Dear fan and listener, As we look forward to the coming year, "A Way with Words" is finishing its best year ever. We've added new stations, new listeners, and received more letters, calls, and emails than ever. Our show about words and...
When speakers of foreign languages try to adapt their own idioms into English, the results can be poetic, if not downright puzzling. A Dallas listener shares some favorite examples from his Italian-born wife, including “I can put my hand to...
Hi-ho, Martha and Grant here! Did you miss us? We've been super-busy, working hard to keep bringing you more entertaining conversation about language. Thanks for the cards, letters, and phone calls in which you share your love, too. We...
An Orange County, California, listener describes how both his left-handed parents were forced as children to learn to write with their non-dominant hand. Their handwriting looked unusual, to say the least. Grant discusses myths about handedness and...
landfill indie n.— «Not sure how Stone Roses can be called landfill indie. Landfill indie to me means fairly non-descript generic guitar bands that don’t stand out from the others. Hardly the Stone Roses.» —“Landfill...
split bit n.— Note: “Bit” is well-established slang meaning “prison term.” «Under the state laws that govern sentencing, grand larceny is considered a non-violent crime, and it carries no mandatory minimum prison...