Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a pretty good memory for adages and proverbs, but it’s not perfect. Here, he gives us some classic lines where the last word is off— like, for example, “a clear conscience is a soft willow.” This is...
“Hell’s Bells!”, an exclamation along the lines of “darn!”, is likely just variation of hellfire, and reinforced by its rhyme. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of “Hell’s...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game that changes Venn diagrams to zen diagrams. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Zen Diagrams Quiz” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it...
First names like “Patience,” “Hope,” and “Charity” are inspired by worthy qualities. But how about “Be-courteous” or “Hate-evil”? The Puritans sometimes gave children such names hoping that...
Starting this year, Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants not only have to spell words correctly. A controversial new rule means they’ll have to answer vocabulary questions, too. Also, when it comes to reading text, do you prefer...
Do Americans use the same sign language as the British? And what do Japanese people use instead of umm? Plus, why do we vote at polling places? What goes into file 13? All this, a word quiz, commode vs. toilet, saditty and bougie, and cute stuff...