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 Brooke Barnum. I’m calling...
A caller with a 25-year-old parrot wonders: How much language do birds really understand? Plus, Knock-knock. Who’s there? Boo. Well… you can guess the rest. But there was a time when these goofy jokes were a brand-new craze sweeping the nation...
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 from Dallas. Great...
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. Transcript of “Definitely...
You wouldn’t say the NASA launched a space shuttle, or you watched March Madness on the CBS. Similarly, initialisms like NSA and FBI are sometimes said without the article, especially by insiders. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...

