When it comes to joining Facebook affinity groups, grammar lovers have lots of choices. Take, for example, the group whose motto is “Punctuation saves lives.” It’s called “Let’s Eat Grandma!” or “Let’s...
What do you eat at a jitney supper? Jitney? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Contents of a Jitney Supper” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Keith from Pendleton, Indiana. Hi, Keith. Welcome to the program...
Kara from Rockwood, Tennessee, asks about boogeyman after hearing in Port-au-Prince that the word came from a Haitian slave-revolt leader named Bokman. That story is unlikely, because related words are older than the revolt that led to Haiti’s...
Grant quizzes Martha about the meaning of several rhyming verb and noun phrases: cuff and stuff, the cherries and blueberries, chew and screw, eat it and beat it, and flap and zap. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Rhyming...
Edward from Indianapolis asks about scarf as in “You really scarfed that down,” meaning someone ate fast and greedily. This verb is unrelated to the garment word scarf; it likely came into English through Scots dialect. Earlier forms include scoff...
If you need proof that language is powerful, here’s some. Researchers at Cornell recently reported that kids are more likely to eat their veggies if they’re told the food has enticing names like “X-ray Vision Carrots” and...