Growing up in Jamaica, a woman used to hear her fashion-designer mother invoke this phrase to indicate that something was good enough, even if it was flawed: “A man on a galloping horse wouldn’t see it.” Variations include “it’ll never be seen on a...
Martha recalls that as an English major, she nearly memorized William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. He died this month at age 92, and she’ll remember this quote, among others: “Ultimately, the product any writer has to sell is not the subject being...
People with synesthesia have long been known to associate sensations like sounds with others, like seeing certain colors. New research suggests that color associations with certain letters — at least for individuals born after 1967 — are largely...
The books we love as children may influence our careers more than we realize. As a child, Martha was fascinated with stories of cracking codes, and Grant loved books with glossaries–not that far from the kind of work they do today. A caller from...
Ahoy! We kicked off the new fall season of "A Way with Words" this weekend, asking, "How much humor and personality can you pack into a 140-character update? A lot, it seems. We discuss funny Twitter feeds, the origins of...
Happy September! In this week’s archive episode, “Sailor’s Delight,” we talk about weather proverbs, pooflapoo pie, tricks for remembering how to spell difficult words, and alternatives to the word “mentee.” We also hear from a guy named Todd who...
