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.


222 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
When Pigs Fly (#1571)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
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Don't move my cheese! It's a phrase middle managers use to talk about adapting to change in the workplace. It comes from a popular 1990s business b...

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


  • Added: May 16, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Cool Beans (#1570)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
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If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new tongue. But does this milestone mean you're actual...

Bought by KUAT, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], RADIOLEX, WYAP, WSLR and more


  • Added: May 09, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
You Talk Like a Sausage (#1592)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Do you refer to your dog or cat as "somebody"? As in: When you love somebody that much, you don't mind if they slobber. In other words, is your pet...

Bought by KUAT, KNCT FM, KTSW 89.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WYAP and more


  • Added: May 02, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 19
Love Bites (#1569)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
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The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the high seas. Today it refers to hijacking a piece...

Bought by KUAT, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KTXK, KTSW 89.9, WYAP and more


  • Added: Apr 25, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Pushing the Envelope (#1591)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Sure, there's winter, spring, summer, and fall. But the seasons in between have even more poetic names. In Alaska, greenup describes a sudden, dram...

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


  • Added: Apr 18, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Lasagna Hog (#1568)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you're understood and being insulted. "High involvemen...

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


  • Added: Apr 11, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
Primary Colors (#1590)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
Centuries ago, monks who took a vow of silence still had to communicate about routine matters, from gardening to equipment repair. So they develope...

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


  • Added: Apr 04, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Kiss the Cow (#1567)
From: A Way with Words
Series: A Way with Words
Piece image
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
Piece image
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
Piece image
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

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