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

Word nerd Ammon Shea quit his job as a furniture mover in New York City to spend an entire year reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary. The result, in addition to eyestrain, headaches, and skeptics’ puzzlement, was Shea’s new book, Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 pages. Martha talks about what he learned along the way. Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way wit...

The world of politics tops this week’s language headlines, including an explanation of the Bradley effect, and the ongoing debate over bilingual education. Also, what does the word fubsy mean? Grant has the answer and reports about a new favorite blog described as “lolcats for smart people.” Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be...

We asked you to tell us about odd regional food names, and boy did you oblige! Martha reads some of your letters about whoopie pies, hot tamales, pretzel salad, coolers, and the frappe vs. milkshake controversy. 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...

A listener in Brazil challenges Martha’s pronunciation of the odd English word antipodes. Their email exchange leads Martha to muse about a favorite collection of poems, where she first encountered this word. 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 an...

We hear the word maverick a lot lately, but where did this term for a stubborn nonconformist come from? Martha tells the story of the Texas politician who inspired the word, and whose grandson apparently coined another familiar English word involving politics: gobbledygook. Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be a part of the sho...

Some people wouldn’t be caught without the season’s latest fashions, and others never leave home without their asthma inhaler. But for some of us, what strikes fear into our hearts is the thought of being caught without a book. Jeanie in Wisconsin has that kind of passion for audiobooks and calls to ask Martha and Grant to give her a name for her condition. Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn...

Does your family use a special word you’ve never heard anywhere else? A funny name for “the heel of a loaf of bread,” perhaps, or for “visiting relatives who won’t leave.” In this week’s episode, Martha and Grant discuss “family words,” and Martha reveals the story behind her own family’s secret word, “fubby.”  Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://...

A caller from Imperial Beach, California has a punctuation question: Dr. Tei Fu Chen and his wife, Dr. Oi Lin Chen own and operate a large, multinational herbal food company. In company literature, the two doctors are referred to in several ways. The caller wants to know which is the best choice. Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.or...

Grant has the latest headlines from the world of language, including the debate over the name of the home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Is Beijing pronounced bay-JING or bay-ZHING? Also, a recent court decision concerning an offense that’s coming to be known as “talking while Spanish.” And what’s the origin of the phrase the skinny? Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Wo...

In this episode, Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research, and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does paratereseomaniac mean? 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 Un...

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. 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...

Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat in this episode as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of eco-friendly and unlock the etymology of skeleton key.  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 ...

Grant dishes up the latest language headlines from around the world, including names so weird they sparked legal action. Two New Zealand parents really did name their daughter “Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii.” Also, what’s wrong with using a word that’s perfectly cromulent? Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be a part of the s...

If someone calls you dibby, should you be flattered or insulted? You’d know if you were in college a century ago—it’s outdated college slang! Also, we are voluntold to play a word puzzle about Unknown Superheroes! 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 Stat...

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 i...

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? 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 an...

Have you ever eaten a Benedictine sandwich? Or savored a juicy pork steak? What’s a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifying to someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean to tell someone to “put a snap on the grouch bag”? 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...

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! Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be a...

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 😛 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? Hea...

What’s a dittler? What’s a dit? A traveling preacher named Fred says he’s heard these strange terms in parts of Appalachia used to refer to “baby chicks” and “little ducklings.” We share some of our own research about these curious terms. 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 tol...

Unless you’ve been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of glass pockets? Or horseracism? Is there an etymological connection between caucus and Caucasian? 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...

You’ve heard this happen: A singer belts out a song, and then afterward, she starts talking and you’re startled to hear what sounds like a completely different accent. What is it about singing that seems to change some people’s accents? A caller from Indianapolis wants to know. Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be a part of the...

You’ve just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you’d the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that run on batteries.  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 (87...

A New York City listener says he’s reading lots of thrillers this summer. But a couple of words keep tripping him up. Does a speeding car careen or career? The hosts spell out the differences, and throw in the origin of the word carom for good measure. 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...

Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day. Also, when you’re scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and underline your misspellings with squiggly red lines? A caller wants a term for the act of trying to do offline what can only be done online. Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way...