Grant Barrett
- Username: grantbarrett
- Host/Producer
- Role: Producer Group Staff
Recent Pieces from Grant Barrett
Strawberry Moon (#1522)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
We asked for your thoughts about whether cursive writing should be taught in schools -- and you replied with a resounding "Yes!" Here's why: Cursive helps develop fine motor ...
Highway Robbery (#1626)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
Secret signals on the job: Waitresses at some 19th-century restaurants ensured speedy drink service by communicating with a non-verbal code. One server took orders, then ...
Spill the Tea (#1521)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
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 truth. To spill the T means ...
Dirty Laundry (#1520)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
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 blankets a pallet. This word ...
Strong Coffee (#1625)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
During the late 19th and early 20th century, thousands of volunteers helped crowdsource the Oxford English Dictionary. This venerable reference work includes citations sent ...
Keep Your Powder Dry (#1519)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
Jacuzzi and silhouette are eponyms – that is, they derive from the names of people. An Italian immigrant to California invented the bubbly hot tub called a jacuzzi. And the ...
One-Armed Paper Hanger (#1518)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time better spent studying ...
Hair on Your Tongue (#1517)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
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 experience is so common among ...
Train of Thought (#1516)
(54:00)
From: A Way with Words
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 which may surprise you: the ...
