Listeners have been posting photos of themselves with their favorite words on our Word Wall, including some that are new to us. For example, epalpebrate might be a good one to drop when describing the Mona Lisa in art history class, since it means...
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...
Grant wraps up with some Hawaiian riddles from the book Riddling Tales from around the World, by Marjorie Dundas, including this one: This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Hawaiian Riddles” So I was reading some Hawaiian folklore. I was...
A Dallas listener and her boss have a dispute. The boss says the staff should get “on the stick.” The caller and her co-workers say the correct phrase is “on the ball.” Grant gives her an answer, then suggests a third option used in Hawaii: “on the...
black starting n.— «The loss of four major transmission lines from Hawaiian Electric’s Kahe power plant last night triggered an island-wide blackout.…HECO was woking last night to restart its generators at Kahe and Waiau, a process called “black...
Hawaiian peace sign n.— «Some refer to it the Hawaiian Peace sign. It’s been termed “flippin’ the bird,” and Dale Earnhart used to call it, “just tellin’ him he’s number one.” But whatever it’s called, they did it in the open, right where you could...
