Childish and childlike both point to children, but their connotations differ. Sue in Panama City, Florida, asks after her English husband argues that childlike applies to adults and childish to children. In common use, childish often criticizes...
Would you call an artist who paints a painter, or does painter only apply to a technician, like one who paints houses? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Painting Artist” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, Martha. This...
Is the term military brat a pejorative? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Military Brat” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Bill from San Antonio. Welcome, Bill, from San Antonio? San Antonio, Texas, yes...
Betty in Idlewild, California, notices that when she repeats a word while writing, even an ordinary one like among, it can start to look misspelled or meaningless. That temporary blanking-out is called semantic satiation, the mind’s sense that a...
Is master a gender-neutral title? James from Seattle, Washington, hosts a local pub quiz night, where he’s known as the Quizmaster. But, he wonders, would it be appropriate to call a woman a Quizmaster? Of course! Many titles, like Postmaster...
White on rice isn’t a racist idiom. It likens closeness, stickiness, or being “all over” a task to white rice, long the default rice on many U.S. tables and often sticky. The expression shows up often in African American English, and Geneva...