A Tallahassee listener hates it when realtors pronounce the name of their profession “REAL-a-tor.” Why do they do that? This is part of a complete episode.
We recommend books that make great gifts for language lovers, talk about footwear called go-aheads, and look further into going commando. Also, was the 2008 election a historic event or an historic event?
desire line n.— «Note long ago, a friend told me about an intriguing concept called “desire lines.” It seems that when landscape architects lay out walking paths and trails in parks and other public spaces, they invariably...
Hello, guys and dolls--it's another newsletter from A Way with Words. We aired an episode this past weekend in which we talked about the footwear known as "go-aheads," what part of the body is "possible,"...
There’s the late CNN broadcaster William Headline, the preacher named James God, and the physician named Dr. Hurt. Names like these that match the person’s profession are called aptronyms or aptonyms. We talk about the man who coined the...
suicide headache n.— «Cluster headache (CH) remains an enigma to the medical profession.…Many chronic CH sufferers eventually take their own lives—earning CH the gruesome moniker “suicide headaches.”» —“LSD cured my...