Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s puzzle involves nominative determinism, the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate toward occupations that fit their names. For example, which handsome movie actor, who was twice voted People magazine’s “Sexiest Man...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski invites us to a party where all the adults have professions that match their children’s names. For example, if dad is a barber, or if mom is a recording engineer, what would they name their boys? This is part of a complete...
Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a name game for famous folks who could use a different surname because of their trade. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “New Famous Surnames Quiz” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about...
What do you name your baby if you want her to become a bank teller? “Penny.” And if it’s a boy? Try “Bill.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Bank-Teller Babies” Grant, I have another couple of ap-tronyms for you. Yes, please. You...
If something’s not in your bailiwick, it’s not in your jurisdiction or area of control. But what exactly is a “bailiwick”? Martha explains that the two words which make up the term — bailiff and wick — have specific meanings in Middle English. A...
What happens when a clock gets hungry? It goes back four seconds. Martha talks about how puns weren’t always considered “bad.” Cicero praised them as the wittiest kind of saying, and Shakespeare made plenty of them, for both serious and comic effect...