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

Latest Episodes:

Chocolate Gravy (Rebroadcast) - 7 August 2017 Aug 07, 2017

Show notes

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 disorienting sense of someone or something being out of place? Yes! Plus: the term sea change doesn’t have to do with winds changing direction on the surface of the sea. It’s a kind of profound transformation that Shakespeare wrote about. Also, Martha and Grant have recommendations for the book lovers on your gift list, plus titch, chocolate gravy, the overview effect, the cat’s pajamas, snot otters, and zoomies.

Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: ⁠https://waywordradio.org⁠. Be a part of the show: call or text ⁠1 (877) 929-9673⁠ toll-free in the United States and Canada; elsewhere in the world, call or text ⁠+1 619 800 4443⁠. Send voice notes or messages via ⁠WhatsApp 16198004443.⁠ Email ⁠words@waywordradio.org⁠. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.

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Fickle Finger of Fate (Rebroadcast) - 31 July 2017 Jul 31, 2017

Show notes

A young woman wants a family-friendly way to describe a statement that’s fraudulent or bogus, but all the words she can think of sound old-fashioned. Is there a better term than malarkey, poppycock, or rubbish? Also, listeners step up to help a caller looking for a succinct way to explain that a brain injury sometimes makes it hard for her to remember words. Also in this episode: you may remember the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate awarded on the television show Laugh-In. It turns out that the phrase fickle finger of fate is decades older than that!

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Flop Sweat - 24 July 2017 Jul 24, 2017

Show notes

Gerrymandering draws political boundaries to tip elections towards certain political parties. Originally, the word was pronounced “GARY-mandering” with a hard “g.” But why? And why did it change? • Mark Twain and Helen Keller had a devoted friendship. When he heard accusations that she’d plagiarized a story, Twain wrote Keller a fond letter assuring her that there’s nothing new under the sun. • A well-crafted subject line makes email more efficient. One that contains just the word “Question” is almost as useless as no subject line at all. • Plus, flop sweat, vintage clothing, the solfège system, on line vs. in line, groaking, the Hawaiian fish dish called poke, and around the gool.

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/. Email words@waywordradio.org. Twitter @wayword. Our listener phone line 1 (877) 929-9673 is toll-free in the United States and Canada. Elsewhere in the world, call +1 (619) 800-4443; charges may apply. From anywhere, text/SMS +1 (619) 567-9673. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.

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Smile Belt - 17 July 2017 Jul 17, 2017

Show notes

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” — just like the little crown on a bottle of Corona beer. Plus, the phrase throw the baby out with the bathwater contains a vivid image of accidentally tossing something — and so does the phrase to fly off the handle. But where did we get the expression to hell in a handbasket? Also: Biscuit Belt vs. Pine Belt, streely, pizza, tuckered out, FOOSH, and sorry, Charlie!, and how to pronounce via.

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A Shoo-In - 10 July 2017 Jul 10, 2017

Show notes

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 origins? Well, does a duck swim? We’ll hear the stories of polka, smarmy, bully pulpit, and the exes and ohs we use to show our affection. Plus! Sarcastic interrogatives, the echo questions we give as answers to other people’s no-duh queries.

Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be a part of the show: call or text 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; elsewhere in the world, call or text +1 619 800 4443. Send voice notes or messages via WhatsApp 16198004443. Email words@waywordradio.org. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.

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Stars and Garters (Rebroadcast) - 3 July 2017 Jul 03, 2017

Show notes

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 slang lexicographer Jonathon Green is now available to anyone online. And, the art of accepting apologies. If a co-worker is habitually late but apologizes each time, what words can you use to accept their latest apology but also communicate that you never want it to happen again?

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Noon of Night - 26 June 2017 Jun 26, 2017

Show notes

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 practical joke? Is it a crank call or a prank call? There’s a difference. • If someone has a chip on his shoulder, he’s spoiling for a fight — but what kind of chip are we talking about? Potato? Poker? Hint: the phrase arose at a time when working with wood was more likely. • A conversation with an expert on polar bears leads to a discussion of history and folklore around the world. • Plus noon of night, omadhaun, chicken lights, choke-and-slide, tragomaschalia, another think coming vs. another thing coming, and bada bing, bada boom.

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Boss of Me (Rebroadcast) - 19 June 2017 Jun 19, 2017

Show notes

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. Plus, just because a city's name looks familiar doesn't mean you should assume you know how the locals pronounce it. The upstate New York town spelled R-I-G-A isn't pronounced like the city in Latvia. Turns out lots of towns and streets have counterintuitive names. Finally, why do we describe being socially competitive as "keeping up with the Joneses"? The Joneses, it turns out, were comic strip characters. Also, sugar off, filibuster, you're not the boss of me, and lean on your own breakfast.

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Sunny Side Up (Rebroadcast) - 12 June 2017 Jun 12, 2017

Show notes

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 home while employed by a company in another city? Are they telecommuters? Remote workers? One writer wants to popularize a new term for this modern phenomenon: working in place. Also, a powerful essay on white privilege includes a vivid new metaphor for the pain of accumulated slights over a lifetime: chandelier pain. Plus, sunny side up eggs, count nouns, bluebird weather, harp on, think tank, thought box, and how to remember to spell Mississippi.

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 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; worldwide, call or text/SMS +1 (619) 800-4443. Email words@waywordradio.org. Twitter @wayword. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.

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Naked as a Jaybird - 5 June 2017 Jun 05, 2017

Show notes

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 them back while you’re doing other chores. • Book recommendations for youngsters, military slang, and the one-word prank that sends Army recruits running — or at least the ones who are in on the joke! • FANBOYS, technophyte, galoot, land sickness, to have one’s habits on, zonk, and a sciurine eulogy.

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