Is that a winklehawk in your pants? A listener shares this word for those L-shaped rips in your trousers, from an old Dutch term for “a carpenter’s L-shaped tool.” And Grant has a new favorite term, motherwit, meaning “the natural ability to cope...
The term like a tree full of owls describes someone’s appearance. What does it mean, exactly? And why owls? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Tree Full of Owls” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Sonia Goddekin. I’m...
yo-yo skiing n.— «Last night, the bus driver asked us where we lived, which led to a lively conversation about skiing, his many ski visits to Snowmass (which he enjoyed), his condo at Snowbird in Utah and what he referred to as “yo-yo skiing” in...
Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat in this episode as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of eco-friendly and unlock the etymology of...
A husband and wife ask for wisdom about a long-running dispute: Is it last-stitch effort or last-ditch effort? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Last-Stitch Effort or Last-Ditch Effort: Which Is Correct?” Hello, you have A Way with...
Howdy, pilgrims! This week in the A Way with Words podcast, discover the joys (and temptations!) of two new books of collected wisdom: "The Yale Book of Quotations" edited by Fred Shapiro, and James Geary's "Guide to the...