A California caller gets a clarification about when to use “a” and “an” if the next word starts with a vowel sound. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Articles for Words with Vowel Sounds” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this...
attention surplus disorder n.— «She was extremely intense—that just a minimum phone conversation would be a few hours on the phone. And she wouldn’t even take hints to get off the phone. If someone would say, “Oh, I have to go to the bathroom; I...
jumpseat v.— «Someone at my company was jumpseating on FedEx and he said the crew told him he was on a flight that would do what was known as sweeps. Staying in the air for about an extra hour in case a plane broke down somewhere at an outstation...
sweep n.— «Someone at my company was jumpseating on FedEx and he said the crew told him he was on a flight that would do what was known as sweeps. Staying in the air for about an extra hour in case a plane broke down somewhere at an outstation...
hot adj.— «UPS has “hot” crews at maybe five or six airports across the country. There is one in ONT, DFW, RFD, SDF, PHL, and probably a few others. The crews show up, preflight the plane, and then are on a 30 minute launch window for an 8 hour...
continuity call n.— «One of the work rules that management is eager to change involves what is known as the continuity call. A continuity call happens when the stagehands who are working on a running show are called for an hour’s work before or...

