What’s the origin of the term couch potato? Grant has the story of the guys credited with coining this term for boob-tube aficionados. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Couch Potato” Hello, you have A Way with...
fannings n.pl.— Note: Likely related to the sense of “fan” which means “to winnow; to separate chaff from wheat,” derived from the noun for the device used in such a technique. «After the tea leaves are taken off...
Where in the world would you be likely to find sculch in your dooryard, or ask for just a dite of cream in your coffee? Martha has the answers in this minicast about some distinctive regional terms.
This past weekend on "A Way with Words," we mulled over whether part of the recession-busting bailouts the government is proposing should be targeted at reviving the Federal Writers' Project of the 1930s. Get a taste of that, and...
Martha shares writing advice from wine writer Andrew Jefford’s essay “Wine and Astonishment.” His main advice for writers: be astonished. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Wine and Astonishment”...
Amelia in Logan, Utah wondered whether her family’s Thanksgiving meal, served from a kitchen island, was buffet style or smorgasbord style. In everyday American English, a smorgasbord is essentially a kind of buffet, a spread of small dishes that...