A Texas listener says her infant daughter is soothed by white noise. She’s curious as to why it’s called white noise instead of gray noise. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “White Noise” Hello, you have A Way...
Mm-hm, huh, nuh-uh, and a shrugging mm are interjections, also called inserts, vocalisms, or, in conversation, feedback markers. Katie in Bozeman, Montana, noticed that her husband’s little nasal grunt answered “Where’s the dustpan?” clearly enough:...
An Indianapolis woman vaguely remembers that there was a term for the Mohawk Indians who worked on the high beams and girders of some of this country’s most famous construction projects. The word she wants: skywalkers. High Steel is the...
A trip to the California State Railroad Museum has Grant musing about the way language can change in the mouth of a single individual— in this case, railroad conductors. He recommends a collection of sound files from metros and subways around the...
deather n.—Gloss: A person who believes that one or more of the current health care proposals being discussed in Washington D.C. includes a “death panel” that would allow doctors to counsel patients about ways to end their own...
For 341 years, the poets laureate of Britain have all been male. That just changed with the appointment of Britain’s new poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Her work has been described as “dealing with the darkest turmoil and the lightest...