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
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Secret signals on the job: Waitresses at some 19th-century restaurants ensured speedy drink service by communicating with a non-verbal code. One se...

Bought by WPCA-LP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WNIN, WHCP-LP Cambridge, KTXK and more


  • Added: Nov 27, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
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If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don't want you tipping over a hot beverage. Originally, the tea here was the letter T, as in t...

Bought by KAWC / Border Radio - KOFA, WPCA-LP, KTXK, Raven Radio, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio) and more


  • Added: Nov 20, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
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When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In some places, you call those bedclothes and blank...

Bought by WPCA-LP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WNIN, WHCP-LP Cambridge, KECG and more


  • Added: Nov 13, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
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During the late 19th and early 20th century, thousands of volunteers helped crowdsource the Oxford English Dictionary. This venerable reference wor...

Bought by CI Dolphin Radio, KTSW 89.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WPCA-LP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio) and more


  • Added: Nov 06, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
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Jacuzzi and silhouette are eponyms – that is, they derive from the names of people. An Italian immigrant to California invented the bubbly hot tub ...

Bought by Raven Radio, KTSW 89.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], RADIOLEX, WPCA-LP and more


  • Added: Oct 30, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 19
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The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their ti...

Bought by KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WYAP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WHCP-LP Cambridge, WNIN and more


  • Added: Oct 23, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
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If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling expe...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WYAP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WPCA-LP and more


  • Added: Oct 16, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
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Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and the root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, though, some of w...

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


  • Added: Oct 09, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
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We have books that should be on every language lover's wish list, plus a couple of recommendations for history buffs. Plus: how did the word boondo...

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


  • Added: Oct 02, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 20
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Are there words and phrases that you misunderstood for an embarrassingly long time? Maybe you thought that money laundering literally meant washing...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, WPCA-LP, RADIOLEX, WYAP, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Sep 25, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 19
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What's in a name? If your last name is Cook or Smith, your ancestors probably worked in those professions. But what if your last name is Pope? Or A...

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


  • Added: Sep 18, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
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If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term was adapted into English from Dutch, and means "an L-sha...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], RADIOLEX, WYAP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio) and more


  • Added: Sep 11, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
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Surf's up! When surfers describe the waves as going gangbusters, it's a great time to be out on the water. But why describe surf conditions that wa...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], RADIOLEX, WYAP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio) and more


  • Added: Sep 04, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 18
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Sending someone a care package shows you care, of course. But the first care packages were boxes of food and personal items for survivors of World ...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, WYAP, RADIOLEX, WGCU, WNIN and more


  • Added: Aug 28, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 19
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Perfect sentences and slang that tickles your mind. A new book of writing advice says that a good sentence "imposes a logic on the world's weirdnes...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, WYAP, WNIN, WPCA-LP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio) and more


  • Added: Aug 20, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
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Is listening to an audio-book for your book club somehow "cheating"? While some argue there's no substitute for engaging with the printed page, oth...

Bought by KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KTSW 89.9, WYAP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WNIN and more


  • Added: Aug 14, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
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In 1803, a shy British pharmacist wrote a pamphlet that made him a reluctant celebrity. The reason? He proposed a revolutionary new system for clas...

Bought by KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WYAP, WNIN, WPCA-LP and more


  • Added: Aug 07, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
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A remarkable new documentary explores the world of amateur and professional mermaiding and the language bubbling up within it. Some mermaiding enth...

Bought by KAWC / Border Radio - KOFA, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WPCA-LP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WNIN and more


  • Added: Jul 31, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
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Silence comes in lots of different forms. In fact, says writer Paul Goodman, there are several kinds: There's the noisy silence of "resentment and ...

Bought by KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], RADIOLEX, WPCA-LP, KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), KTSW 89.9 and more


  • Added: Jul 24, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
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Kinbank is a new database that illustrates the global diversity of family terms. English, for example, specifies sibling relationships with just on...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KHOL (Jackson Hole Community Radio), WNIN, WPCA-LP and more


  • Added: Jul 17, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15