Lacy from Virginia Beach, Virginia, says her Lebanese in-laws often use the expression ya’aburnee when addressing an adorable child. Literally it translates as “may you bury me,” the idea being that the child is so precious one...
Why does English derive words for some colors, such as blue and orange, from French, but not words for other colors, such as black and white? A fantastic resource about the history of colors is Kassia St. Clair’s The Secret Lives of Color...
Brickfielder, simoom, and haboob are types of winds. Others include snow eater and chinook. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Names of the Wind” You’re listening to A Way with Words, a show about language and how...
Although in English we have the terms orphan, widow, and widower, our language lacks a one-word term that means “bereaved parent.” A few other languages have a word for this, including Hebrew sh’khol and Sanskrit vilomah. This is...
In Arabic-speaking families, it’s not uncommon for mothers to address their children with the Arabic word for “mama” or for fathers to use the word for “father” when addressing their offspring. These words are used in...
A caller with a 25-year-old parrot wonders: How much language do birds really understand? Plus, Knock-knock. Who’s there? Boo. Well… you can guess the rest. But there was a time when these goofy jokes were a brand-new craze sweeping the nation...