Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski sorts out the hosts with a puzzle about book categories on Amazon.com. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Book Categories Puzzle” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use...
“I feel more like I do now than I did a while ago.” The hosts discuss that and other examples of self-referential humor, like “Before I begin speaking, I’d like to say something.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Self-Referential...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game featuring “Tom Swifties,” those sentences that include a self-referentially funny adverb, such this one: “’Ow! You guys really know how to hurt a vampire,’ Tom said _____________.” This is part of a complete episode...
alpha gent n.— «“I like to think we’re producing a magazine for the…“ He pauses, and adopts the self-conscious twinkle of a marketing man with a buzz word to unleash: “Alpha Gent!”» —“Men’s Health – Arrival of the Fittest” by Polly...
jamiton n.— «We’ve all been there—stuck in traffic, inching along, running late and getting angry when suddenly everyone starts moving. Just like that, the road clears. No flashing lights, no mangled cars, no clue to suggest what went wrong...
Does it bug you when people talk about themselves in the third person? A caller finds herself mightily annoyed by this habit, which she observes especially among politicians and celebrities. There’s a word for the practice of referring to oneself in...
