18:23

SHOW SUMMARY

If you've ever eaten Flavor-Crisp Chicken, it was probably served with JoJo potatoes. And speaking of fried chicken, ever wonder why colonel isn't pronounced "KOH-loh-nel...

Not the Thongs You're Thinking Of - 5 December 2011 from 2011-12-05T18:19

SHOW SUMMARY

Is it cool for parents to use their children's slang? What's wrong with the term "illegal alien"? Grant and Martha discuss possible alternatives. The catchphrase Who's Ye...

Cathead Biscuits (Rebroadcast) - 28 November 2011 from 2011-11-28T12:26

SUMMARY

Ever eaten golden catheads for breakfast? Yum! A listener shares this Southern term for big, fluffy biscuits. Also, how did people greet each other before "hello" became a sta...

Heads Up! It's a Meteor! (rebroadcast) - 21 November 2011 from 2011-11-14T16:24

SUMMARY

"Well, butter my buns and call me a biscuit!" Martha and Grant talk about great catch phrases from old-time radio comedies. Also, why do we speak of a meteoric rise? Don't met...

The Whole Kit and Caboodle - 14 November 2011 from 2011-11-14T16:09

SUMMARY

Nothing brightens up an email like an emoticon. But is it appropriate to include a smiley face in an email to your boss? Also, what do time management experts mean when they s...

Why Do Auctioneers Talk So Fast? - 7 November 2011 from 2011-11-07T00:27

SUMMARY

Why do auctioneers talk so fast?  Martha and Grant discuss the rapid-fire speech of auctioneers, and how it gets you to bid higher. Also, why so many books have ridiculously l...

You Sound Old - 31 October 2011 from 2011-10-31T16:23

SUMMARY

Ever drop a reference that just makes you sound, well, of a certain age? Grant and Martha discuss language that's often lost on a younger or older generation. Why is the entre...

Why Do Girls Wear Pink? - 24 October 2011 from 2011-10-23T22:53

SUMMARY

We all know that the color pink is for boys and the color blue is for girls--at least, that's how it was 100 years ago. Grant and Martha share the surprising history behind th...

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels (rebroadcast) - 19 September 2011 from 2011-09-19T00:58

SUMMARY

If you say to someone the Spanish equivalent of you're giving me green hairs (me sacas canas verdes), it means that person is making you angry. In Japan, the phrase that liter...

Burrito Baby (rebroadcast) - 12 September 2011 from 2011-09-11T21:32

SUMMARY

More and more college students are getting pregnant--with burrito babies. Grant talks about new terms for "a full stomach" and other examples of campus slang. Also, is it safe...

One Space or Two (rebroadcast) - 5 September 2011 from 2011-09-05T17:01

SUMMARYIs typing two spaces after a period "totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong?" Martha and Grant disagree. Also, is the language of the movie "True Grit" historically accurate? Als...

Seeing The Elephant (rebroadcast) - 29 August 2011 from 2011-08-29T15:32

SUMMARYThis week on "A Way with Words": If you've "seen the elephant," it means you've been in combat. But why an elephant? Also, Martha and Grant discuss some funny idioms in Spanish, including on...

Eastern Seaboard West Coast (rebroadcast) - 22 August 2011 from 2011-08-22T15:21

SUMMARYShadowdabbled. Moon-blanched. Augusttremulous. William Faulkner often used odd adjectives like these. But why? Grant and Martha discuss the poetic effects of compressed language. Also, Afric...

Red Light, Green Light (minicast) - 17 Aug. 2011 from 2011-08-17T05:00

Hot traffic talk! A caller is looking for a word for the point at which you have to reach in order to make it through a stoplight before it turns red. --A Way with Words is funded by its listene...

Nerd vs Geek (rebroadcast) - 15 August 2011 from 2011-08-15T16:26

SUMMARYWhat do the words marathon, paisley, and bikini have in common? They're all words that derive from the names of places. Martha and Grant talk toponyms. Also, what's the difference between a ...

Of Pupae and Pupils (minicast) - 10 Aug. 2011 from 2011-08-10T05:00

A question from a listener on the “A Way with Words” Facebook page has Martha musing about the entomological and etymological connections between the word pupil and the pupal stage of an insect’s l...

Infix is Just Another Word for Fanfreakintastic (minicast) - 3 Aug. 2011 from 2011-08-03T17:10:03

What's the one word that comes to mind when you hear the name J. D. Salinger? "Masterpiece"? "Recluse"? How about the "F-word"?  An Indianapolis listener came across an article about Salinger's ...

Cannibal Sandwich Anyone (rebroadcast) - 1 August 2011 from 2011-08-01T16:54

SUMMARY Ready for some crazy crossword clues? The hosts discuss some clever ones, like "Hula hoop?" (3 letters). Also, is the correct term jury-rigged or jerry-rigged? Why are Marines called Gyrene...

Guess What (rebroadcast) - 25 July 2011 from 2011-07-25T15:26

SUMMARYEnglish is full of unusual terms, both old (eleemosynary, favonian) and new (flyway, catio). Also, the Swahili term that means "sleep like a log," the multiple meanings of the word joint, wh...

Beanplating the Lunatic Fringe (rebroadcast) - 18 July 2011 from 2011-07-18T19:01

SUMMARYIn this week's episode, "It was bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen." Martha and Grant discuss their favorite first lines from novels. Also this week, Palmer Housi...

Who is Chester Drawers - 11 July 2011 from 2011-07-08T16:37

SUMMARYSome of the world's most famous writers had to support themselves with day jobs. Martha and Grant discuss well-known authors who toiled away at other trades. Also this week, Eskimo kisses, t...

A Yankee Dime - 4 July 2011 from 2011-07-01T14:32

SUMMARYRemember misunderstanding certain words as a child? Maybe you figured "cat burglars" only stole cats, or assumed guerrilla fighters must be angry apes. Martha and Grant discuss childhood mis...

Tweet Nothings - 13 June 2011 from 2011-06-13T21:07

SUMMARYHow much humor and personality can you pack into a 140-character update? A lot, it turns out. Martha and Grant talk about funny Twitter feeds. Also this week, the origins of skosh and can't ...

Tend to the Rat-Killin' - 6 June 2011 from 2011-06-06T16:02

SUMMARYAnagrams, rebuses, cryptograms, Jumble -- Martha and Grant swap stories about the games that first made them realize that playing with words and letters can be fun. Also this week, what's a ...

Everything is Tickety-Boo - 9 May 2011 from 2011-05-09T17:56

SUMMARYNews reports that the makers of Scrabble were changing the rules to allow proper names left some purists fuming. The rumors were false, but they got Grant thinking about idiosyncratic adapta...

The Ultimate Slang Dictionary - 2 May 2011 from 2011-05-02T21:37

SUMMARY

When it comes to language, who's the decider? Grant explains how grammar rules develop. Also, what's tarantula juice, and what's the difference between a muffin top and a smil...

Like Death Eating a Cracker (rebroadcast) - 25 Apr. 2011 from 2011-04-25T19:09

[This episode first aired May 1, 2010.] SUMMARYDigital timepieces may be changing the way we talk, at least a little. There's Bob o'clock (8:08), Big o'clock (8:19), and even Pi o'clock. Also this...

A Pickle Short of a Jar (rebroadcast) - 20 Apr. 2011 from 2011-04-20T16:53

[This episode first aired April 10, 2010.]SUMMARYA few pickles short of a jar, a few peas short of a casserole, two French fries short of a Happy Meal -- this week, Martha and Grant discuss these a...

A Murphy, a Melvin, and a Wedgie (rebroadcast) - 29 March 2011 from 2011-03-29T17:19:58

[This episode first aird March 13, 2010.]

When it comes to joining Facebook affinity groups, grammar lovers have lots of choices. Take, for example, the group whose motto is Punctuati...

Sailor's Delight (rebroadcast) - 21 March 2011 from 2011-03-22T03:21:29

[This episode first aired March 6, 2010.]"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning." Martha talks about this weather proverb, which has been around in one form or...

Qi, Qat, and Za: Great Scrabble Words - 14 March 2011 from 2011-03-15T04:46:11

SUMMARY

Need a good Scrabble word? Grant shares some of his favorites, and invites listeners to challenge him on "Words with Friends." Also, why do we call those classic screwball fil...

It's in My Wheelhouse - 7 March 2011 from 2011-03-07T15:12:54

SUMMARY

What was your first word? Grant and Martha talk about how children acquire language. Also, if you say that something's in your wheelhouse, you mean that it's within your area ...

Sufficiently Suffonsified (rebroadcast) - 31 Jan. 2011 from 2011-01-31T21:19:57

[This episode first aired February 27, 2010.]What's in a pet's name? Martha and Grant swap stories about how they came up with names for their dogs. Also this week: Have you ever been called a "stu...

Word Up! - 17 Jan. 2011 from 2011-01-17T16:19

SUMMARYWhat would you serve a plumber who comes over for dinner? How about ... leeks? The hosts play a word game called "What Would You Serve?" Also, how can you correct someone's grammar without r...

Down A Chimney Up (rebroadcast) - 10 Jan. 2011 from 2011-01-10T20:12:43

[This episode first aired January 23, 2010.]

Good poetry is even better when you read it aloud. For his anthology, "Essential Pleasures" http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Pleasures-Anth...

The Thought Plickens (rebroadcast) - 3 Jan. 2010 from 2011-01-03T21:53:18

[This episode first aired February 6, 2010.]If you're inappropriately focused on the minutiae of a project instead of the bigger picture, you're said to be "bike-shedding." Grant talks about that m...

Cut to the Chase - 27 Dec. 2010 from 2010-12-27T21:44:10

[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...

Too Much Sugar for a Dime - 20 Dec. 2010 from 2010-12-20T17:35:58

SUMMARYIs the term "Oriental" offensive? Many people think so. Martha and Grant discuss the reasons why. Also, where do we get the phrase "not one iota"? Why do we tell someone to "take a gander"? ...

Anaheim, Asuza, and Cuck-a-monga (Rebroadcast) - 6 Dec. 2010 from 2010-12-06T12:33:10

[This episode first aired November 9, 2009.] All aboard! This week, a bit about the musical language of railroad conductors' calls: 'Anaheim, Azusa, and Cu-ca-monga!' Also, the origin of the milita...

Zig-Zag and Shilly-Shally (Rebroadcast) - 29 Nov. 2010 from 2010-11-29T13:46:13

[This episode first aired October 24, 2009.]Bavarian Chalet. Mushroom Basket. Moose Point. Who in the heck comes up with the names of paints, anyway? Martha and Grant ponder that mystery. They also...

A Roberta of Flax - 22 Nov. 2010 from 2010-11-22T15:12:02

SUMMARY We have collective nouns for animals, like "a gaggle of geese," "a pride of lions," and "an exaltation of larks." So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a "greasing of palms," or...

NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz - 16 Nov. 2010 from 2010-11-16T21:00

This week, a special treat: NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz stops by with a quiz about slang and anagrams. Did you know that "A Way with Words" is not produced by NPR or one of the other big radio net...

Words of the Year - 15 Nov. 2010 from 2010-11-15T21:53:27

SUMMARYWhat's your choice for 2010's word of the year? Mama grizzly? Starwhacker? And who could forget vuvuzela? Martha and Grant discuss the Five-Oh in Hawaii 5-0, and whether the tagline "I appro...

Lunatic Fringe - 25 Oct. 2010 from 2010-10-25T04:45:10

SUMMARYIn this week's episode, "It was bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen." Martha and Grant discuss their favorite first lines from novels. Also this week, Palmer Housi...

Drinking Terms (minicast) - 6 Oct. 2010 from 2010-10-06T07:00

An interview with slang lexicographer Paul Dickson about drinking language and his book "Drunk: the Definitive Drinkers Dictionary."--A Way with Words is supported by its listeners. Drop a few buck...

A Louse in a Wrestling Jacket - 4 Oct. 2010 from 2010-10-03T23:55

A California college student is campaigning for international scientific authorities to adopt the slang term hella- as an official prefix indicating a huge number. Will he succeed? Also, how to pro...

A Gazelle on the Lawn (rebroadcast) - 13 Sept. 2010 from 2010-09-14T20:14:06

[This episode first aired March 13, 2010.]What do you say if you have guests over and someone in your family has stray food left on the face? In some households, the secret warning is "there's a ga...

Spendthrift Snollygosters (rebroadcast) - 16 Aug. 2010 from 2010-08-16T00:21:30

[This episode first aired February 20, 2010.]This week, it's the language of politics. Martha and Grant discuss two handy terms describing politicians: "far center" and "snollygoster." Also, a pres...

The Language of Less Than Three (rebroadcast) - 9 Aug. 2010 from 2010-08-09T00:51:27

[This episode first aired February 13, 2010.]  Whoever wrote "The Book of Love" neglected to include the handy emoticon<3, which looks like a heart if you turn your head sideways. Grant and Martha...

A Whole Nother (rebroadcast) - 26 July 2010 from 2010-07-26T03:34:26

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Cellar Door (minicast) - 19 July 2010 from 2010-07-20T03:59:49

The Most Beautiful Words in the English Language: "Cellar Door"?It's been said that the most beautiful combination of words in English is "cellar door." But why? By the way, after this caller raise...

Picklebacks and Mountweazels (rebroadcast) - 12 July 2010 from 2010-07-12T04:45

[This episode first aired January 15, 2010.]

This week on "A Way with Words," Martha and Grant talk about phrases you love to hate, like "Do you mind if I put you on hold?" They also ...

What's the Possessive of Y'all? (minicast) - 8 July 2010 from 2010-07-08T05:32:14

Is it y'all's? Y'alls? Y'alls's? What do all ya'll think?--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write w...

Crash Blossoms: When Words Collide (rebroadcast) - 5 July 2010 from 2010-07-05T15:10

[This episode first aired December 12, 2009.]

This week, it's headlines that make you do a doubletake, like "Child's Stool Great for Use in Garden." Martha and Grant discuss a few of ...

Not to Be Confused with Hieronymus (minicast) - 30 June 2010 from 2010-06-30T04:24:04

A Texas listener came across the word "Boche" in a biography of a French statesman, and wants to know: What does it mean, exactly?--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio....

The Fighting Kewpies, Un-hunh! (rebroadcast) - 28 June 2010 from 2010-06-28T05:12:43

[This episode first aired December 5, 2009.]In high school, no one thinks twice about cheering for the Fighting Trojans or the Tigers. But what about the Hickman Kewpies http://service.columbia.k12...

Forte or For-tay: Is Pronunciation Your Strong Suit? (minicast) - 24 June 2010 from 2010-06-24T04:50:24

How do you pronounce this word that means someone's "strong suit"? And what does it have to do with fencing?--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your lan...

Keep Your Tail Over the Dashboard (rebroadcast) - 21 June 2010 from 2010-06-21T03:11

[This episode first aired November 21, 2010.]

This week, 'McGimpers,' 'geetus,' and other underworld lingo from the
1930s. Crime novelist James Ellroy stops by to talk slang terms and <...

Are You Annoyed by Embololalia? (minicast) - 18 June 2010 from 2010-06-18T04:13

Um, are you, like, one of those people who, um, get, like, really annoyed, by, um, you know, like, um, lots of filler words in, you know, like, conversation? If it's any comfort, there's a great te...

Season and Sea Change (minicast) - 18 June 2010 from 2010-06-18T04:09:38

The first of two podcasts this week includes a special message to "A Way with Words" podcast listeners. Also, Martha answers a listener's email about the term "sea change." Or is it "C change"?--A ...

Get Your Nickels Together for a Jitney Supper - 7 June 2010 from 2010-06-07T04:06:34

Anagrams, rebuses, cryptograms -- Martha and Grant swap stories about the games that first made them realize that playing with words and letters can be fun. Also this week, what's a jitney supper a...