A listener named Tami contacted the show by WhatsApp to say that whenever someone would be talking about a subject that nobody else knew anything about, her father-in-law would respond with I had one of those, but the wheels came off. This is part...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a fresh-picked puzzle about familiar fruits. For example, if you cherish someone, what fruit-inspired phrase about one’s eye comes to mind? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Fresh Fruit Puzzler” You are...
The sportscaster Red Barber popularized the term rhubarb, meaning a scuffle on the baseball mound. It has now expanded to various kinds of arguments. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Baseball Rhubarb” Hello, you have A Way with...
Can a grenache really taste like strawberries, rhubarb, hints of leather and dutch cocoa, all over the course of a long swig? While it may sound ridiculous, it does pose the challenge: how would you describe a flavor? It’s not easy to talk about...
Martha shares more clever collective plant names, including a “mommy of poppies.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Mommy of Poppies” We were talking earlier about collective nouns for plants. Oh, you’ve got more? I have plucked a...
Stand back! Farther back! It's another newsletter from "A Way with Words." A brand-new episode hit the airwaves this weekend, in which we took a look at some of the coinages on Barack Obama's name, and at "eavesdropping,"...
