While in a cooking class in Mexico, Travis from Orlando, Florida, was told by the instructor that the word quesadilla comes a supposed Nahuatl word, quesaditzen. That’s not the case, although many other food words derive from that indigenous...
Malamute, kayak, and parka are just some of the words that have found their way into English from the language of indigenous people in northern climes. • In the 1970s, some scientists argued that two quarks should be called truth and beauty. • The...
Dennis, a native of Colombia, grew up using the term la ñapa to describe a little something extra, such as an additional piece of bread added to your order gratis when you visit a bakery. His husband, who is from Louisiana, uses the term lagniappe...
Craig, a whale biologist in Alaska, wonders how many words have been adopted into English from such languages as Inuit, Yupik, Tlingit and Inupiaq. Indigenous languages in the far North have contributed mukluk, malamute, kayak, and parka. The word...
Looking ahead to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Martha and Grant discuss some terms you might hear there. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “South African English” You’re listening to A Way with Words...
Martha reviews the new book, Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich, a memoir about setting out to learn a second language in mid-life. Rich spent a year in India to learn Hindi, and became so fascinated with the process that she went on to...