How do children acquire language? Do they start with nouns, like “Mama” and “cat,” then graduate to verbs and other parts of speech? Grant explains that language acquisition starts even earlier, with children simply emulating...
What’s the proper past tense of the word text? Texted or text? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Texted vs. Text” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Good morning, this is Paris Romero in Fallbrook, California. Hello...
Speaking of politics, Quiz Guy Greg Pliska presents a puzzle featuring the names of U.S. presidents. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Presidential Names Quiz” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant...
Enough about the Word of the Year. How about the Word of the Decade? Bailout? Google? Martha and Grant discuss some candidates. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word of the Decade Candidates” You’re listening to A...
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...
It’s one of the biggest grammatical bugaboos of all, the one that bedevils even the most earnest English students: Is it lie or lay? Martha shares a trick for remembering the difference. See below for her clip-and-save chart of these verbs...

