In 2006, the International Astronomical Union kicked Pluto off its planetary pedestal. In his delightful book How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming (Bookshop|Amazon) astronomer Mike Brown recounts the events leading up to the demotion of that...
One of the celestial bodies listed in The Dictionary of Minor Planet Names(Amazon) is called Sumaura. It’s the name of the oldest private elementary school in Kobe, Japan, and was suggested by the discoverer’s son. This is part of a...
An Omaha, Nebraska, listener has a word for using Google Earth to fly around the planet virtually and zoom in on far-flung locations: floogling, a combination of flying and Googling. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
If everyone on the planet spoke a single language, wouldn’t that make life a whole lot easier? For that matter, is a common world language even possible? Maybe for a minute or so—until new words and phrases start springing up. Also, did you...
What do darts, flubs, and maids have in common? Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski puts it to us in a game of rhymes. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word Group Rhyme Quiz” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show...
A listener in Brazil challenges Martha’s pronunciation of the odd English word antipodes. Their email exchange leads Martha to muse about a favorite collection of poems, where she first encountered this word.
