After a whale dies, it may float up to the ocean’s surface to be scavenged by seabirds and sharks. Eventually, though, the carcass starts slowly sinking, and once the body reaches the ocean floor, it’s known as a whale fall. This is part of a...
Maira lives in Puerto Rico and speaks English as a second language. When friends visiting from Minnesota join her at the beach and are ready to swim out into the surf, they say I’m ready to go out. When they’re ready to go back onto the shore, they...
A sea-kindly boat is one that handles well on the ocean. The kindly reflects an old use of the word to mean “suited” or “suitable.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sea-Kindly” Here’s another bit of nautical slang I didn’t know...
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, the show about language and how we use it. I’m...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has designed a puzzle inspired by the movie Finding Dory, only this time it’s about two language experts who journey around the ocean looking for le mot juste. For example, what sea creature name literally means “daughter of...
Martha reads Jessica Goodfellow’s poem about the sound of water, “Chance of Precipitation,” which first appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “”Chance of Precipitation”” You’re listening to A Way...