Mitchell from Arlington, Texas, wonders about his father’s expression: If a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his butt. It’s been around since at least the early 1900s, and is a variation on an older expression, If pigs had...
William Shakespeare’s early schooling was less an English class than a Latin training ground for rhetoric, imitation, and argument. In How to Think Like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education, Scott Newstok explains that Stratford grammar...
It’s all about terms of endearment: If your loved one is far away for a long time, you’re probably tired of just saying “I miss you” over and over. For variety’s sake, there are some creative alternatives to that phrase...
If someone clapped out the rhythm of a song you knew, would you recognize it? It’s pretty unlikely, given what’s called the curse of knowledge. To the person with the song in their head, it’s obvious, but you can’t expect...
A few weeks ago, a listener was looking for a term to describe the copy of The Emperor’s New Clothes that he’d read many times as a child. In this picture book, the naughty bits were always cleverly covered up. Thinking he wanted a synonym for “fig...
Thinking about a flyaway, or will you spend the weekend gazing out at the catio? Grant explains these terms. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Flyaway and Catio” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m...