A listener in Richardson, Texas, notes that before her mother married, her middle name was Knight and her last name was Chevallier. For those who know the French word for “knight,” chevalier, this made for some occasional chuckles. This...
What do you call it when you have no particular evening meal planned and everyone in the family just cobbles together their own dinner? Our listeners have been mulling this question and have lots of names for it: YOYO (as in “You’re on...
T.H. White’s The Once and Future King offers excellent advice about how to fight off despair: learn something. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Learning Fights Off Despair” You’re listening to A Way with...
Fireflies have lots of different names in English, including lightning bug, lighter fly, glowworm, and third-shift mosquito. These insects have similarly poetic names in other languages. In Brazil, it’s a vagalume or wandering light, and the...
What’s the best way for someone busy to learn lots of new words quickly for a test like the GRE? Looking up their origins can help. Or, record yourself reading the words and definitions and play them back while you’re doing other chores...
Martha reads Walt Whitman’s poem “On the Beach at Night, Alone.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Walt Whitman, “On the Beach at Night, Alone”” You’re listening to A Way with Words...