A San Diego, California, listener has observed that some advertising slogans that omit the part of speech known as an article, such as Get iPhone 14 Pro or Do what’s best for Baby. The phrasing is intentional. Advertising often relies on a...
If your iPhone’s Siri thinks that two meetings in one day is not bad, does that make her an optimist? Since when did cellphones start making value judgments? This is part of a complete episode.
Need a Scrabble word with q or z? Grant shares some of his favorite legal Scrabble words: qi (the circulating life force in Chinese philosophy), qat (a leaf chewed in some cultures for stimulating effects), and za (a shortening of the word...
What’s the word for the gesture you make with your fingers when you want to make an image larger on an iPhone? Unpinch? Fwoop? This is part of a complete episode.
Howdy, long time no chat! It's another newsletter from A Way with Words. Well, there are big goings-on here. Besides Martha and Grant gearing up for a season of brand-new shows, Grant just finished a 3000-mile move from New York to...
ill na na adj.—Gloss: very good. “Ill” is old-fashioned hip-hop slang meaning good or great, “na na” is a euphemism for the vagina. Note: Probably from a 1996 Foxy Brown album Ill Na Na. «If you are an existing...