Ruth from Philadelphia asks whether hiya, a greeting she grew up using near Quakertown, Pennsylvania, is a real word or just a local oddity. The form is well attested: the Dictionary of American Regional English records American examples back to...
Jeff in Dallas noticed that an early English pre-printed Christmas card read Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It points to a broader history of merry. In 1800s American English, merry was common for exuberant, joyful pleasure, and it is cognate...
Step into a traditional English pub, it’ll be a while before everyone knows your name. A long while, in fact. The rules of conversational engagement are different in the UK from what you’d find in a place like Cheers. Kate Fox’s...
What do you say when you answer the telephone? On the NPR science blog, “Krulwich Wonders,” Robert Krulwich notes that hello did not become a standard greeting until the Edison Company recommended the word as a proper phone greeting...
Ryan, a Marine at Camp Pendleton, picked up Yambo from Ugandan security personnel while deployed in Iraq, where Marines started using it as a playful greeting. The word is from Kiswahili, spoken widely in East Africa, and it’s fine as an informal...
After a San Diego man used the term Eskimo kiss with his preschooler, they both wondered about its origin. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Eskimo Kisses” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Ryan from San...