A caller sends Grant and Martha off on a slang-infested trip about ways of saying a fast good-bye. Listen as they blow pop, popcorn, and taco stands by way of author Jim Harrison, the comic strip Funky Winkerbean, and a Warhol hanger-on. Transcript...
Discover the joys (and temptations!) of two new books of collected wisdom: “The Yale Book of Quotations” edited by Fred Shapiro, and James Geary’s “Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists.” Grant explains why leafing...
When you were a child and wanted to lay claim to something, what did you say? Did you call “dibs”? Or “hosey” it? A caller is curious about another verb used in such situations: “finnie.” Grant explains this...
Martha reminisces about her family’s mountain roots while dipping into the delicious vocabulary of Southernisms found in The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English. When ya’ll listen to this one, you’ll find out what a...
What’s the name for that little dent in your upper lip? It’s called a “philtrum.” Martha reveals the erotic origins of this word, and proves once again that etymology is nothing if not sexy. Transcript of “The Love...
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The results of the “A Way with Words” Collective Noun Contest! What collective noun would you apply to groups of 1) tennis players, 2) aliens from outer space, and 3) language-loving...
