In an earlier episode, the director of a women’s choir in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, wondered what to call it when her group gathers to sing together for the sheer joy of it. Listeners responded with many suggestions, including songfest, enchanted...
Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means “money.” In the same way, cat beer isn’t alcoholic — some people use cat beer as a joking term for “milk.” And imagine walking on a...
Judy from Huntsville, Alabama, recalls her stepmother’s words of encouragement: He that hath a horn to toot and tooteth it not, the same shall not be tooted. This faux-formal bit of advice goes back at least to the 1850s. A variation goes:...
The director of Common Voices Chorus, a women’s choir in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, seeks a word to denote what her group does when they get together to sing simply for the joy of singing and community-building, rather than working toward the...
What’s the best way to learn lots of new vocabulary while studying for a test like the GRE? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Learning Lots of Vocabulary” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Julia calling...
When you have a habit of using a particular bit of poor grammar, rote exercises like writing out a script to practice may help you get past it. Practicing the correct usage by singing to yourself may work, too. This is part of a complete episode...