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 or...
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...
If someone plans to make hay of something, they’re going to take advantage of it. It comes from the idiom “make hay while the sun shines,” based on the fact that moving hay can be a real pain when it’s dark and damp. This is part of a complete...
Is it wrong to refer to children as kids? One discerning mother, when asked about her kids, always replied, “I don’t raise goats, but my children are fine.” Grant explains that as early as the 1600s, the word kids had popped up to refer to bratty or...
Why do physicians speak of turfing an undesirable patient? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Turfing” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi there, this is Carmen Areola from Carlsbad. Hi, Carmen. Hi, Carmen. How are you doing? Good...