A Way with Words
- Location: San Diego, California
- http://www.waywordradio.org/
- http://grantbarrett.com/
- http://marthabarnette.com/
A Way with Words is an upbeat and lively hour-long public radio show about language examined through history, culture, and family. Co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett talk with callers from around the world about slang, grammar, old sayings, word origins, regional dialects, family expressions, and speaking and writing well. They settle disputes, play word quizzes, and discuss language news and controversies.
What it is: Martha and Grant are the teachers you wish you’d had. The show is upbeat, lively, conversational, fresh, contemporary. It’s a positive, information-based look at what is really happening with all aspects of modern language and communication, using anecdotes, culture, relationships, and families as starting points. There’s a lot of first-hand, primary research and professional language experience that informs the dialogue.
What it’s not: The show is not a couple of cobwebbed school-marms giving lectures. There’s almost no chiding, tsk-tsking, or finger-wagging. Nor is it simply a recitation of what one could easily find in a Google search. There’s also no ranting about language going to hell in a handbasket or the slang of kids today. In fact, what Martha and Grant have to say about the state of the English language may surprise you.
See what program directors are saying about the show.
Find out more about the program.
Get the show on PRSS/Content Depot.
Email Grant Barrett with questions.
What it is: Martha and Grant are the teachers you wish you’d had. The show is upbeat, lively, conversational, fresh, contemporary. It’s a positive, information-based look at what is really happening with all aspects of modern language and communication, using anecdotes, culture, relationships, and families as starting points. There’s a lot of first-hand, primary research and professional language experience that informs the dialogue.
What it’s not: The show is not a couple of cobwebbed school-marms giving lectures. There’s almost no chiding, tsk-tsking, or finger-wagging. Nor is it simply a recitation of what one could easily find in a Google search. There’s also no ranting about language going to hell in a handbasket or the slang of kids today. In fact, what Martha and Grant have to say about the state of the English language may surprise you.
See what program directors are saying about the show.
Find out more about the program.
Get the show on PRSS/Content Depot.
Email Grant Barrett with questions.
Pieces
Some people proudly embrace the label cancer survivor, while others feel that's not quite the right word. Is there a better term for someone who's ...
- Added: Jun 13, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
You've been reading a book but you're just not into it. How do you quit it, guilt-free? How do you break up with a book? Also, what do you ask for ...
- Added: Jun 07, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
First names like "Patience," "Hope," and "Charity" are inspired by worthy qualities. But how about "Be-courteous" or "Hate-evil"? The Puritans some...
- Added: May 30, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Everyone knows you don't start a sentence with "But." But why? We sort out the confusion over this little word. Also, how voice recognition technol...
- Added: May 23, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 2
What do you call a guy with a bald pate? A chrome dome? Maybe the lucky fellow is sporting a solar panel for a sex machine. Also, which would you r...
- Added: May 16, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 3
Starting this year, Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants not only have to spell words correctly. A controversial new rule means they'll have t...
- Added: May 09, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
This week, forensic linguists use what they know about speech and writing to testify in courtrooms. And get out your hankies! Martha and Grant are ...
- Added: May 03, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
How did the word "gay" go from meaning "happy" to "homosexual"? Martha and Grant discuss the evolution of this word. Also, why are elementary schoo...
- Added: Apr 26, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
Remember getting caught sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G? Grant and Martha wax nostalgic on some classic schoolyard rhymes. What do you call your o...
- Added: Apr 18, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Imagine a time when heroin was marketed for the whole family. It really happened. Also, how Twitter, M&M's, and Hallmark cards got their names. Plu...
- Added: Apr 10, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Get out your skinny jeans and pass the PBR! Martha and Grant discuss the definition of the word hipster. Also, what happens when you pull a brodie?...
- Added: Apr 03, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
Have a question about objective pronouns? Whom ya gonna call? Wait--is that right? Or would it be "who ya gonna call"? "Whom" may be technically co...
- Added: Mar 27, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
We talk a lot on this show about grammar, slang, and word origins. But when you get right down to it so many calls on this show are really about r...
Bought by WNJR
- Added: Mar 27, 2013
- Length: 30:51
- Purchases: 1
Should youngsters learn cursive handwriting in school? Plus, someone can be ruthless, but can that same person be ruthful? Which word refers to som...
- Added: Mar 22, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Today's most popular dog names are Max and Bella. In the Middle Ages, though, dogs would answer to names like Amiable. Or Nosewise. Or even . . . ...
- Added: Mar 14, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
It's the Up Goer Five Challenge! Try to describe something complex using only the thousand most common words in English. It's a useful mental exerc...
- Added: Mar 07, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Remember a few years ago when Amazon introduced that mysterious device called a Kindle? People worried that electronic readers would replace tradit...
- Added: Feb 28, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
You've probably noticed how work always seems to expand to fill the time given to complete it. But did you know there's a term for that? Also this ...
- Added: Feb 22, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
Get out your umbrellas -- it's raining pitchforks and . . . bullfrogs? This week, it's odd expressions that mean "a heavy downpour." Also, holistic...
- Added: Feb 14, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 7
When somebody sneezes, you say, Bless you or Gesundheit. But suppose that person coughs. Are you supposed to say something--or are they? Plus, Mex...
- Added: Feb 07, 2013
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 5
People who work with A Way with Words
 |
Grant Barrett (Admin)
Host/Producer |
 |
Martha Barnette (Admin)
Host/Producer |
