Our Quiz Master John Chaneski has a seasonally appropriate game based on the first concert he ever attended: The Beach Boys’ “Eternal Summer.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Beach Boys Game” You’re listening to A Way with Words...
Kevin in Lakewood, California, was riding his unicycle on a bike path when a girl yelled, “I want your bike,” and he let bike stand. Even though bike is shortened from bicycle, dictionary definitions can be broad enough for any foot-powered wheeled...
News reports that the makers of Scrabble were changing the rules to allow proper names left some purists fuming. The rumors were false, but they got Grant thinking about idiosyncratic adaptations of the game’s rules. Also this week, the origins of...
Katie in Boston, who grew up near Buffalo, knew the plastic-string camp craft as boondoggle, while friends in Boston called the material or activity gimp and others called it lanyard. Boondoggle appears to have arisen in scouting near Rochester, New...
A listener from Bethel, Maine, calls with a riddle she heard at summer camp: The maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t use it, and the user never sees it. What is it? She also stumps the hosts with a puzzle: What adjective requires five letters...
skuke n.— «In this little town on the south coast, people like me — summer folk — are known as skukes. I’ve never met anyone who knows the real derivation of the term, but it’s not a compliment. Skukes are annoying because they drive up the price...
