Why is it that what you say to your family and what they hear are different? If you say “no,” your child hears “maybe,” and if you say “maybe,” she hears “ask again and again,” and “yes” is...
An Alabama high-school teacher observes that one of his fellow teachers tends to write words that should be plural as singular, such as “I graded all 50 test” instead of “I graded all 50 tests.” The reason for this locution...
Sure, there’s Grandma and Grampa, but there’s also Gammy, Bumpy, Dadoo, Gre-Gre, Kiki, Kerkel, Monga, Nee-Nee, Pots, Rah-Rah and Woo-Woo. Martha and Grant talk about the endlessly inventive names grandchildren call their grandparents...
If English isn’t your first language, there are lots of ways to learn it, such as memorizing Barack Obama’s speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention. Martha and Grant talk about some of the unusual ways foreigners are learning to speak...
Are fairy tales too scary for children? A survey of parents in Britain found that more than half wouldn’t read them to their children before age five. Martha and Grant discuss the grisly imagery in fairy tales, and whether they’re too...
Why do some people refer to a couch or a sofa as a davenport? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Davenports” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, my name is Rachel, and I’m calling from Baraboo, Wisconsin. Well...