The new book Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words (Bookshop|Amazon) by linguist Michael Erard is a deeply researched, often intensely personal exploration of the ways people communicate at both the beginning and end of life...
A Burlington, Vermont, listener wants to settle a dispute: Can laughter be described as gregarious? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gregarious Laughter” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Eric George calling from...
giggle-box n.— «I can relate to this, as I was affectionately called “giggle-box” throughout my school years. It never took much to make me laugh; and, before too long everyone else in the class chimed in.» —“Jo Ellen Gluscevich” by Rx:...
laugh like a drain v. phr.— «My dad was a huge Peter Sellers fan. If you’re in for two minutes, you’re in for two hours at my house. And it was always a nice truce. Because my dad was from Liverpool—he didn’t have a bad temper, but he was like a...