Wendy from Falls Church, Virginia, asks about a gesture corresponding to the exclamation Shame, shame! that involves scraping one index finger over the other, almost as if peeling a carrot. A German name for a similar gesture actually translates as...
Yasha, who grew up speaking Russian, recalls phrase used to comfort a child after a small mishap like a skinned knee. The phrase translates as “It will heal in time for the wedding,” and Yasha had assumed it was solely Slavic. So he was surprised to...
There’s a word for those noble souls who’re picking up litter while they jog. They’re ploggers. The neologisms plogger and plogging are a combination of the English word jogging and Swedish plocka upp, which means pick up. This is part of a complete...
The book Lingo, by Dutch linguist and journalist Gaston Dorren, is an enjoyable whirlwind tour of languages throughout Europe. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Book by Gaston Dorren” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show...
Some knock-knock jokes stir the emotions, including: Knock-knock. Who’s there? Woo…. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Emotional Knock-Knock” Knock knock. Who’s there? Woo woohoo. Don’t get excited, it’s just a joke, and there’s the...
If you were stranded on a desert island, wouldn’t you get to thinking how odd it is that we don’t pronounce the s in island? It was added during the Renaissance in an attempt to make the word look more like its Latin source, insula. This is part of...
