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
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: Aug 30, 2012
- Length: 54:01
- Purchases: 5
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: Aug 23, 2012
- Length: 54:01
- Purchases: 6
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: Aug 16, 2012
- Length: 54:01
- Purchases: 5
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: Aug 08, 2012
- Length: 54:01
- Purchases: 5
If you've ever eaten Flavor-Crisp Chicken, it was probably served with JoJo potatoes. And speaking of fried chicken, ever wonder why colonel isn't ...
- Added: Jul 25, 2012
- Length: 54:01
- Purchases: 5
Is it cool for parents to use their children's slang? What's wrong with the term "illegal alien"? Grant and Martha discuss possible alternatives. T...
- Added: Jul 20, 2012
- Length: 54:01
- Purchases: 5
Nothing brightens up an email like an emoticon. But is it appropriate to include a smiley face in an email to your boss? Also, what do time managem...
- Added: Jul 11, 2012
- Length: 54:01
- Purchases: 6
Why do auctioneers talk so fast? Martha and Grant discuss the rapid-fire speech of auctioneers, and how it gets you to bid higher. Also, why so ma...
- Added: Jul 04, 2012
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
Ever drop a reference that just makes you sound, well, of a certain age? Grant and Martha discuss slang that's often lost on a younger or older gen...
- Added: Jun 28, 2012
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 6
Can children adopted from other countries easily re-learn their native languages as adults? And if you're invited to an old-fashioned pound party, ...
- Added: Jun 06, 2012
- Length: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
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: 54:00
- Purchases: 3
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: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
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: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
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: 54:00
- Purchases: 3
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: 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! ...
Bought by WCNP-FM
- Added: Mar 22, 2012
- Length: 31:13
- Purchases: 1
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: 54:00
- Purchases: 4
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: 54:00
- Purchases: 3
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: 54:00
- Purchases: 3
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: 54:00
- Purchases: 3
People who work with A Way with Words
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Grant Barrett (Admin)
Host/Producer |
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Martha Barnette (Admin)
Host/Producer |
