Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital is a sensuous, exhilarating meditation about the strangeness of life on a space station, with its mix of tedious tasks and jaw-dropping views. And: a musician who rode the rails in his youth shares the slang he picked...
A resident of Michigan’s scenic Beaver Island shares the term, boodling, which the locals use to denote the social activity of leisurely wandering the island, often with cold fermented beverages. There have been various proposed etymologies for this...
Why do some place names include the word the, as in The Hague or the Bronx? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Place Names Starting with “The”” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, how are you? My name is Brooke Barnum. I’m calling...
In Arabic-speaking families, it’s not uncommon for mothers to address their children with the Arabic word for “mama” or for fathers to use the word for “father” when addressing their offspring. These words are used in this way as a term of...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s quiz is a challenge to find the odd word out, etymologically speaking. For example, which word doesn’t belong in the following group? Bigot, saloon, quiche, tornado. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Odd...
We’ve talked before about that stuff that builds up in your eyes after a night’s sleep, and listeners keep chiming in with more, including googlies, eye-winkers, and from a listener who grew up in the Philippines, morning stars. This is part of a...