Light-hearted conversation with callers from all over about new words, old sayings, slang, family ex
Welcome to another minicast from A Way with Words. I'm Martha Barnette. You may remember the call w
Did you ever use a tilly ticket in the bathroom? Over the years, we've answered lots of your quest
Humorist Roy Blount Jr. stops by to try his hand at a slang quiz specifically about Southernisms. B
If a restaurant menu states, 'We cook off our potatoes,' what in the heck does that mean? A truck dr
No, it's not the neurological effect of spending too much time researching odd new terms. Slang jang
Is it acceptable to make a brand-new adverb simply by adding an -ly to an adjective? A scientist wan
It's a brand-new season of A Way with Words! Grant has big news, too: He's used up his last Metrocar
[This episode originally aired October 11, 2008.] This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Au
Does your family have a word for the cardboard tube left over from a roll of toilet paper? A caller
Many of the world's languages apparently derived from a prehistoric common ancestor known as Indo-Eu
[This episode first aired October 4, 2008.] Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words
[This episode first aired Sept. 27, 2009.] OMG, text messaging! It's destroying the English languag
[This episode first aired June 6, 2009.] Has the age of email led to an outbreak of exclamation mar
[This episode first aired May 16, 2009.] Pickle, baboon, cupcake, snorkel, pumpkin, Kalamazoo -- le
Does it bug you when people talk about themselves in the third person? A caller finds herself mighti
[This episode first aired May 2, 2009.] In this downbeat economy, some advertisers are reaching for
If a colleague repeatedly mispronounces a word, what's the best way to handle it? Should you correct
The English language has no shortage of words that mean nonsensical talk, including one that's pique
[This episode first aired Apr. 11, 2009.] Why are the names of cars so unimaginative? Grant argues
[This episode originally aired March 28, 2009.] Why is it that what you say to your family and what
