During the late 19th and early 20th century, thousands of volunteers helped crowdsource the Oxford English Dictionary. This venerable reference work includes citations sent in by inventors, eccentrics, scientists and educators, an Arctic explorer —...
If you’re fossicking specifically for opals in Australia, you’re said to be noodling. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Noodling for Opals” Grant, earlier we were talking about the term fossick, meaning to hunt for gemstones. And I...
Humorist Roy Blount Jr. sits down with Grant for a conversation about the controversy over writers’ rights, the Amazon Kindle 2, Roy’s recent book, Alphabet Juice, “sonicky” words, and noodling for catfish. He also clears up the mystery of whether...
A Way with Words is starting a brand-new season! Find out what a motorcyclist wears to keep from getting sunburned– is it a do-rag or a dew-rag? A listener wonders “Why is an undesirable task called a g-job?” Martha shares a trick for remembering...
It’s a brand-new season here on A Way with Words! To celebrate, Martha and Grant are noodling with anagrams— including the one in the title of this episode. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Anagramming for Fun and Radio with...
river rash n.— «“It’s like I told the U.P.S. man the other day, it’s the challenge,” said Mr. Ramsey, who has a tattoo of a catfish on one shoulder and whose forearms are cross-hatched with battle scars, known in noodling circles as “river rash.”...