A listener in Norwich, Connecticut, is going through a trove of love letters her parents sent each other during World War II. In one of them, her father repeatedly used the word hideous in an ironic way to mean “wonderful.” Is that part of the slang...
This two-syllable word has five letters. If you remove letters from it one by one, its pronunciation is still the same. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “One Word Riddle” You’re listening to A Way with Words, a show about language...
Puzzle Person John Chaneski proffers problems pertaining to the letter P. What alliterative term, for example, also means “wet blanket”? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “P Word Quiz” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show...
When an Austrian candy maker needed a name for his new line of mints, he took the first, middle, and last letters of the German word pfefferminz, or “peppermint,” to form the brand name PEZ. He later marketed the candies as an alternative for...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s latest puzzle involves changing a movie plot by adding a single letter to the original title. For example, the movie in which Melissa McCarthy plays a deskbound CIA analyst becomes a story about the same character who has...
Here’s a riddle: What seven-letter word becomes longer when the third letter is removed? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Seven Letter Word Riddle” I have a riddle. I can take it. Shields up. What seven-letter word becomes longer...
