James in San Diego, California, wonders about the origin of the word sploot, which refers to the way cute cuddly animals, such as corgis, lie on their bellies with their back legs splayed out. Other terms for this include frog legs, frog dog, furry...
Here’s something to think about the next time somebody says “A penny for your thoughts.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Penny for Your Thoughts” Here’s a question for you. When someone asks you a penny for your thoughts and you...
Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a quiz about famous trios. Try this one: “Steve Martin, Martin Short, and ___________?” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Famous Trios Quiz” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett. And I’m...
Grant interviews Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings about the grueling nature of TV quiz shows, the fine art of writing trivia questions, the special challenges of competing in European quiz contests, and how it feels to answer incorrectly.
Quiz Guy John Chaneski is a huge fan of comic books featuring superheroes like Superman and Spider-Man. Lo and behold, John claims he’s discovered a whole treasure trove of Heretofore Unnamed Superheroes, and invites us to guess their names. What do...
We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say fambly instead of family, perazackly for exactly, or coinkydink for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things wrong...
