A Way with Words
- Location: San Diego, California
- http://www.waywordradio.org/
A Way with Words is an hour-long weekly, national call-in show about culture, history, and family examined through the lens of language. Author Martha Barnette and dictionary editor Grant Barrett take calls and questions about slang, grammar, old sayings, word origins, regional dialects, family expressions, and speaking and writing well. Funny, informative, and fast-paced, each hour-long episode includes a word puzzle and slang quiz.
If you decide to carry the program regularly, please email Grant Barrett <grant@waywordradio.org> so he can add you to the email notification list.
A Way with Words is also available on Content Depot/PRSS.
If you decide to carry the program regularly, please email Grant Barrett <grant@waywordradio.org> so he can add you to the email notification list.
A Way with Words is also available on Content Depot/PRSS.
Pieces
We all know that the color pink is for boys and the color blue is for girls--at least, that's how it was 100 years ago. Grant and Martha share the ...
- Added: May 17, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
Remember those children's classics, the Velveteen Rabbi and The Little Price? The Twitterverse is abound with these books with a letter missing. An...
- Added: May 10, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
What did you call the cliques in your high school? Were you a member of the nerds, the jocks, or maybe the "grits" or the "heshers"? Also, what's t...
- Added: May 04, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
What colorful language do you use to when you're angry and tempted to use a four-letter word? There's a difference between cursing and cussing: It...
- Added: Apr 26, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
What time is it if it's "the crack of chicken"? And when exactly is the "shank of the evening"? How do you pronounce the word spelled H-O-V-E-R? Di...
- Added: Apr 19, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
Have you been dining on a budget lately? Martha recommends the necessity mess, potato bargain, and other tasty regional foods that won't break the ...
- Added: Apr 12, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
Ever been to an ABC party? How about a darty? The hosts discuss these and other slang terms heard around campus. They also talk about mulligrubs an...
- Added: Apr 04, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
If someone offered you a croaker with an old man's face, would you accept? You should! Croaker is a slang term for "hundred dollar bill." And did y...
- Added: Mar 29, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
Does the thought of going without your cellphone fill you with separation anxiety? Grant and Martha coin some monikers for this modern-day phobia. ...
- Added: Mar 22, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
It's all about the benjamins, and NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz has a game of monetary anagrams that's sure to give you a run for your spondoolies! ...
- Added: Mar 22, 2012
- Length: 00:31:13
What do you call it when you roll through a stop sign without ever coming to a complete stop? A California stop, a Michigan stop -- or something el...
- Added: Mar 15, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
Do you ever wonder why the almost-human characters that appear in video games can seem downright creepy? That disturbing sensation is called "the u...
- Added: Mar 08, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
Let's put the moose on the table: You have questions, and Grant and Martha have answers. For example, why would someone have an albatross around hi...
- Added: Mar 01, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
Which came first, orange the color or orange the fruit? And what's a busman's holiday? Martha and Grant talk about bumbershoots, brollies, nursery ...
- Added: Feb 23, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
What's the best way to help your child learn to speak a foreign language? One option is an immersion school, where teachers avoid speaking English....
- Added: Feb 16, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
Survey time! Do you call that kind of cap a beanie, a toboggan, or a stocking hat, or something else? What about rubber-soled athletic shoes? Do yo...
- Added: Feb 09, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 3
Why do spelling bees include such bizarre, obsolete words like cymotrichous? And why is New York called the Big Apple? Also, the stinky folk medici...
- Added: Feb 02, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
What do pigs have to do with piggyback rides? Martha and Grant have the answer. They also get a lesson from a listener in the fine art of speaking ...
- Added: Jan 25, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
If your friend says she's coming to town "Sunday week," exactly when should you expect to see her? And what do you call those typographical symbols...
- Added: Jan 19, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's . . . "witches' knickers"? Well, what do YOU call those stray plastic bags littering the landscape? Also, what it m...
- Added: Jan 12, 2012
- Length: 00:54:00
- Purchases: 2
People who work with A Way with Words
 |
Grant Barrett (Admin)
Host/Producer |
 |
Martha Barnette (Admin)
Host/Producer |
