In a previous episode, we came upon a word mystery in a 1947 menu from Jackson, Mississippi, that mentions tang. The mystery has been solved! It wasn’t the drink, and it wasn’t the fish; it was Cudahy Tang, one of over a hundred knockoff brands of...
There have been three brand-new episodes broadcast recently. Did you catch them? • Three weeks ago, it was Shank of the Evening, in which we talked about sports nicknames, flounder vs. founder, Laundromats vs. washaterias, Black Dutch, nosebaggers...
In this week’s episode, “It was bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.” Martha and Grant discuss their favorite first lines from novels. Also this week, palmer-housing, beanplating, meeting cute, bad billboard grammar, and...
Who is Cooter Brown? And just how high is he? His name appears in lots of phrases, including “high as Cooter Brown,” “drunk as Cooter Brown,” “dead as Cooter Brown,” “fast as Cooter Brown,” and “fertile as Cooter Brown.” The earliest known...
The hosts tackle a longstanding mystery about the word shoshabong. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Shoshabong” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Helene from Madison, Wisconsin. Hello, Helene. Welcome. Welcome to the...
Why in the world would two people part from each other saying, “Abyssinia!” “Ethiopia!”? The hosts clear up the mystery. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Abyssinia! Ethiopia!” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi. Hi, who’s this...
