The terms mickey mouse and to mickey mouse can be used as pejoratives. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Mickey Mouse as a Pejorative” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, yes, how are you? My name is Timothy Wong, and hi...
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...
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...
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...
Mitch in Florida, a video editor, wanted a fancy, billable-sounding verb for extracting video from a computer — the opposite of ingesting it into a system. Listener suggestions ranged from cull, evict, extirpate, expunge, expede, disassemble...
Let’s play a round of linguistic Would You Rather: Would you prefer that everyone talk in language that uses only verbs or only adjectives? Grant and Martha both had the same preference. See if you agree. This is part of a complete episode...