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

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What's Slang Jang? (minicast) - 8 Oct. 2009 Oct 08, 2009

Show notes

No, it’s not the neurological effect of spending too much time researching odd new terms. Slang jang is a tongue-tickling sauce found in East Texas. For more about slang jang, including recipes, check out etymologist Barry Popik’s site.

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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Nuclearly (minicast) - 6 Oct. 2009 Oct 06, 2009

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Is it acceptable to make a brand-new adverb simply by adding an -ly to an adjective? A scientist wants to know, and specifically a term she uses, nuclearly.

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West Word, Ho! - 28 Sept. 2009 Sep 28, 2009

Show notes

It’s a brand-new season of A Way with Words! Grant has big news, too: He’s used up his last Metrocard, packed up his belongings, and moved to the Left Coast. He reports on some features of California language there that are already catching his ear. Also in this episode, what’s the real meaning of decimate? And what does it mean when someone says don’t leave your endgate up?

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English Down Under - 21 Sept. 2009 Sep 21, 2009

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This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Australia, including aerial ping-pong, pumpkin squatter, and…kangarooster? They explain the connection between stereotypes and stereos, and why we call the person clearing tables in a restaurant a busboy. Also, what’s the plural of moose? Meese? Mooses?

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Oh-ah, Oh-ah: That's How We Roll (minicast) - 17 Sept. 2009 Sep 17, 2009

Show notes

Does your family have a word for the cardboard tube left over from a roll of toilet paper? A caller says his family refers to them Oh-ah, Oh-ahs. Turns out many families have their own terms for them, including drit-drit, dawda dawda, hoo-hoo, to-do, taw-taw, and der der.

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The Prehistoric Mother Tongue (minicast) - 15 Sept. 2009 Sep 15, 2009

Show notes

Many of the world’s languages apparently derived from a prehistoric common ancestor known as Indo-European. But since no one ever wrote down a word of it, how do we know what it was like?

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Never Bolt Your Door with A Boiled Carrot - 14 Sept. 2009 Sep 14, 2009

Show notes

Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words, no matter which language you speak. Check out this one from Belize: “Don’t call the alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river.” And this truism from Zanzibar: “When two elephants tussle, it’s the grass that suffers.” Martha and Grant discuss a new paremiography — a collection of proverbs — from around the world.

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The Txting Db8 - 7 Sept. 2009 Sep 07, 2009

Show notes

OMG, text messaging! It’s destroying the English language, corrupting young minds, turning us into illiterates. It’s probably shrinking the ozone layer, too. Or is it? In his new book, Txting: The Gr8 Db8, David Crystal offers a different perspective, one which linguists have shared for years: Far from obliterating literacy, texting may actually improve it. So put that in your message header and send it!

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Bogarting Bangers - 31 Aug. 2009 Aug 31, 2009

Show notes

Has the age of email led to an outbreak of exclamation marks? Do women use them more than men? Also, is there a word for the odd feeling when you listen to a radio personality for years, then discover that they look nothing like your mental picture of them? And what’s the origin of the verb bogart?

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Poets Laureate and Poetry Brothels - 24 Aug. 2009 Aug 24, 2009

Show notes

For 341 years, the poets laureate of Britain have all been male. That just changed with the appointment of Britain’s new poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Her work has been described as “dealing with the darkest turmoil and the lightest minutiae of everyday life.” The hosts discuss Duffy’s oddly jarring and sensuous poetry. Also this week, they talk about whether it’s ever correct to use the word troop to mean an individual person, and whether the word literally is too often used figuratively, as in “He literally glowed.”

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