Would you call an artist who paints a painter, or does painter only apply to a technician, like one who paints houses? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Painting Artist” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, Martha. This is Noam...
Our Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a game of Name That Nursery Rhyme. The catch is the text has been run through the translation site Babelfish. What happens when Little Bo Peep and Humpty Dumpty go from English to Spanish to Chinese and back again? This...
Let’s put the moose on the table: You have questions, and Grant and Martha have answers. For example, why would someone have an albatross around the neck? And what’s so cool about bees’ knees, anyway? Plus, jockey boxes, bailiwicks, and cute names...
Why do some puns strike us as clever, while others are plain old groaners? Martha and Grant puzzle over this question. Also, the difference between baggage and luggage, a royal word quiz, the “egg” in egg on, what to call someone who doesn’t eat...
What do you name your baby if you want her to become a bank teller? “Penny.” And if it’s a boy? Try “Bill.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Bank-Teller Babies” Grant, I have another couple of ap-tronyms for you. Yes, please. You...
If something’s “the bee’s knees,” you can bet that it’s also beast. A sixth grade teacher wonders about the term beast being thrown around by her students. This synonym for “cool” or “good” is also used as a verb, as in “I beasted that exam,” or “I...