In an article in The Atlantic magazine, humorist Mark Twain quoted a sing-songy bit of doggerel about conductors punching railroad fares that illustrates how colored paper has long been used to encode information. This is part of a complete episode...
Some musicians are having a dispute over the word repeat: If the conductor says, “Repeat this section two times,” how many times should they play the passage? Twice? Three times? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Musical Repeats”...
Martha and Grant share listeners’ emails about language changes in the mouths of train conductors and military drill instructors. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Train Conductor Language” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m...
coupon train n.— «“A coupon train is a great way for a bunch of different people to share coupons from all different parts of the country.”…It works when a person posts a “train” on a coupon website.…That person is known as the “conductor.” Then...
