“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This and other phrases of wisdom are known as antimetabole, from the Greek for “turning about in the opposite direction.” Certain forms of these statements also go by the name...
Martha shares some collective nouns sent in by listeners in response to a recent episode on the topic. This is part of a complete episode.
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” This kind of sudden, surprising turn in a sentence is called a paraprosdokian. Martha and Grant trade some examples. This is part of a...
stall ball n.— «He also should tone down rhetoric on gambling, labor initiatives and social issues so as not to offend. With a big lead, it’s best to be somewhat bland, the experts said. In essence, he needs to concentrate on not making...
Aloha! We have another A Way with Words podcast goofy-footing among the grommets. Martha's been putting together a collection of your favorite collective nouns and Grant joins her to swat around a caller’s question about what to call a...
therapism
n.— «Some are put off by the New Age rhetoric of crystals, spiritualism, and therapism.» —“In excess: radical extensions of neopragmatism” by Susan C. Jarratt May 18, 1995. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)