A wet dress rehearsal is a run-through of all the processes required before a rocket launch, up until, but not including, liftoff. What makes this simulation wet is that the rocket’s fuel tanks are filled, then drained once the countdown clock is...
Erica in San Antonio, Texas, asks whether there’s a term for the soft noises that people make with their mouths while waiting, such as humming or whooshing, to pass the time. Another example might be that animated Typewriter Guy on Sesame Street who...
The writer Clay Shirky tipped us off to a morbid bit of slang used in the dying business of print newspapers, where obituaries are referred to as subscriber countdowns. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Subscriber Countdowns” I was...
A caller from Texas wonders what the “D” stands for in D-Day. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “”D” in D-Day” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello, this is Mike. I’m calling from Odessa, Texas, and I’m doing pretty good today...