The language of restaurant menus. Need a dictionary to get through a dinner menu? Research shows the longer the description of a particular dish, the more expensive it will be. Plus: What’s the best way to use a thesaurus? DON’T —...
Starting this year, Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants not only have to spell words correctly. A controversial new rule means they’ll have to answer vocabulary questions, too. Also, when it comes to reading text, do you prefer...
Someone should write a love letter to a new book called Letters of Note. It’s a splendid collection of all kinds of correspondence through the ages: Elvis Presley fans writing to the president, children making suggestions to famous...
Giving your baby an unusual moniker may seem like a great idea at the time. But what if you have second thoughts? One mother of a newborn had such bad namer’s remorse, she poured out her heart to strangers online. Speaking of mothers and...
The emphatic exclamation “from hell to breakfast” goes back to the Civil War. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “From Hell to Breakfast” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi there, this is Brad Davis calling...
Parents of a toddler may wonder if Uh-oh should count as their child’s first word. Yep, and it’s actually pretty common first word for little kids, since mishaps are things they learn about early on. This is part of a complete episode...