A listener in Fargo, North Dakota, ask which is correct: graduated from high school or graduated high school? Increasingly, the former is falling by the wayside. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Graduate School vs. Graduate From...
For a taste of what it’s like to spend a semester studying writing with a renowned author, check out Alexander Chee’s essay in The Morning News, “Annie Dillard and the Writing Life.” Dillard’s remarkable description of the death of a frog in her...
The verb to chork means to make the noise your feet make if your shoes are full of water. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Chork” Grant, do you know the word chork? C-H-O-R-K. Chork. Is this a chubby fork? Like a spork only. Oh...
A high school teacher in Indianapolis reports her students use the verb finesse to mean “to steal.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Thief Finesse” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Sarah from Indianapolis. Hi, Sarah...
Contact, when used as a verb, is another word that once prompted peeving. In fact, in the 1930s, an official at Western Union lobbied for a company-wide ban on the word, which he deemed a hideous vulgarism compared to the phrases “get in touch with”...
Even though blogs can’t read and newspapers can’t speak, it’s totally appropriate to write “the blog reads,” or “the newspaper says.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Blog Reads” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, Martha...