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

Rabbit, Rabbit!

In our latest archive edition, we dispense writing advice, discuss funny Spanish idioms, survey the wide array of names for grandparents, and talk about "fixin' to," "I'm all set," and the ditty "Toidy poiple boidies, sittin' on a coibstone":

https://waywordradio.org/see-the-elephant/

Looking for the essay on the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Writers" Martha mentioned in that show? It's here:

http://wywd.us/7writerhabits

Last week marked the release of the new 12th edition of the Chambers Dictionary. Lots of coverage in the UK, including this Henry Hitchings essay.

http://wywd.us/hitchings

The Virtual Linguist blog also has a helpful review.

http://wywd.us/virtling

An unusual addition to this edition of the Chambers Dictionary is "The Word Lover's Miscellany" of lexical odds and ends. It features lists of "words for intriguing things," "wonderful collective nouns," "insults," and other trivia.

This dictionary also includes a "Wordgame Companion" lists of "shorter words," words with "J," "Q," "X," and "Z" and more lists of interest to puzzle fans.

You can get a sample of the Miscellany in PDF form at the Chambers site.

http://wywd.us/chambermisc

We're betting you love librarians as much as we do. You have until Sept 12 to nominate your favorite librarian for a $5000 cash award.

The awards are a joint effort by the American Library Association, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and The New York Times.

http://wywd.us/librarylurve

Remember when we told you last week about the fascinating work on pronouns by Dr. James Pennebaker, author of "The Secret Life of Pronouns"? His site:

http://wywd.us/theishaveit

Well, writing this week in The New York Times, Ben Zimmer notes that Pennebaker has also done linguistic analysis on pronouns in Beatles songs.

As the Fab Four aged, Pennebaker says, their lyrics became more complex. They used bigger words, as well as more prepositions, articles, and conjunctions.

Not only that, the analysis revealed a big drop in their use of first-person singular pronouns--from 14 percent in the group's early years to 7 percent much later.

More linguistic analysis of Beatles lyrics here:

http://wywd.us/frommetou

BEHIND THE SCENES: Ever wonder what to call that fatty bump at the tail end of the Thanksgiving turkey? Or why we call long, flat pasta "linguini"?

Reader's Digest magazine asked Martha to talk about those and other foods named for parts of the body.

http://wywd.us/peastreaty

Not sure why we said "Rabbit, Rabbit"? The answer's here:

http://wywd.us/bunnybunny

Hope you and yours have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend,

Martha and Grant
Co-hosts of "A Way with Words"
https://waywordradio.org
words@waywordradio.org

Call with your questions at any time:
U.S. and Canada (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673
London +44 20 7193 2113
Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771

Donate: https://waywordradio.org/donate/
Podcast: https://waywordradio.org/podcast/
Forums: https://waywordradio.org/discussion/
Newsletter: https://waywordradio.org/newsletter/

Skype: skype://waywordradio

----

Support for "A Way with Words" also comes from National University, which invites you to change your future today. More at http://www.nu.edu/