Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Howdy and happy new year! It's another newsletter from "A Way with Words."

Last week there was no newsletter as we celebrated the new year by hauling our dictionaries out of the low-hanging winter sun. We wish they were self-antiheliotropic; they're so heavy and faded onionskin is so hard to read.

So, we have a double dose of encore episodes to talk about.

This past weekend we got all frothy about Australian English, the connection between stereotypes and stereos, the plural of "moose," and why we call the person clearing tables in a restaurant a "busboy."

https://waywordradio.org/english-down-under/

Two weeks ago, we chewed over words we mispronounce intentionally, the pronunciation of "beaux arts," which thesaurus is best to use, and "janky."

https://waywordradio.org/coinkydinks-and-big-boxes/

We also posted our final "word of the year" minicast, this one about words related to automobiles:

https://waywordradio.org/automobile-words-of-the-year/

The word-of-the-year season is nearing its zenith with the American Dialect Society's 19th annual word of the year vote, this year in San Francisco. All the words of the year you've heard about so far have only been qualifiers for this gathering. It is the cup, the bowl, the big dance, the mother of all word-of-the-year votes (and the only one completely open to the public).

Grant, who is also head of the society's New Words Committee and the new editor of the "Among the New Words" column in the society's academic journal "American Speech," will be leading the vote. It's a whimsical affair, usually, with much jesting and joking from the floor. There will be a maximum of two bow-ties permitted in the room.

http://americandialect.org/woty2008/

The latest newsletter from the Dictionary of American Regional English includes a sample of entries that will be appearing in the soon-to-be-released volume V. Among them are "ticky," meaning fussy or touchy, "tree lawn," the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the curb, and "wedge" or "wedgie," a large sandwich in southeast New York. Don't use that last word in the junior high lunch line.

http://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/31258

The Politics Blog at the Guardian asks, "Is 'sustainability' really the worst example of official jargon?" Andrew Sparrow responds to a 2009 lexicon of irritating jargon put out by the "Centre for Policy Studies." Apparently, peeving and griping are the only ways some people are capable of talking about language.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2008/dec/30/jargon-sustainability

In a similar vein is the 2008 banished words list from Lake Superior University, which shares a lot with the LA Times editorial linked above.

http://www.lssu.edu/banished/discuss/?p=24

Gah! More negativity passing as commentary about language. Why are you blighting us with these lists of things you hate? Where are the annual lists of "words most often whispered into a lover's ear" or "sweet things children say"? Language is fun, people! Where's your sense of delight? Are there no cabins left in the mountains of Montana that you can hole up in?

By the way, the discussion forums have recently had a "refresh," meaning that we've updated the software, softened and widened the layout, improved the responsiveness, and generally made it easier to romp and have a good time. Please join others as they do:

https://waywordradio.org/discussion/

All of our laugh,

Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett
Co-hosts of A Way with Words
https://waywordradio.org

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