Discussion Forum

I find it funny how some novelists (but especially Japanese) like to build up a mysterious character, and in the same breath would help themselves...

Related to "hot dogs" but true: A cousin's husband called the potted meat product, "Lip", because beef lips were the first listed ingredient.

Concerning "Hell's Half-Acre", my grandfather and his brother had a land dispute that went to court. The judge's solution was for both of them to...

First thing that came to mind when listening to this discussion was Texas Ranger La Boeuf's retort to Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit": "You've been...

My students in class this morning had not heard the 'hold your mouth right' as an idiom. It appears that many of the online dictionaries...

I'm from a rural area of East Texas and the phrase "How much do you like," and variations thereof, are commonly used to ask how...

I am a white Southerner -- both my parents were from small communities east of Atlanta. My family always said "ant" (for sisters of a...

My dad has used this term for as long as I can remember as the punchline to a dad joke that begins with someone else...

Seamus Heaney used "so" as the opening word of his translation of Beowulf (standing for the OE "hwaet" (whose meaning is still discussed) http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/listen-beowulf-opening-line-misinterpreted-for-200-years-8921027.html As...

On the other side of Five Minutes Of Eleven: I attended my granddaughter's student-led fund-raising concert where the student Emcees had a related pun. One...

Howdy! Ever hear questions that are really veiled criticism, or apologies that are actually excuses? That, and more, in our latest episode: language for resolving personal...

I'm researching a list of reasons to be admitted to an asylum in 1864-1889. Currently, I'm looking for the meaning of the term, "Gathering in...

I was wondering if the origin of 'booby' could be the German 'Bube' (little boy, affectionately)? I expect Martha to know. Bert van Leeuwen the...

Where'd we get the expression "mind your p's and q's"? A Barcelona native wants help understanding exactly what it means, and shares a few other...

The phrases "right away" and "right off" both mean "without delay". And the word "right" is just to emphasize the word after it. The problem...

You might call an office worker who takes up outside jobs a "moonlighting workerbee."  But do our cuddly friends in the animal kingdom ever work hard...

I'm "the guy named Duane" - glad you liked the jokes! There's actually many more scattered all over the site (which sadly looks like it...

looking for the origins, roots, and meaning of the word 'skeetmotis'. 

I don't like it. I've been to the Way With Words Facebook page, joined the group, and will keep checking it (for awhile), but I...

Until we have fully automatic cars there, the person in the driver's seat is the driver while everyone else is a passenger or perhaps a...

 Hello word lovers! Why do we call it a weekend when it is clearly made up of the 7th and the 1st day of the...

I listen to this show with my 89 year old uncle from time to time.  This week there was a lot of consternation regarding the...

My nephew introduced me to "garden path sentences," sentences that are gramatically correct but sound awkward until properly analyzed.  Wikipedia has an article on them....

When did "Is that a thing?" become a thing?

I think everyone here might find this interesting: We've found the top words that have a different British vs American pronunciation. We always Like to...

Here is an old email tagline of mine: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? How much ground would...

In 2007, the public media organization that created A Way with Words had a problem. They loved our show but a deep recession meant the station couldn't afford to...

A Way with Words and the 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation which produces the show depend directly on listeners like you. They cannot exist without your gifts,...

How many have heard something similar to, "Women are always right on top, while men get what's left over."? It is a mnemonic helping tailor...

In this news bit, Vladimir Duthiers talks about the rebuilding in Haiti.   At about 4:48,  he said  materiAWL,  meaning  Materiel, the collective noun for...