A woman from Indianapolis is trying to convince her grandmother that it’s okay for restaurant servers to refer to both male and female customers as you guys. Grandma says it’s sexist. Our caller maintains it’s fine, drawing an analogy with Spanish...
A caller who grew up in Australia has a question about wedding-invitation etiquette in the U.S. She wonders: Shouldn’t an invitation refer to a daughter’s “marriage with” the groom rather than a “marriage to” him? This is part of a complete episode...
An ophthalmologist in Arcata, California, is puzzled by the way some of his older patients refer to a single lens. Several of them call it a len, not a lens. This gives the hosts a chance to focus on what linguists call back-formations. This is part...
Rock climbers use the term beta to refer to any information they receive about a route before climbing it. Is it related to beta as in “beta-testing software”? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Rock Climbing Beta” Hi, you have A Way...
Why do some people refer to a couch or a sofa as a davenport? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Davenports” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, my name is Rachel, and I’m calling from Baraboo, Wisconsin. Well, hello, Rachel. Welcome...
Many people are irritated by using the word troops to refer to a small number of soldiers, as in “Two troops were wounded.” Is it ever correct to use the word troop to mean an individual person? The hosts explain that in the military, it’s actually...
