Quiz Guy John Chaneski was rummaging around the A Way with Words Lost and Found Department, and returned with a quiz based on lost items and their owners. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Lost and Found Quiz”...
Quiz Guy Greg Pliska shares a puzzle in verse, challenging the hosts to fill in the blanks with words that differ by just one letter. Like this: “I never count ___ when I’m going to ___; that method does not work for me. Right around...
It’s a brand-new season of A Way with Words! Grant has big news, too: He’s used up his last Metrocard, packed up his belongings, and moved to the Left Coast. He reports on some features of California language there that are already...
Pickle, baboon, cupcake, snorkel, pumpkin, Kalamazoo—let’s face it, some words are just plain funny. But what makes some words funnier than others? Martha and Grant consider this question with an assist from Neil Simon’s play (and movie)...
If English isn’t your first language, there are lots of ways to learn it, such as memorizing Barack Obama’s speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention. Martha and Grant talk about some of the unusual ways foreigners are learning to speak...
vermacular n.— «Thanks to the character-inspired icons for various Mac-related applications, there’s a new word-building form of entertainment to get bored workers through the doldrums of the day. Like a contemporary version of the grade...