Hello, guys and dolls--it's another newsletter from A Way with Words.
We aired an episode this past weekend in which we talked about the footwear known as "go-aheads," what part of the body is "possible," aptronyms (when a person's name matches their profession), and we made some holiday book recommendations.
https://waywordradio.org/almost-up-to-possible/
We also posted two online-only minicasts. "The Lipstick Express" summarizes the words of the year inspired by Sarah Palin:
https://waywordradio.org/the-lipstick-express/
"I Can Has Shimmery Eyez" is a sweet reminiscence about the passing of Martha's cat, Typo, and his "chatoyant" gaze.
https://waywordradio.org/i-can-has-shimmery-eyez/
Now, some links from the world of language:
Wordsmith Nancy Friedman offers her list of books to buy for the language lover in your life:
Pam Nelson writes in the North Carolina News & Observer about whether we "pick" our elected officials or we "choose" them. Can you only pick fruit and cotton?
Does a whistling orangutan indicate that the animals have higher language capabilities than we thought?
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-12/gato-osw121008.php
A New York City teacher writes about what it's like to teach a class in which 80% of the students speak a first language other than English in a school that has been officially judged to be in need of "corrective action":
In the Grand Forks Herald, in North Dakota, Lisa Gibson writes about ELL's--English language learners--in the community:
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=96594
The paper also explains more about how ELLs are defined and characterized:
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=96592
Best wishes from your radio pals,
Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett
