When Martha agreed to serve as pronouncer for the San Diego County Scripps Regional Spelling Bee, she assumed her task would be easy. Instead, it was one of the most humbling experiences of her life. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Trivia time! Where in the United States can you visit Soda City? If you answered Columbia, South Carolina, you’re right! This nickname apparently derives from an old practice of abbreviating Columbia as Cola. The locals then referred to the town as...
Listeners like you make up more than half the funding of A Way with Words through donations. And the radio show/podcast still hasn’t raised enough funds to ensure new episodes in 2025. There are less than two...
Some of the music you hear on this show is the work of Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, a San Diego-based Afro-funk and soul-jazz band. Their keyboard player is Tim Felten, who, as it happens, is also the editor and engineer for A Way with Words. He selects...
Grant’s is a trivia-obsessed family. He and his wife participate in Learned League, an online trivia competition, and their son Guthrie now participates in Academic League, a high-school quiz league in San Diego, featuring questions from the...
Bhavika in San Diego, California, was intrigued to hear an English speaker use the phrase too clever by half meaning “a little too smart for one’s own good” or “more clever than prudent.” There’s a similar phrase...

