John in Mysterious Waters, Florida, wonders whether it’s socially acceptable to misspell words on purpose on social media so they look more like the way he talks. Spellings such as mah for my, dawg for dog, and aight for all right can work as eye...
Text-messaging is destroying our kids’ ability to write, right? Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Texting and Writing Ability” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m...
kiddie coke n.— «That is not to mention Ritalin—now referred to as “Kiddie Coke” on the street. A psychotropic drug prescribed to millions of children, Ritalin is today a bestselling drug.» —“Solution to World-Wide Drug Abuse Starts...
obitutainment n.— «It may say that people are avidly interested in “obitutainment,” a term for celebrity death news coined in the Kurt Anderson novel “Turn of the Century” and reprised by Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” last week...
Facebook degree n.— «The University of Salford is set to offer a MA/PgDip in Social Media—unofficially referred to as the “Facebook Degree.”» —“Salford Uni launches Facebook degree” by Gareth Halfacree bit...
A caller is adamant honorifics should be used to address the President of the United States, as in “President Obama,” never “Mr. Obama.” He thinks it’s disrespectful and divisive when news organizations use “Mr...