A Way with Words

Series produced by A Way with Words

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A Way with Words is a national, lively, hour-long public radio show about language, on the air since 1998. Author/journalist Martha Barnette and linguist/lexicographer Grant Barrett take listener calls about slang, grammar, old sayings, word origins, regional dialects, family expressions, and speaking and writing well. There are no carriage fees.

Learn more about the show, its hosts, and its history, and read station and listener testimonials on the A Way with Words website.


214 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Kiss the Cow (#1567)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
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An anadrome is a word that forms a whole new word when you spell it backwards. For example, the word "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts." So...

Bought by KUAT, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WSLR, RADIOLEX and more


  • Added: Mar 28, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Deep-Fried Air (#1589)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
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Eels, orts, and Wordle! Sweden awarded its most prestigious literary award to a book about . . . eels. The Book of Eels reveals the mysterious lif...

Bought by KUAT, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), KTSW 89.9, RADIOLEX, WYAP and more


  • Added: Mar 21, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
No Cap, No Lie (#1566)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
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We take our voices for granted, but it's truly miraculous that we communicate complex thoughts simply by moving our mouths while exhaling. A fascin...

Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, RADIOLEX, WSLR and more


  • Added: Mar 14, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
East Overshoe (#1588)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Some people work hard to lose their accent in order to fit in when they move somewhere else. But others may be homesick for the sounds they grew up...

Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WSLR, KVSC and more


  • Added: Mar 07, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Lead on, Macduff! (#1565)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
For rock climbers, skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, the word "send" has a whole new meaning. You might cheer on a fellow snowboarder with "Se...

Bought by KUAT, KTSW 89.9, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WSLR, Tri States Public Radio and more


  • Added: Feb 28, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Herd of Turtles (#1587)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Some college students are using the word loyalty as a synonym for monogamy. Are the meanings of these words now shifting? Plus, a biologist discove...

Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio) and more


  • Added: Feb 21, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Tribble Trouble (#1564)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
In Cockney rhyming slang, apples and pears is a synonym for "stairs," and dustbin lids means kids. Plus, sniglets are clever coinages for things we...

Bought by KUAT, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WNIN, WSLR and more


  • Added: Feb 14, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 19
Mittens in Moonlight (#1586)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Need a slang term that can replace just about any noun? Try chumpie. If you're from Philadelphia, you may already know this handy placeholder word....

Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KAWC / Border Radio - KOFA, KTSW 89.9, WYAP and more


  • Added: Feb 07, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 20
Ring-Tailed Tooter (#1563)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a f...

Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WSLR and more


  • Added: Jan 31, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
What the Blazes? (#1562)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance Novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are . . . dictionarie...

Bought by KUAT, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WSLR, WNIN and more


  • Added: Jan 24, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Mudlarking (#1561)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks stroll the surface searching for objects that have f...

Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WSLR and more


  • Added: Jan 17, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Diamond Dust (#1585)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Diamond dust, tapioca snow, and sugar icebergs -- a 1955 glossary of arctic and subarctic terms describes the environment in ways that sound poetic...

Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WSLR and more


  • Added: Jan 10, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Sleepy Winks (#1584)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton's best-known novel. Today the annual ...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, KUAT, KTXK, WSLR, WYAP and more


  • Added: Jan 04, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Snaggletooth (#1560)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem "Beowulf" in high school. But what if you could actually hear "Beowulf" in the English of today? The...

Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WPCA-LP and more


  • Added: Dec 27, 2021
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Like a Boiled Owl (#1559)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
What's it like to hike the Pacific Crest Trail all the way from Mexico to Canada? You'll end up with sore muscles and blisters, and great stories t...

Bought by KUAT, WYAP, WSLR, WPCA-LP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio) and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2021
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Your Two Cents (#1558)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Astronauts returning from space say they experience what's called the overview effect, a new understanding of the fragility of our planet and our n...

Bought by KUAT, WSLR, WYAP, WNIN, WPCA-LP and more


  • Added: Dec 13, 2021
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Made from Scratch (#1583)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha's savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist w...

Bought by KUAT, KTSW 89.9, KTXK, WYAP, WNIN and more


  • Added: Dec 06, 2021
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Deviled Eggs (#1554)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Some TV commercials launch catchphrases that stick around long after the original ads. The exclamation Good stuff, Maynard! is still a compliment a...

Bought by KUAT, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WSLR, WNIN and more


  • Added: Nov 29, 2021
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Good Vibrations (#1556)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Asthenosphere, a geologist's term for the molten layer beneath the earth's crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece t...

Bought by KUAT, KTSW 89.9, KTXK, WYAP, WSLR and more


  • Added: Nov 22, 2021
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Salad Days (#1582)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
A documentary film called My Beautiful Stutter" follows youngsters at a summer camp specifically for stutterers. It's a place for finding acceptanc...

Bought by KUAT, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WSLR, WNIN and more


  • Added: Nov 16, 2021
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 19

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