What’s the best way to learn lots of new vocabulary while studying for a test like the GRE? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Learning Lots of Vocabulary” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Julia calling...
Say you’re introducing someone to a married heterosexual couple, and both members of the couple are physicians. What titles should you use? “This is Dr. and Dr. Jones”? Dr. and Mrs.? What if one holds Ph.D.? What if both hold...
A Huntsville, Alabama, physical therapist notes that patients with a hamstring cramp will sometimes say “I’ve got a rising in my leader.” Rising is a dialect term for swelling, and leader is a dialect term for tendon or muscle...
The medical term sialogogic, which means “producing saliva,” comes from Greek words meaning “to bring forth saliva.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sialogogic” A friend of mine sent me a link...
In a powerful essay on white privilege, Good Black News editor Lori Lakin Hutcherson includes the term chandelier pain to describe how painful accumulated slights can be. Medical professionals use the term chandelier pain to refer to the result of...
If you’re on tenterhooks, it means you’re in a state of anxious anticipation or suspense. But what IS a tenterhook? The answer goes back to a 15th-century manufacturing process. Also, you probably have a term for those crumbs that...

