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

Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words.

Over the weekend we aired our show about new words and words that are new to us. We also talked about "sketchy," "spelunker," and lectern vs. podium. Listen here:

https://waywordradio.org/word-encounters/

This morning we also posted our latest online-only minicast. Both of our puzzle guys, John Chaneski and Greg Pliska, joined forces with Martha and Grant in the game "Small Talk."

To play at home, divide into teams of two. Your mission is to make your partner guess random words from a list. The only catch? All of the clues have to be one syllable only. It's tougher than you think! Listen:

https://waywordradio.org/small-talk-the-word-game-minicast/

Good news, Las Vegas! Public radio station KNPR will be airing trial runs of A Way with Words for five Sundays in November. We'll give you more information about this later, so stay tuned here *and* there.

On the subject we addressed last week of older folks who quit one career in order to do anything but retire, Nicholas Kristof wrote in the New York Times yesterday about "encore careers." That might just be the term we were looking for.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/opinion/20kristof.html

Wanna see a hypothetical super-game of Scrabble? Check it out:

http://tinyurl.com/6btwgc

Unfortunately, the word worth 248 points, the separate 15-letter word, as well as the others, are all fakes. Still, for a minute it looks pretty awesome.

Last week in the New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt wrote about when and why newspapers might quote offensive or obscene language from public figures, especially in light of Jesse Jackson's comments about Barack Obama.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/opinion/13pubed.html

Radio Netherlands has a slew of language-related programming that's worth listening to.

First off is a discussion of the disappearance of Aramaic, a fight for Castilian Spanish, and the political rifts exposed by bilingualism in Belgium.

http://tinyurl.com/6fgh6e

Next, are there too many people named "Wang" in China?

http://tinyurl.com/6maodv

Finally, Penelope Bergen found out what a "skin name" is to Aboriginal Australians. It represents one's historical and social connection to a community, with obligations and rights resplendent.

http://tinyurl.com/5uqygs

That's all for this week!

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

Call or write with your language questions 24 hours a day:
(877) WAY-WORD
(877) 929-9673
words@waywordradio.org

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