Our conversation about being criticized for using yes, ma’am and no, sir, prompted a letter from an Austin, Texas, listener who had a similar experience when she moved from Mississippi to Ohio. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Mike from Irving, Texas, has a co-worker who regularly uses brung instead of brought. Is it okay to say “he brung something”? The word brung is a dialectal variant that has existed alongside brought for centuries. It appears in the informal phrase...
Ever hear a broadcast where the announcer enunciates a little too precisely? Grant and Martha discuss the effect of softening syllables, such as “prolly” for “probably,” and “wanna” for “want to.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
“Anymore, I play golf instead of tennis.” Grant explains that this grammatical construction is known as the “positive anymore.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Positive Anymore” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, my name is...
Sure, the present tense of sneak is easy, but what about the past? Is it sneaked or snuck? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Past Tense of Sneak” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is J.B. I’m calling from Cedar Hill, Texas...
A listener from Falmouth, Maine, disagrees with his Canadian friends about how to pronounce the word aunt. He says it shouldn’t sound like the name of the insect. But is that the way most people pronounce this word for your mother’s sister? This is...