Why do we say I’m just joshing you? Was there a Josh who inspired this verb? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Joshing You” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Dan Hersey calling in. Hi, Dan. Where are...
The standard spelling is dilemma, but memories keep arriving from people taught to write dilemna, with an n before the final a. Hazel in Kildare, North Dakota, says spellcheck finally shook loose the version she had used all her life. Maxine in...
When it comes to tattoos, passages of text are an increasingly popular alternative to images. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Text Tattoos” You’re listening to A Way with Words, a show about language and how we...
Companies sometimes intentionally misspell a product’s name in order to get customers’ attention. These deliberate mistakes, such as Cheez Whiz, Krispy Kreme, and Froot Loops, are also called sensational spelling or divergent spelling...
Grant and Martha recently served as expert spellers at the San Diego Council on Literacy’s annual adult spelling bee, but don’t let the age group or philanthropic mission fool you-spelling bees are always i-n-t-e-n-s-e. The word...
Autocorrect mistakes abound, but have you ever made the errors yourself, such as typing the word buy when you meant by? Studies in Computer Mediated Communications have linked this phenomenon to the way we process words phonetically before typing...