A Way with Words
Series produced by A Way with Words
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.
214 Pieces
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Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange ...
- Added: Nov 08, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
We use the term Milky Way for that glowing arc across the sky. But how people picture it varies from culture to culture. In Sweden, that starry ban...
- Added: Nov 01, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
In the 15th century, the word respair meant "to have hope again." Although this word fell out of use, it's among dozens collected in a new book of...
- Added: Oct 25, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don't they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaini...
- Added: Oct 18, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
What happens in a classroom of refugee and immigrant youngsters learning English? Their fresh approach to language can result in remarkable poetry ...
- Added: Oct 11, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
This week on "A Way with Words": When there's no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? S...
- Added: Oct 04, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
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...
- Added: Sep 27, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
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 reader...
- Added: Sep 20, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
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 ne...
- Added: Sep 13, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child's letter to the Toot...
- Added: Sep 07, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 16
Youngsters want to know: What's the difference between barely and nearly, and what's so clean about a whistle, anyway? Plus, adults recount some mi...
Bought by Red River Radio Network (E. Texas/Louisiana/Arkansas/Mississippi), KMXT, KUAT, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KTSW 89.9 and more
- Added: Sep 04, 2021
- Length: 23:35
- Purchases: 7
The adjective canine refers to dogs, and feline refers to cats. But how does English address other groups of animals? Plus, cabin fever has been ar...
- Added: Aug 30, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
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 pe...
- Added: Aug 24, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
You know that Yogi Berra quote about how Nobody ever comes here; it's too crowded? Actually, the first person to use this was actress Suzanne Ridge...
- Added: Aug 17, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
Throwing cheese and shaky cheese are two very different things. In baseball, hard cheese refers to a powerful fastball, and probably comes from a s...
- Added: Aug 03, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 19
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...
- Added: Jul 26, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to...
- Added: Jul 19, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
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 19...
Bought by KUAT, KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, KNVC Carson City Community Radio and more
- Added: Jul 12, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
People who hunt treasure with metal detectors have a lingo all their own. Canslaw means the shreds of aluminum cans left after a lawnmower ran over...
- Added: Jul 05, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 17
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn't about "suffering." It's fr...
- Added: Jun 28, 2021
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 18
