Imagine you’re on a long road trip. Is there a word for that other driver who sets the pace for your car mile after mile? Road buddy, perhaps? A Rhode Island caller says her family calls that driver a Follow John. Social psychologist Stanley...
On a long road trip, Todd from St. Petersburg, Florida, and his son disagree about the phrase Take the next exit, leading to a hilarious dispute over the precise meaning of the word next. This is part of a complete episode.
With your support, 2021 will be a pivotal year for A Way with Words. With your help, and by tightening our budget, through 2019 and 2020, we’ve managed to weather the pandemic while still increasing listenership both on the radio and by...
While on a road trip, a listener caught herself using the expression beat-feeting, as in We were beat-feeting it to New York and back. Might it have to do with the mode of transportation in the old Flintstones cartoon? This is part of a complete...
When David from Warren County, Indiana, visited relatives in Virginia, he heard about an inebriated man who was said to have entered a church and caused a ruckus while sworpin’ down the aisle. In Appalachia, the verb sworp, also spelled swarp...
Eleven-year-old Josiah from San Antonio, Texas, is looking for a single English word to describe a road that’s largely free of traffic. This is part of a complete episode.