James in Seattle asks whether the final s belongs in words like toward, forward, and backward. In American English, especially in print, style guides generally prefer the forms without s. British English is more likely to use forms with the s, such...
The German word über has found a place in American English. A New Jersey man says he and his colleagues find it to be more versatile than a Swiss Army knife, as in, “He is uber in the middle of that situation,” “That was an uber...
A listener in York, England wonders about the word grockles, a derogatory term for tourists. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Grockles” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, Martha. This is Jared, who lives near York...
A listener from Falmouth, Maine, disagrees with his Canadian friends about how to pronounce the word aunt. He says it shouldn’t sound like the name of the insect. But is that the way most people pronounce this word for your mother’s...
A caller has a friendly disagreement with a pal: Is the expression “tide me over” or “tie me over”? Hint: The answer she gets should tide her over. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Is the Saying “Tide...
Where do you put those exclamation points and question marks– do they go inside or outside the quotation marks? Can you say, “We have the answer!”? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Do Question Marks and...
