At Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport, a post-security sign reading “RECOMBOBULATION AREA” plays on discombobulate, meaning to confuse or throw into disorder. Rissa from Madison wondered where discombobulate came from after seeing it while...
You’ve just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you’d the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that...
There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some estimates, they’re dying off at the rate of one every week. What’s lost when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question and efforts to record some endangered...
A Milwaukee listener is curious about an expression he uses to describe underlings who can’t seem to do something right: “You give ’em books, and all they do is eat the covers!” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript...
A Milwaukee man is mystified about the use of the word neé in his grandmother’s obituary. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Neé” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Steve calling from Milwaukee. Hi, Steve...
waste-face n.— «Dubbing it a “true lounge,” Head says Soho 7 is for the crowd that has matured past the waste-face Water Street scene and is looking for a nicer space to sip a drink.» —“Soho 7 a fashionable new addition...
