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.


219 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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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 ...

Bought by KUAT, KQRU FM LP, Tri States Public Radio, KMXT, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio and more


  • Added: Aug 30, 2017
  • Length: 29:45
  • Purchases: 9
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Questions from young listeners and conversations about everything from shifting slang to a bizarre cooking technique. Kids ask about how to talk ab...

Bought by KUAT, Radio Kansas, Tri States Public Radio, KQRU FM LP, WCMU Michigan and more


  • Added: Mar 26, 2019
  • Length: 25:59
  • Purchases: 7
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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...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KQRU FM LP, WRFA-LP, WYAP and more


  • Added: Oct 07, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 10
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Civil War letters and the opposite of prejudice. A new online archive of Civil War letters offers a vivid portrait of the everyday lives of enliste...

Bought by KUAT, KAWC / Border Radio - KOFA, Tri States Public Radio, KQRU FM LP, KVSC and more


  • Added: Oct 21, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
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Books for word lovers, plus the stories behind some familiar terms. Want a gift for your favorite bibliophile? Martha and Grant have recommendation...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KQRU FM LP, KTXK, KNVC Carson City Community Radio and more


  • Added: Nov 04, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
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So you've long dreamed of writing fiction, but don't know where to begin? There are lots of ways to get started -- creative writing classes, local ...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KQRU FM LP, KVSC, WYAP and more


  • Added: Oct 14, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
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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 ...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KTXK, WCMU Michigan and more


  • Added: Nov 11, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 10
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Family words, and words about being in a family way. How many different ways ARE there to say you have a baby on the way? Sure, you can say you're ...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KQRU FM LP, WCMU Michigan and more


  • Added: Nov 24, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
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A second-generation Filipino-American finds that when he speaks English, his personality is firm, direct, and matter-of-fact. But when he speaks wi...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, WRIR, KQRU FM LP, RadioFreePalmer and more


  • Added: Dec 23, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6
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The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KQRU FM LP, WCMU Michigan, WYAP and more


  • Added: Oct 28, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
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Books were rare treasures in the Middle Ages, painstakingly copied out by hand. So how to protect them from theft? Scribes sometimes added a curse ...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KQRU FM LP, KVSC and more


  • Added: Nov 18, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 10
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Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? N...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, KNVC Carson City Community Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 02, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
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This week on A Way with Words: Insider knowledge and expert advice. The word "hipster" might seem recent, but it actually originated in the 1930s, ...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KQRU FM LP, WYAP and more


  • Added: Dec 09, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
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Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won't find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers ...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KTXK, WSLR and more


  • Added: Dec 16, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
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The stories behind symbols and expressions around the world. The peace symbol popular during 1960's antiwar demonstrations had been around for deca...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KTXK, KNVC Carson City Community Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 31, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
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The highly specialized vocabulary of people who work outdoors, like farmers and fishermen, can bring us closer to the natural world. Also, a woman ...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KVSC, WYAP and more


  • Added: Jan 06, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
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You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojala is especially handy for expressin...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KQRU FM LP, WYAP and more


  • Added: Jan 13, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
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One of the most powerful words you'll ever hear -- and one of the most poignant -- isn't in dictionaries yet. But it probably will be one day. The ...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WPCA-LP and more


  • Added: Jan 20, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
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Ever wonder whatever happened to responding to "Thank you" with the words "You're welcome"? A listener asks why so many radio interviews end with t...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KQRU FM LP, WYAP and more


  • Added: Jan 27, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
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A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn't about "suffering." It's fr...

Bought by KUAT, Tri States Public Radio, KTSW 89.9, KQRU FM LP, WYAP and more


  • Added: Feb 03, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14