Martha spotted a choice cartoon: A dog is sitting behind a gate under a sign that says Beware of Dog. The caption: “Can I read you my poems?” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Dog Cartoon” Granted, I came...
Why do newspaper reporters end articles with the number 30 or the three-pound-sign symbol ###? No one knows for sure, although that never stopped journalists from debating the origin of this way of ending a story. The practice arose in a bygone era...
Hi, all -- In this week's episode of "A Way with Words": If you want to make a room cooler, do you "turn up" the air conditioning? Or do you "turn it down"? Also, "croaker" meaning a...
Hello, language-lover — A Way with Words an independent nonprofit production, which means it doesn’t get financial support from any radio network or government agency. We do the show ourselves, from top to bottom. We make it, we ship it. We...
A Dallas man says his father, who served in Vietnam, signed letters back home to the family with the phrase “don’t take any wooden nickels.” The hosts explain that this expression means “don’t let anyone swindle you...
Should the sign on the boys’ bathroom at a school read “Boy’s Room” or “Boys’ Room”? The hosts clarify where to put the apostrophe. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Boy’s Room...