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

Latest Episodes:

Rubber Match - 13 February 2012 Feb 12, 2012

Show notes

What’s the antidote to living in a sound-bite world? How about unwinding with luxuriously expressive prose? Also, the cloak-and-dagger world of editing dictionary entries. Plus, what you might say instead of cursing, and oddball Scrabble words to stump your opponent. And what do you call the shoes sometimes known as sneakers, sneakers, or trainers? Also: feeling owly, jumpin’ Jehoshaphat, finjans and zarfs, catching plagiarism with mountweazels, and the art of long sentences. It’s a larrupin’ show!

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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Strange Spelling Bee Words - 6 February 2012 Feb 06, 2012

Show notes

Why do spelling bees include such bizarre, obsolete words as cymotrichous? Why is New York called the Big Apple? Also, the stinky folk medicine tradition called an asifidity bag, the surprising number of common English phrases that come directly from the King James Bible, three sheets to the wind, the term white elephant, in like Flynn, Australian slang, and what to call foam sleeve for an ice-cold beverage can.

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Secret Gibberish - 30 January 2012 Jan 30, 2012

Show notes

What do pigs have to do with piggyback rides? We get a lesson from a listener in the fine art of speaking gibberish. What’s the correct way to pronounce pecan? The French have the Academie Française, but what authority do we have for the English language? Also, what you should do when someone yells, “Hold ’er Newt! She’s headed for the barn!”

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By Jingo - 23 January 2012 Jan 22, 2012

Show notes

If your friend says she’s coming to town Sunday week, exactly when should you expect to see her? What do you call those typographical symbols cartoonists use in place of profanity? Plus grass widows, the linguistic phenomenon called creaky voice, the difference between insure and ensure, the roots of the term jingoism and what it means if someone says “You don’t believe fatmeat is greasy.” Also, is it okay to make a noun out of a verb?

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Like a Boss - 16 January 2012 Jan 16, 2012

Show notes

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s witches’ knickers! What do you call stray plastic bags that litter the landscape? Also, what it means to do something like a boss, how to hyphenate correctly, and why we say we have a crush on someone. Also, similes from the 1800s and the truth about what happens when a bull is loose in a china shop.

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Pickles and Ice Cream (rebroadcast) - 9 January 2012 Jan 09, 2012

Show notes

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 language from the world of food. Plus, ever think of publishing a novel? Be warned: The snarky literary agent from SlushPile Hell shows no mercy when it comes to rejections. Also, piggy banks, children vs. kids, hand vs. foot dexterity, and a bi-coastal quiz. Plus, those flipped sentences known as antimetabole, such as “It’s not the men in your life that counts, it’s the life in your men.”

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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Who You Calling a Jabroney? (rebroadcast) - 2 January 2012 Jan 02, 2012

Show notes

Yo! Who you callin’ a jabroni? And what exactly is a jabroni, anyway? Also, what do vintage school buses and hack writers have in common? Grant and Martha trace the origins of famous quotes, and a listener offers a clever new way to say “not my problem.” All that, plus winklehawks, motherwit, oxymorons, word mash-ups, and a quiz about palindromes.

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You Bet Your Sweet Bippy (Rebroadcast) - 26 December 2011 Dec 25, 2011

Show notes

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 royal word quiz, the “egg” in egg on, what to call someone who doesn’t eat fish or seafood, Hawaiian riddles, and why we say “You bet your sweet bippy!”

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Bah Humblebrag - 19 December 2011 Dec 19, 2011

Show notes

What’s your choice for the 2011 word of the year? Grant shares some of his picks. Speaking of picks, why do football commentators seem to love the term pick-six? Also, great quotations from writers, the meaning of such Briticisms as cheeky and naff, the intentionally misspelled and mispronounced word defulgaty and a discussion of whether the term “ladies” is offensive. And does the insect called an earwig really crawl into people’s ears at night?

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Special Request! -- Help Support A Way with Words Dec 15, 2011

Show notes

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 need your help to reach that amount before December 30th.
Reaching that goal will mean covering fixed costs: Broadcast studio rental. A sound engineer and board operator. Website hosting. Podcast hosting. The toll-free phone line. Episode distribution through the Public Radio Satellite System — an expense that will increase 50% in 2012.
What you may not know is that when you donate to your local station — as you should — none of that money goes to A Way with Words. We’re independent of any radio station and independent of NPR. We receive no funds from them at all.
This means, in part, that A Way with Words can carry out its educational mission without excessive bureaucracy and overhead costs. It also means we can make it available to everyone, completely free of charge.
But it also means that to do well, we require support from our listeners. We need your donations, whether you listen online or on the air.
Show us that we can count on you. Make a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more today. If that’s too much, please donate what you can.

If you’ve given to A Way with Words before, thank you! But can we ask you to double your donation this time? Will you go the extra mile to support quality radio that respects your intelligence?
You can also send your donations by postal mail to this address:

Wayword, Inc.

P.O. Box 632721

San Diego, CA 92163

Thank you for the affection and support you’ve shown in your phone calls in emails over the past year. We wish you and your family all the love in the world.
Best wishes, and happy holidays,
Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette
co-hosts of A Way with Words
PS: A Way with Words is now heard on the air in more than 173 cities across North America and we’re happy to report that the program will also be heard on Vermont Public Radio starting in January!

Wayword, Inc., is a small non-profit 501(c)3 corporation. It receives no funding from NPR, PRI, PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or any public radio station or broadcast network. Support amazing radio today!
All donations to Wayword, Inc., the nonprofit that produces A Way with Words, are tax-deductible. Our Federal tax ID number is #27-0277377.

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