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

Latest Episodes:

Mute Point (Rebroadcast) - 26 November 2012 Nov 26, 2012

Show notes

What do you call it when you roll past a stop sign without coming to a complete stop? A California stop, a Michigan stop — or something else? And if someone calls you a voracious reader, would you be flattered or insulted? Also, Puddin’ Tame, the outmoded design elements called skeuomorphs, a clever Spanish proverb, moot point vs. mute point, and the meaning of the military slang term go hermantile.

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Dancer Who Walks for a Living - 19 November 2012 Nov 18, 2012

Show notes

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 — or is there? Does a heyday have anything to do with hay? Did getting dressed to kill originally refer to soldiers? Plus, toad-in-the-hole, deadwoods, due diligence, kibosh, clues, and an election-year word puzzle.

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Make a Train Take a Dirt Road - 12 November 2012 Nov 11, 2012

Show notes

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 Spanglish a real language? And balaclavas, teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, buying liquor at the packie, making a train take a dirt road, and that weird sensation when you meet a stranger you feel like you already know from your friends’ Facebook updates!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The One Who Brung You - 5 November 2012 Nov 05, 2012

Show notes

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: bag, sack, or something else? Plus, brung vs. brought, a swim swim, cuddywifters, pinstriped cookie-pushers, a road trip word game, and more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fake English - 29 October 2012 Oct 28, 2012

Show notes

Everyone knows you don’t start a sentence with but. But why? Also, how voice recognition technology is changing the way we think and write and what English sounds like to foreigners. Plus, where cockamamie comes from, oddly translated movie titles, trucker slang, patron vs. customer, hash marks, pungling, paralipsis, and more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can Of Worms - 22 October 2012 Oct 21, 2012

Show notes

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? Plus, ordinary vs. ornery, versing vs. versus, dishwater vs. ditchwater, the copyediting term stet, still hunts, and doozies. And if someone’s a phony, is he a four-flusher or a floor-flusher? Maybe he’s also a piece of work.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nothing to Sneeze At - 15 October 2012 Oct 15, 2012

Show notes

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 what do you call it when you clean the house in a hurry because company's coming? How about making lasagna or shame cleaning? Plus who's a hoopie, down goes your shanty, hold on to your blueberry money, and gym slang fit for a cardio queen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone Pecan - 8 October 2012 Oct 07, 2012

Show notes

How did the word gay go from meaning lighthearted to homosexual? Also, why are elementary schools sometimes called grammar schools? Plus, imeldific, gone pecan, random Scrabble words, and the difference between borrow and lend. And the etiquette of striking up conversations with strangers in English pubs: Whatever you do, don’t introduce yourself or try to shake hands.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dog-and-Pony Show - 1 October 2012 Sep 30, 2012

Show notes

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? How about kid-ults? Plus, is there really such a thing as a dog-and-pony show? What does a dog chewing waspers look like? Also, the reason the words valuable and invaluable aren’t opposites.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Good Juju - 24 September 2012 Sep 23, 2012

Show notes

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 hair, cutting to the quick, and use vs. utilize.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

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

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected