When it comes to language, who’s the decider? Grant explains how grammar rules develop. Also, what’s tarantula juice, and what’s the difference between a muffin top and a smiley? We discuss these and other terms from Green’s Dictionary of Slang. Why...
Greetings, word watchers! In this week's episode, we talk about "making money hand over fist," "don't take any wooden nickels," "peter out," "thrice-happy pair," colorful idioms from around the world...
Making money hand over fist evokes the motion of hauling in a rope quickly, one hand passing over the other and closing into a fist. Betsy in Connecticut heard the phrase at dinner, where her daughters guessed it might come from the baseball-bat...
Good poetry is even better when you read it aloud. For his anthology, Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky selected works with just that in mind. Martha and Grant discuss a poem from the...
Martha shares two more paraprosdokians about money. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Money Paraprosdokians” Grant, we were talking earlier in the show about paraprosdokians. Those statements that start out one way and then take a...
First, a big welcome to our new listeners in Waco, Texas, where we'll be the public-radio airwaves there starting Sunday night at 9 on 103.3 FM, Waco NPR! If your local public radio station still doesn't air "A Way with Words," why...
