Blueberry buckle is a dessert with cake batter, fruit, and a streussel topping. What does that have to do with buckles? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Buckle Desserts” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Ellen Johnson...
This week, it’s the language of politics. Martha and Grant discuss two handy terms describing politicians: far center and snollygoster. Also, a presidential word puzzle, false friends, spendthrifts, and a long list of 17th-century insults. So listen...
Nancy in Danville, California, wonders why a dried grape becomes a raisin and a dried plum becomes a prune. English borrowed raisin and prune from French, where raisin means grape and prune means plum, through different routes and at different times...
Beware of false friends, those words that don’t translate the way you’d expect. For example, the word “gift” in German means “poison,” and the Spanish word “tuna” means “the fruit of the prickly pear cactus.” These tricky lookalikes are also called...
Brent from San Diego asks why the expression “keep your eyes peeled” uses peeled, and whether it has anything to do with birds of prey opening their eyes. The phrase is spelled P-E-E-L, and its likely 19th-century sense is simply that the eyelids...
BOB n.— «But the mason bee earns an “A” for effort from orchardists and gardeners. This native of Washington, common throughout the West, is one of our hardest-working pollinators. Mason bees have a sweet tooth for fruit trees, and for this reason...
