Martha nominates another Word of the Year candidate: Joe the, as in “Joe the Plumber,” and subsequent variations on the “X the Y” formula arising from a certain drain-fixer’s quarter-hour of fame. This is part of a...
Marty in Denver wrote mooses in an email, but spell-check balked, and neither moose nor meese sounded right to him. Standard dictionaries and style guides give the plural as moose. It’s a zero plural, the same in singular and plural, like deer...
Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat in this episode as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of eco-friendly and unlock the etymology of...
A New York City listener says he’s reading lots of thrillers this summer. But a couple of words keep tripping him up. Does a speeding car careen or career? The hosts spell out the differences, and throw in the origin of the word carom for good...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski is a huge fan of comic books featuring superheroes like Superman and Spider-Man. Lo and behold, John claims he’s discovered a whole treasure trove of Heretofore Unnamed Superheroes, and invites us to guess their names...
A caller wants to know why those deep-fried balls of cornmeal and spices are called hush puppies. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Hush Puppies” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Yes, hi, this is Hallie. Hello, Hallie...