Rachel from San Diego wonders whether the exuberant Hawaiian cry chihoo! is onomatopoetic — that is, if the sound of the word resembles what it actually denotes. The cry is not originally Hawaiian. It’s a version of the Samoan war cry known as...
What makes a word beautiful? Is it merely how it sounds? Or does a word’s meaning affect its aesthetic effect? Max Beerbohm had some helpful thoughts about gondola, scrofula, and other words in his essay “The Naming of Streets.”...
It’s the art of constructive feedback: If you’re a teacher with a mountain of papers to grade, you may find yourself puzzling over which kinds of notes in the margins work best. Martha and Grant discuss strategies for effective paper...
If you’re on tenterhooks, it means you’re in a state of anxious anticipation or suspense. But what IS a tenterhook? The answer goes back to a 15th-century manufacturing process. Also, you probably have a term for those crumbs that...
Ralphing, slang for vomiting, is onomatopoeic, modeled on the harsh sound itself, and dates at least to the 1960s. Kelsey in Tallahassee, Florida, went looking for a clever way to describe her dog throwing up on her paperwork and wondered whether...
Susurrous, meaning “having a rustling sound,” derives from Latin susurrous, “whisper.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Susurrous” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello, this is Mike from...