Among biologists, a frog’s croak is known as an advertisement call. It’s a male frog’s way of making himself known. A Wisconsin listener says children in her area learn that this sound is jugarum, jugarum. Poet and editor Willard Espy...
Jackie in Wausau, Wisconsin, says her family used an odd word whenever someone took a sip and choked. She’s not seen it in print but suspects it’d be spelled something like furschluk. The family’s word is likely adapted from German verschlucken...
Guy in Appleton, Wisconsin, asks which is correct: anyways or anyway? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Anyway vs. Anyways” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Guy from Appleton, Wisconsin. Hi, Guy. Welcome to...
A caller who grew up in Wisconsin says his spouse, who’s from Florida, teases him for such things as pronouncing bagel like “BEG-el” and dagger as “DEG-ger.” They’re just products of his isolect, the regional variants from his particular dialect of...
Deb in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, says that when her mother was disappointed or annoyed she’d say Wouldn’t that just cork you? The idea here is that in the same way that a cork that stops up a bottle, an unexpected or irritating event...
After our conversation about wishing well eggs, a listener from Viroqua, Wisconsin, chimes in with another name for this egg-in-toast dish: UFOs, short for Unidentified Frying Objects. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “UFOs:...