Vape, meaning “to smoke an electronic cigarette,” is among the entries in Grant’s tenth annual Words of the Year List for The New York Times. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Vaping” All right...
A truck driver in Tucson, Arizona, has a dispute with her boyfriend: If you toss something out, do you chuck it or chunk it? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Chuck It vs. Chunk It” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi...
What makes a word a word? If something’s not in the dictionary, you might not be able to use it in Scrabble. But dictionaries aren’t the last word on whether a word is legitimate. If you use a word that someone else understands, then...
Richard from San Diego, California, has a hard time believe that the term cockamamie didn’t start out as Yiddish. Although the word was adapted by Jewish immigrants in New York City to refer to transferable decals, it comes from the French...
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo is grammatical, even if nobody would say it outside a linguistic stunt. The trick is polysemy: buffalo can mean bison, bully or to intimidate, or refer to Buffalo, New York, with some...
Window-shopping became popular pastime along New York’s 5th Avenue back in the days when stores closed at 5 p.m. Passersby would stroll past, gazing at the window displays without intending to purchase anything. The French term for...