If there’s a logophile on your gift list, you have lots of choices, including a new trivia game for language-lovers and a murder mystery for the word-obsessed. Plus, if someone calls you a schmoozer, should you be flattered or insulted? And if...
Susie Dent’s murder mystery Guilty by Definition (Bookshop|Amazon) follows a lexicographer in Oxford who becomes a sleuth of a different kind, seeking the culprit in a long-unsolved killing. A lexicographer herself, Dent includes lots of obscure and...
A young patron’s sense of wonder at what the Toronto Public Library can offer her is super adorable. Libraries! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “A Sense of Library Wonder” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about...
BOLO is an acronym for Be On the Lookout. An all-points bulletin may also be described as simply a BOL. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “BOLO” Grant, the other day I met a dog named Bolo. Like a Bolo that the police put out? Oh...
You pick up what you think a glass of water and take a sip, but it turns out to be Sprite. What’s the word for that sensation when you’re expecting one thing and taste something else? Also, slang from college campuses, like ratchet and dime piece...
You’re at a social gathering and meet someone you’d like to know better. What do you ask to get a real conversation going? Some people lead with “What do you do?,” while others avoid talking about work entirely. Still others ask, “Where’d you go to...