A listener from Bethel, Maine, calls with a riddle she heard at summer camp: The maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t use it, and the user never sees it. What is it? She also stumps the hosts with a puzzle: What adjective requires...
What’s the word for the gesture you make with your fingers when you want to make an image larger on an iPhone? Unpinch? Fwoop? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Unpinch” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is...
A Houston woman says her family makes fun of her for saying “waste not, want not.” Does this proverb make literal sense? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Waste Not, Want Not” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this...
A group of student architects who want their acronym to be CASA have a question. Is it more grammatical to call it the Chicano Architecture Student Association or Chicano Architectural Student Association? This is part of a complete episode...
You’ve been on the receiving end of backhanded phrases, and admit it, you’ve used them, too. A discussion on Ask MetaFilter prompts Grant and Martha to talk about the ways people use sugar-coated snark. By the way, if you want a fancy...
strap hanging n.— «Usually the truck drivers wait at the opening of the valley for a U.S. Army patrol to pass and then they follow it, a practice soldiers have dubbed “strap hanging.” Lining the sides of the road are the...