A Way With Words

Education
A Way with Words is a lively hour-long public radio show about language, on the air since 1998. Co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett delve into word histories, solve grammar disputes, give and answer quizzes, and take calls from listeners around the world who vent their peeves. And, of course, they answer linguistic and lexical questions that that language-lovers have long wondered about. (Author: Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett)
Subscribe Subscribe via iTunes™
Author Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett
Feed http://feeds.waywordradio.org/awwwpodcast
Site http://www.waywordradio.org
Badge

Recent episodes from A Way With Words

  • When Is A Bell Pepper A Mango? Minicast - 17 Aug. 2008
    Published: Aug 17, 08
    When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it's a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.--Get your language question answered on the air! Callor write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/,, or visit our web site and discussion forums athttp://waywordradio.org. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.
     
  • Word Jocks, Lettered In Language - 17 Aug. 2008
    Published: Aug 17, 08
    [This episode originally aired Dec. 1, 2007.]Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as theytackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. Theyalso settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-friendly'and unlock the etymology of 'skeleton key.'Doyou know what a 'rampike' is? Or a 'colobus'? Martha and Grant testeach other's knowledge of ten-dollars words with the online quiz atFreeRice.com.A reader of Anthony Bourdain's 'Kitchen Confidential'
     
  • Name That Accent Minicast - 3 August 2008
    Published: Aug 4, 08
    For true word nerds, it's a guilty pleasure. You meet a stranger, and you find yourself listening closely to that person's way of speaking as you try to guess the accent. Martha and Grant confess they play "Name That Accent" all the time in the privacy of their own heads. Recently though, a listener phoned to challenge them to guess where she'd grown up based on her accent. See if you can figure it out!--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877
     
  • Coinkydinks And Big Boxes - 04 August 2008
    Published: Aug 4, 08
    We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle wordson purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly'for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrotea newspaper column about saying things wrong on purpose, the responsewas enormous. Why is it that many people find such wordplay hard toresist? We consider this question and share their own favorite examples.APennsylvania minister is curious about a phrase her family uses: 'byway of Robin Ho
     
  • Index V. Indice Minicast - 28 July 2008
    Published: Jul 28, 08
    A caller has client who uses what sounds like a strange, three-syllable word: indice. The caller knows that the plural of index is indices. But, he wonders...indice? And should he talk about it with his client? ...Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/, , or visit our web site and discussion forums at http://waywordradio.org/. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.
     
  • Put A Snap On The Grouch Bag - 28 July 2008
    Published: Jul 28, 08
    This episode first aired May 5, 2008....Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'porksteak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifyingto someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean totell someone to 'put a snap on the grouch bag'?A rugby referee from Indiana calls to ask if his sport is the origin of the word 'touchdown' as it is used in American football.Howdo you pronounce the word 'patronize'? Is one pronunciation used if you
     
  • Small Talk, The Word Game Minicast - 21 July 2008
    Published: Jul 21, 08
    Puzzle Guys John Chaneski and Greg Pliska team up to make double trouble for Martha and Grant. The four divide into teams, and the object of the game is to make your partner guess words from a list. The only catch? All of the clues have to be one syllable only. It's tougher than you think! ---Get your language question answered on the air! Call orwrite 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/,, or visit our web site and discussion forums athttp://waywordradio.org. Copy
     
  • Word Encounters Of The First Kind - 21 July 2008
    Published: Jul 21, 08
    [This episode first aired April 12, 2008.]There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about some terms that had just that effect on them: 'ucalegon' and 'cacoethes scribendi.'A recent college graduate from Portland, Oregon, calls to ask about a term popular on her campus. She and her classmates use 'sketchy' to mean 'creepy, shady, possibly d
     
  • Emoticons Minicast - 14 July 2008
    Published: Jul 14, 08
    A listener has a question about emoticons, those little sideways symbols you type to suggest emotions in informal electronic writing. You know, like using a colon, dash, and a capital P to stick out your tongue like this :-P or using a colon, dash, and small letter d to say 'Yum!' :-d But if you're going to toss emoticons into your prose, the caller asks, how in the world do you punctuate them?---Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 9
     
  • Nicknames Give Me The Heebie-jeebies And The Vapors - 14 July 2008
    Published: Jul 14, 08
    [This episode originally aired April 5, 2008.]Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it.Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behindthem. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And isthere a better word than 'retiree' for someone who moves on from a joblate in life?Speaking of nicknames, the word 'nickname' has aninteresting etymology. It's an example of a word formed by whatlinguists call 'misdivision.' More here. If you have a nic