The words we choose can change attitudes — and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He says that using words like “leader” and “follower” actually works better...
Why do some place names include the word the, as in The Hague or the Bronx? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Place Names Starting with “The”” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, how are you? My name is...
Why do we say someone has a cold when we say someone else has the flu, and another person has croup? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “A Cold, The Flu” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Anne. I’m calling...
The phrase “I don’t know him from Adam” suggests that if the person were standing next to the person in Western tradition thought to be earliest human being, the two would be indistinguishable. The phrase “I don’t know...
Fever is often diagnosed with an indefinite article attached—as in, you have a fever—but it was some time between the 1940s and 1960s that we added the article. And in the Southern United States, it’s still not uncommon to hear someone say...
Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski is back with a game called Definitely Cryptic, where the article “a” is combined with a word to form a new word. Try this one: “glass container; slightly open.” This is part of a complete episode...