A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over
Episodes
Cherry Bombs (#1551)
27 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An ornithologist says there’s a growing movement to change the name of a pink-footed bird currently called the flesh-footed shearwater. The movemen...
Bottled Sunshine (Rebroadcast) - 20 July 2020
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term, adapted into English from Dutch, means “an L-shaped tea...
Queen Bee - 13 July 2020
13 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An artist asks strangers to write haiku about the pandemic and gets back poetic, poignant glimpses of life under lockdown. Plus, the new book Queensp...
Cootie Shot (Rebroadcast) - 6 July 2020
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Perfect sentences and slang that tickles your mind! A new book of writing advice says a good sentence “imposes a logic on the world’s weirdness”...
Navel Gazing - 29 June 2020
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers...
Ding Ding Man (Rebroadcast) - 22 June 2020
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 1803, a shy British pharmacist wrote a pamphlet that made him a reluctant celebrity. The reason? He proposed a revolutionary new system for classif...
Take Tea for the Fever (Rebroadcast) - 15 June 2020
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Silence comes in many forms. Writer Paul Goodman says there is, for example, the noisy silence of “resentment and self-recrimination,” and the hel...
Yak Shaving - 8 June 2020
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little 7-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding -- and all in Latin. A new b...
Sun Dog (Rebroadcast) - 1 June 2020
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A clever pun can make the difference between a so-so phrase and a memorable one. The phrase “the last straw” refers to an old fable about too many...
Oh For Cute (Rebroadcast) - 25 May 2020
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A stereotype is a preconceived notion about a person or group. Originally, though, the word stereotype referred to a printing device used to produce l...
Coinkydink (Rebroadcast) - 18 May 2020
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes it's a challenge to give a book a chance: How many pages should you read before deciding it's not worth your time? There's a new formula to ...
Up Your Alley (Rebroadcast) - 11 May 2020
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Book recommendations, including a collection of short stories inspired by dictionaries, and a techno-thriller for teens. Or, how about novels with an ...
Piping Hot (Rebroadcast) - 4 May 2020
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The game of baseball has alway inspired colorful commentary. Sometimes that means using familiar words in unfamiliar ways. The word stuff, for exampl...
Mimeographs and Dittos (Rebroadcast) - 27 April 2020
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode: How colors got their names, and a strange way to write. The terms blue and orange arrived in English via French, so why didn’t ...
Cabin Fever - 20 April 2020
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The adjectives canine and feline refer to dogs and cats. But how does English address other groups of animals? Plus, cabin fever has been around...
Chopped Liver (Rebroadcast) - 13 April 2020
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a proverb that goes “beloved children have many names.” At least, that’s true when it comes to the names we give our pets. “Fluffy”...
Singing Sand - 6 April 2020
05 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means "money." In the same way, cat beer isn't alcoholic — some peop...
Truth and Beauty (Rebroadcast)
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Malamute, kayak, and parka are just some of the words that have found their way into English from the language of indigenous people in northern cli...
Baby's Breath - 23 March 2020
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever googled your own name and found someone else who goes by the very same moniker? There's a word for that: googleganger. Plus, the languag...
Dessert Stomach - 16 March 2020
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Funny cat videos and cute online photos inspire equally adorable slang terms we use to talk about them. • Also, when a salamander is not a salamande...
Hog on Ice - 9 March 2020
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One secret to writing well is . . . there is no secret! There's no substitute for simply sitting down day after day to practice the craft and learn fr...
Brollies and Bumbershoots (Rebroadcast) - 2 March 2020
02 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you think they refer to umbrellas as bumbershoots in the UK, think again. The word bumbershoot actually originated in the United States! In Brita...
Goody Two-Shoes - 24 February 2020
24 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
She sells seashells by the seashore. Who is the she in this tongue twister? Some claim it's the young Mary Aning, who went on to become a famous 19th-...
Cool Your Soup (Rebroadcast) - 17 February 2020
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
According to Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, it’s important to master the basics of writing, but there comes a time when you have to strike out on yo...
Baby Blues - 10 February 2020
10 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn't about "suffering." It's from ...
Put on the Dog (Rebroadcast) - 3 February 2020
03 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why isn’t “you’re welcome” the default response to “thank you” for everyone? Plus lies that kids tell, Philadelphia lawyer, cowbelly, s...
Walkie Talkie - 27 January 2020
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most powerful words you'll ever hear -- and one of the most poignant -- isn't in dictionaries yet. But it probably will be one day. The wor...
Tiger Tail - 20 January 2020
20 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojalá is especially handy for expressing ...
Gee and Haw (Rebroadcast) - 13 January 2020
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The highly specialized vocabulary of people who work outdoors, communicating with sled dogs, a word from the sport of rock-climbing, church key, bro...
Gung Ho (Rebroadcast) - 6 January 2020
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The origins of the peace symbol, why we say someone who’s enthusiastic is gung ho, a tasty spin on stuffed foccacia that originated in eastern Sici...
Crusticles and Fenderbergs (Rebroadcast) - 30 December 2019
30 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A second-generation Filipino-American finds that when he speaks English, his personality is firm, direct, and matter-of-fact. But when he speaks with ...
Clever Clogs - 23 December 2019
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won't find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers in ...
Son of a gun! - a special minicast from Grant
19 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today we shoot holes in a story that just won’t die that about "son of a gun" and babies born aboard sailing ships. ... Read full show notes, hear h...
Little Shavers - 16 December 2019
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The word hipster might seem recent, but it actually originated in the 1930s when it referred to jazz aficionados who were in the know about the best n...
Electrifying! - a special minicast from Martha
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Martha here with a special minicast of A Way with Words. Today I want to tell you an electrifying story — and make a request for you to support A Wa...
Bug in Your Ear - 9 December 2019
09 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? No, ...
Bun in the Oven (Rebroadcast) - 1 December 2019
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How many different ways are there to say you have a baby on the way? You can say you’re pregnant, great with child, clucky, awkward, eating fo...
The Black Dog - 25 November 2019
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Books were rare treasures in the Middle Ages, painstakingly copied out by hand. So how to protect them from theft? Scribes sometimes added a curse to ...
Flying Pickle (Rebroadcast) - 18 November 2019
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How would you like to be welcomed to married life by friends and neighbors descending on your home for a noisy celebration, tearing off the labels of ...
The Last Straw (Rebroadcast) - 11 November 2019
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, books for word lovers, from a collection of curious words to some fun with Farsi. • Some people yell “Geronimo!” when they jump...
Beside Myself - 4 November 2019
04 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the vo...
Hidden Treasures (Rebroadcast) - 28 October 2019
28 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A new online archive of Civil War letters offers a vivid portrait of the everyday lives of enlisted men. These soldiers lacked formal education so the...
Skookum - 21 October 2019
21 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
So you've long dreamed of writing fiction, but don't know where to begin? There are lots of ways to get started — creative writing classes, local wr...
Butterflies in the Stomach (Rebroadcast) - 14 October 2019
14 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you're not using a dictionary to look up puzzling words as you read them, you're missing out on a whole other level of enjoyment. Also, when you're...
Life of Riley - 7 October 2019
07 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Unwrap the name of a candy bar, and you just might find a story inside. For instance, one chewy treat found in many a checkout lane is named after a f...
Catch You on the Flip Side (Rebroadcast) - 30 September 2019
30 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Some countries have strict laws about naming babies. New Zealand authorities, for example, denied a request to name some twins Fish and Chips. • ...
Off the Turnip Truck - 23 September 2019
23 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggest...
Loaded For Bear - 16 September 2019
16 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One way to make your new business look trendy is to use two nouns separated by an ampersand, like Peach & Creature or Rainstorm & Egg or ... just abou...
All Verklempt (Rebroadcast) - 9 September 2019
09 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
SUMMARY Of all the letters in the alphabet, which two or three are your favorites? If your short list includes one or more of your initials, that's n...
Hunk Waffle (Rebroadcast) - 2 September 2019
03 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Decisions by dictionary editors, wacky wordplay, and Walt Whitman's soaring verse. How do lexicographers decide which historical figures deserve a m...
Pants On Fire (Rebroadcast) - 26 August 2019
26 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A highly anticipated children’s book and the epic history behind a familiar vegetable: fans of illustrator Maurice Sendak eagerly await publication ...
Frozen Rope (Rebroadcast) - 19 August 2019
19 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Where would you find a sports commentator talking about high cheese and ducks on a pond? Here’s a hint: both terms are part of what makes America...
Flop Sweat (Rebroadcast) - 12 August 2019
12 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gerrymandering draws political boundaries to tip elections towards certain political parties. Originally, the word was pronounced “GARY-mandering”...
Smile Belt (Rebroadcast) - 5 August 2019
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The only time you'll ever see the sun's outer atmosphere is during a full solar eclipse, when sun itself is completely covered. That hazy ring is call...
Mrs. Astor's Horse - 29 July 2019
29 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like a cat, but isn't a cat?" Answer: a kitten! A 1948 children's joke book has lots of these to ...
A Shoo-In (Rebroadcast) - 22 July 2019
22 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week it’s butterflies, belly flowers, plot bunnies, foxes, and cuckoos. Also, writing advice from Mark Twain and a wonderful bit of prose from ...
At First Blush - 15 July 2019
15 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Book recommendations and the art of apology. Martha and Grant share some good reads, including an opinionated romp through English grammar, a Spanish-...
Noon Of Night (Rebroadcast) - 8 July 2019
08 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As a kid, you may have played that game where you phone someone to say, “Is your refrigerator running? Then you better go catch it!” What’s the ...
Gift Horse - 1 July 2019
01 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop. A medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you're close to another dimension ...
Naked as a Jaybird (Rebroadcast) - 24 June 2019
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the best way for someone busy to learn lots of new words quickly for a test like the GRE? Looking up their origins can help. Or, record yours...
Had the Radish - 17 June 2019
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Your first name is very personal, but what if you don't like it? For some people, changing their name works out great but for others it may create mor...
Hot Dog, Cold Turkey (Rebroadcast) - 10 June 2019
10 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we call a frankfurter a "hot dog"? It seems an unsettling 19th-century rumor is to blame. Also, if someone quits something abruptly, why do we ...
Abso-Bloomin-Lutely - 3 June 2019
03 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The autocomplete function on your phone comes in handy, of course. But is it changing the way we write and how linguists study language? Also, suppose...
Skedaddle (Rebroadcast) - 27 May 2019
27 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The months of September, October, November, and December take their names from Latin words meaning "seven," "eight," "nine," and "ten." So why don't t...
Coast is Clear (Rebroadcast) - 20 May 2019
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the military, if you’ve lost the bubble, then you can’t find your bearings. The term first referred to calibrating the position of aircraft an...
Niblings and Nieflings - 13 May 2019
13 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How do actors bring Shakespeare's lines to life so that modern audiences immediately understand the text? One way is to emphasize the names of people ...
Gone to Seed (Rebroadcast) - 6 May 2019
06 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on A Way with Words: Restaurant jargon, military slang, and modern Greek turns of phrase. • Some restaurants now advertise that they sell...
Kite in a Phonebooth - 29 April 2019
29 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How do actors bring Shakespeare's lines to life so that modern audiences immediately understand the text? One way is to emphasize the names of people ...
Hell's Half Acre (Rebroadcast) - 22 April 2019
22 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hundreds of years ago, the word girl didn’t necessarily mean a female child — in the 14th and 15th centuries, it could refer to a child of eithe...
Steamed Bun (Rebroadcast) - 15 April 2019
15 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week: Do you ever find yourself less-than-specific about your age? Listeners share some of their favorite phrases for fudging that number, like: ...
Kids Are Asking - 11 April 2019
11 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Questions from young listeners and conversations about everything from shifting slang to a bizarre cooking technique. Kids ask about how to talk about...
Strawberry Moon - 8 April 2019
08 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We asked for your thoughts about whether cursive writing should be taught in schools — and many of you replied with a resounding “Yes!” You said...
Charismatic Megafauna (Rebroadcast) - 1 April 2019
01 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Choosing language that helps resolve interpersonal conflict. Sometimes a question is really just a veiled form of criticism and understanding the diff...
Spill the Tea - 25 March 2019
25 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don’t want you tipping over a hot beverage. Originally, the tea here was the letter T, as i...
Knuckle Down (Rebroadcast) - 18 March 2019
18 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A wingnut is a handy, stabilizing piece of hardware. So why is it a pejorative term for those of a certain political persuasion? Also, is there someth...
Dirty Laundry - 11 March 2019
11 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In some places, you call those bedclothes and blankets...
Lie Like A Rug (Rebroadcast) - 4 March 2019
04 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The words we choose can change attitudes — and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples....
Keep Your Powder Dry - 25 February 2019
25 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jacuzzi and silhouette are eponyms — that is, they derive from the names of people. An Italian immigrant to California invented the bubbly hot tu...
One Armed Paper Hanger - 18 February 2019
18 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time ...
Hair on Your Tongue - 11 February 2019
11 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling experie...
Train of Thought - 4 February 2019
04 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, such as the powers...
Colonial English - 28 January 2019
28 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The anatomy of effective prose, and the poetry of anatomy. Ever wonder what it’d be like to audit a class taught by a famous writer? A graduate stud...
Pig Latin (Rebroadcast) - 21 January 2019
21 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on "A Way with Words": Grant and Martha discuss the L-word--or two L-words, actually: liberal and libertarian. They reflect different politi...
Whistle in the Dark (Rebroadcast) - 14 January 2019
14 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The language and melodies of military marching songs connect grown children with their parents who served, as do parents’ love letters from World Wa...
Fickle Finger of Fate (Rebroadcast) - 7 January 2019
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Clean cursing for modern times, more about communicating after a brain injury, and 1970's TV lingo with roots in the Second World War. A young woman w...
Stars and Garters (Rebroadcast) - 31 December 2018
31 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he’s also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like “flummox...
Space Cadet - 24 December 2018
24 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer...
Howling Fantods - 17 December 2018
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Are there words and phrases that you misunderstood for an embarrassingly long time? Maybe you thought that money laundering literally meant washing dr...
Cootie Shot - 10 December 2018
10 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Perfect sentences and slang that tickles your mind! A new book of writing advice says a good sentence “imposes a logic on the world’s weirdness”...
Boss of Me (Rebroadcast) - 3 December 2018
03 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you want to be a better writer, try skipping today’s bestsellers, and read one from the 1930’s instead. Or read something besides fiction in or...
Spur of the Moment (Rebroadcast) - 26 November 2018
26 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A caller with a 25-year-old parrot wonders: How much language do birds really understand? Plus, Knock-knock. Who's there? Boo. Well… you can guess t...
Bottled Sunshine - 19 November 2018
19 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term, adapted into English from Dutch, means “an L-shaped tea...
Care Package - 12 November 2018
12 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sending someone a care package shows you care, of course. But the first care packages were boxes of food and personal items for survivors of World W...
Hell for Leather (Rebroadcast) - 5 November 2018
05 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Victorian slang and a modern controversy over language and gender. In the early 1900’s, a door-knocker wasn’t just what visitors used to announce ...
Ding Ding Man - 29 October 2018
29 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 1803, a shy British pharmacist wrote a pamphlet that made him a reluctant celebrity. The reason? He proposed a revolutionary new system for classif...
Take Tea for the Fever - 22 October 2018
22 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Silence comes in many forms. Writer Paul Goodman says there is, for example, the noisy silence of “resentment and self-recrimination,” and the hel...
Sun Dog - 15 October 2018
15 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A clever pun can make the difference between a so-so phrase and a memorable one. The phrase “the last straw” refers to an old fable about too many...
Oh For Cute - 8 October 2018
08 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A stereotype is a preconceived notion about a person or group. Originally, though, the word stereotype referred to a printing device used to produce l...
Coinkydink - 1 October 2018
01 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes it's a challenge to give a book a chance: How many pages should you read before deciding it's not worth your time? There's a new formula to ...
Sweet Dreams (Rebroadcast) - 24 September 2018
24 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In deafening workplaces, like sawmills and factories, workers develop their own elaborate sign language to discuss everything from how their weekend...