A Dallas, Texas, caller says his girlfriend from a rural part of his state has an unusual way of pronouncing certain words. Email sounds like EE-mill, toenail like TOW-nell, and tell-tale like TELL-tell. These sounds are the result of a well-known...
Sharing a secret language. Did you ever speak in gibberish with a childhood pal, adding extra syllables to words so the adults couldn’t understand what you were saying? Such wordplay isn’t just for kids—and it’s not just limited to English. Also...
Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski, who belongs to the National Puzzlers’ League, brought us a game inspired by the league’s newsletter. In this game, based on head-to-tail shifts, the first letter of a word moves to the back to form a new word, so if a...
Of all the ways to propose to your girlfriend, one way to do it is by tattooing her name and the words Will you marry me? above your knee. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Tattoo Proposal” If you’re listening to A Way with Words...
For language lovers, it’s like New Year’s, Fourth of July, and the Super Bowl all rolled into one: The brand-new online edition of the Dictionary of American Regional English. Martha and Grant explain what all the fuss is about. Plus, the debate...
The terms boyfriend and girlfriend came into common use in the late 1800’s. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Boyfriend and Girlfriend” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, my name is Laura from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Hi, Laura...
