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

Gangbusters (Rebroadcast) - 17 September 2018

17 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Sensuous words and terms of endearment. Think of a beautiful word. Now, is it simply the word’s sound that makes it beautiful? Or does its appeal al...

XYZ PDQ (Rebroadcast) - 10 September 2018

10 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How often do you hear the words campaign and political in the same breath? Oddly enough, 19th-century grammarians railed against using campaign ...

Hang a Ralph (Rebroadcast) - 3 September 2018

03 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The names of professional sports teams often have surprising histories -- like the baseball team name inspired by, of all things, trolley-car accident...

You Bet Your Boots (Rebroadcast) - 27 August 2018

27 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

You may have heard the advice that to build your vocabulary you should read, read, and then read some more--and make sure to include a wide variety of...

Pink Slip (Rebroadcast) - 20 August 2018

20 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week on "A Way with Words": The language of political speech. Politicians have to repeat themselves so often that they naturally develop a repert...

Criss Cross Applesauce (Rebroadcast) - 13 August 2018

13 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How do languages change and grow? Does every language acquire new words in the same way? Martha and Grant focus on how that process happens in English...

Whistle Pig (Rebroadcast) - 6 August 2018

06 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The stories behind slang, political and otherwise. The dated term "jingoism" denotes a kind of belligerent nationalism. But the word's roots lie in an...

Up Your Alley - 30 July 2018

30 Jul 2018

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 - 23 July 2018

23 Jul 2018

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...

Copacetic (Rebroadcast) - 16 July 2018

16 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Brand names, children’s games, and the etiquette of phone conversations. Those clever plastic PEZ dispensers come in all shapes and sizes—but wher...

Mustard on It (Rebroadcast) - 9 July 2018

09 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

When does a word’s past make it too sensitive to use in the present? In contra dancing, there’s a particular move that dancers traditionally call ...

Proof in the Pudding (Rebroadcast) - 2 July 2018

02 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever offered to foster a dog or cat, but wound up adopting instead? There's an alliterative term for that. And when you're on the job, do nic...

We have an attitude — 27 June 2018

27 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a positive attitude. It’s who we really are. Go to https://waywordradio.org/mission . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

Mimeographs and Dittos - 25 June 2018

25 Jun 2018

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 ...

Spicy Jambalaya - 18 June 2018

18 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Teen slang from the South, and food words that are tricky to pronounce. • High schoolers in Huntsville, Alabama, told Martha and Grant about their s...

A request from Martha — 13 June 2018

13 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wanted to know who we really are? How Grant and I really see ourselves? Go to https://waywordradio.org/mission . Learn more about your a...

Chopped Liver — 11 June 2018

11 Jun 2018

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”...

Busted Melon (Rebroadcast) - 4 June 2018

04 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

When writing textbooks about slavery, which words best reflect its cold, hard reality? Some historians are dropping the word slave in favor of terms...

Truth and Beauty - 28 May 2018

28 May 2018

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...

Jump Steady (Rebroadcast) - 21 May 2018

21 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

To transmit information during wartime, various industries used to encode their messages letter by letter with an elaborate system–a primitive versi...

Dessert Stomach - 14 May 2018

14 May 2018

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...

Scat Cat (Rebroadcast) - 7 May 2018

07 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The dilemma continues over how to spell dilemma! Grant and Martha try to suss out the backstory of why some people spell that word with an “n.” A...

Far Out, Man - 30 April 2018

30 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What other names could a team use if they realize it’s time to give up calling themselves the “Redskins”? Also, what should we call those people...

Beat the Band (Rebroadcast) - 23 April 2018

24 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Can language change bad behavior in crowded places? The Irish Railway system has launched an ad campaign to encourage passengers to be more generous a...

Brollies and Bumbershoots - 16 April 2018

16 Apr 2018

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...

Cool Your Soup - 9 April 2018

09 Apr 2018

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...

Put on the Dog - 2 April 2018

02 Apr 2018

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...

Fighting Artichokes (Rebroadcast) - 26 March 2018

26 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What’s in a mascot name? Maybe you’re a fan of the Banana Slugs, or you cheer for the Winged Beavers. Perhaps your loyalty lies with the Fighting ...

Burn Bag (Rebroadcast) - 19 March 2018

19 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The slang coming out of Victorian mouths was more colorful than you might think. A 1909 collection of contemporary slang records clever terms for ever...

Gee and Haw - 12 March 2018

12 Mar 2018

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 - 5 March 2018

05 Mar 2018

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...

Flop Sweat (Rebroadcast) - 26 February 2018

27 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Gerrymandering draws political boundaries to tip elections towards certain political parties. Originally, the word was pronounced “GARY-mandering”...

Smile Belt (Rebroadcast) - 19 February 2018

19 Feb 2018

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...

Crusticles and Fenderbergs - 12 February 2018

12 Feb 2018

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 ...

Bun in the Oven - 5 February 2018

05 Feb 2018

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...

Flying Pickle - 29 January 2018

29 Jan 2018

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 ...

Happy as Larry - 22 January 2018

22 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

New research shows that you may be less influenced by superstitious behavior like walking under ladders or the magic of four-leaf clovers if you're re...

A Shoo In (Rebroadcast) - 15 January 2018

15 Jan 2018

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 ...

Noon of Night (Rebroadcast) - 8 January 2018

08 Jan 2018

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 ...

Naked as a Jaybird - 1 January 2018

01 Jan 2018

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...

Hot Dog, Cold Turkey (Rebroadcast) - 25 December 2017

25 Dec 2017

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 ...

There's more of everything!

21 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve got a curious problem here at A Way with Words. Over the last decade, we’ve grown the show from just 12 stations in four states to more than...

Brand Spanking New - 18 December 2017

18 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Take a look back at some notable words and phrases from 2017: Remember path of totality? How about milkshake duck? Also, a committee has to choose a...

The Last Straw - 11 December 2017

11 Dec 2017

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...

A gift for your language nerd!

08 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Donate to support A Way with Words https://waywordradio.org/donate .... Making the show takes money, of course. We don’t get any from NPR. And we d...

Skedaddle (Rebroadcast) - 4 December 2017

04 Dec 2017

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) - 27 November 2017

27 Nov 2017

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...

Hidden Treasures - 20 November 2017

20 Nov 2017

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...

Butterflies in Your Stomach - 13 November 2017

13 Nov 2017

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...

Catch You on the Flip Side - 6 November 2017

06 Nov 2017

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. • ...

All Verklempt - 30 October 2017

30 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

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 no acciden...

Hunk Waffle - 23 October 2017

23 Oct 2017

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 - 16 October 2017

16 Oct 2017

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 - 9 October 2017

09 Oct 2017

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...

Gone to Seed (Rebroadcast) - 2 October 2017

02 Oct 2017

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...

Hell's Half Acre (Rebroadcast) - 25 September 2017

25 Sep 2017

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) - 18 September 2017

18 Sep 2017

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: ...

Charismatic Megafauna (Rebroadcast) - 11 September 2017

11 Sep 2017

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...

Knuckle Down (Rebroadcast) - 4 September 2017

04 Sep 2017

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...

What Kids Know and Want to Find Out - 1 September 2017

01 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Our youngest listeners have questions about everything from love to one of their favorite foods. Kids ask why we might end a text with the letters xox...

Lie Like a Rug (Rebroadcast) - 28 August 2017

28 Aug 2017

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....

Pig Latin (Rebroadcast) - 21 August 2017

27 Aug 2017

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 August 2017

14 Aug 2017

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...

Chocolate Gravy (Rebroadcast) - 7 August 2017

07 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Say you have an acquaintance you always see at the dog park or the playground. But one night, you run into them at the movies, and for a moment, it's ...

Fickle Finger of Fate (Rebroadcast) - 31 July 2017

31 Jul 2017

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...

Flop Sweat - 24 July 2017

24 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Gerrymandering draws political boundaries to tip elections towards certain political parties. Originally, the word was pronounced “GARY-mandering”...

Smile Belt - 17 July 2017

17 Jul 2017

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...

A Shoo-In - 10 July 2017

10 Jul 2017

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 ...

Stars and Garters (Rebroadcast) - 3 July 2017

03 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he’s also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like “flummox...

Noon of Night - 26 June 2017

26 Jun 2017

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 ...

Boss of Me (Rebroadcast) - 19 June 2017

19 Jun 2017

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 order ...

Sunny Side Up (Rebroadcast) - 12 June 2017

12 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Baseball has a language all its own: On the diamond, a snow cone isn’t what you think it is, and three blind mice has nothing to do with nursery...

Naked as a Jaybird - 5 June 2017

05 Jun 2017

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...

Hot Dog Cold Turkey - 29 May 2017

29 May 2017

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 ...

Spur of the Moment (Rebroadcast) - 22 May 2017

22 May 2017

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...

Hell For Leather (Rebroadcast) - 15 May 2017

15 May 2017

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 ...

Skedaddle - 8 May 2017

08 May 2017

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...

Pop Stand (Rebroadcast) - 1 May 2017

01 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to learning new things, what’s on your bucket list? A retired book editor decided to try to learn Latin, and ended up learning a lot a...

Coast Is Clear - 24 April 2017

24 Apr 2017

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...

Punch List (Rebroadcast) - 17 April 2017

17 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Books for sale, books for free, and wisdom passed down through the ages. Libraries aren’t just repositories for books — they’re often a great pl...

Sweet Dreams (Rebroadcast) - 10 April 2017

08 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In deafening workplaces, like sawmills and factories, workers develop their own elaborate sign language to discuss everything from how their weekend...

Gone To Seed - 3 April 2017

03 Apr 2017

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...

Hell's Half Acre - 27 March 2017

27 Mar 2017

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 - 20 March 2017

20 Mar 2017

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: ...

Gangbusters (Rebroadcast) - 13 March 2017

13 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sensuous words and terms of endearment. Think of a beautiful word. Now, is it simply the word’s sound that makes it beautiful? Or does its appeal al...

XYZ PDQ (Rebroadcast) - 6 March 2017

06 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How often do you hear the words campaign and political in the same breath? Oddly enough, 19th-century grammarians railed against using campaign ...

Charismatic Megafauna - 20 February 2017

20 Feb 2017

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...

Knuckle Down - 13 February 2017

13 Feb 2017

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...

Lie Like A Rug - 5 February 2017

06 Feb 2017

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....

Flee Fly Flo - 2016 December 31

02 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Wrapping up 2016 with words from the past year and some newsy limericks. Bigly and Brexit were on lots of lips this year, as well as an increasingly p...

We've come a long way!

30 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

 In 2007, the public media organization that created A Way with Words had a problem. They loved our show but a deep recessio...

Copacetic (Rebroadcast) - 19 December 2016

19 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Brand names, children’s games, and the etiquette of phone conversations. Those clever plastic PEZ dispensers come in all shapes and sizes—but wher...

Whistle in the Dark - 12 December 2016

12 Dec 2016

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...

Mustard On It (Rebroadcast) - 28 November 2016

28 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

When does a word’s past make it too sensitive to use in the present? In contra dancing, there’s a particular move that dancers traditionally call ...

Stars and Garters - 14 November2016

14 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he’s also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like “flummox...

Boss Of Me - 31 October 2016

31 Oct 2016

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...

Sunny Side Up - 24 October 2016

24 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Baseball has a language all its own: On the diamond, a snow cone isn’t what you think it is, and three blind mice has nothing to do with nursery...

Spur of the Moment - 17 October 2016

17 Oct 2016

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...

Hell For Leather - 10 October 2016

10 Oct 2016

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 ...

Busted Melon (Rebroadcast) - 3 October 2016

03 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

When writing textbooks about slavery, which words best reflect its cold, hard reality? Some historians are dropping the word slave in favor of terms...