Hurly-burly, helter-skelter, zigzag, shilly-shally— the hosts dish out some claptrap about words like these, otherwise known as reduplications or rhyming jingles. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Rhyming Jingles” Hi...
Does your family have a word for the cardboard tube left over from a roll of toilet paper? A caller says his family refers to them Oh-ah, Oh-ahs. Turns out many families have their own terms for them, including drit-drit, dawda dawda, hoo-hoo, to...
Grandparent names don’t stop at Grandma and Grampa. After a Baton Rouge newspaper asked readers for unusual family names, the replies filled a “grandparents’ glossary” with forms such as Gammy, Bumpy, Kiki, Monga, Pots, Rah-Rah, and Woo-Woo. Many...
Your dining companion suddenly starts choking. Once his coughing subsides, he exclaims, “Whew! Something when down my Sunday throat!” Sunday throat? Martha explains this odd expression. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
If you want to claim something—say, the front seat of a car or the last piece of cake—what do you say? Dibs? Boney? How about “I hosey that!”? The hosts talk about this New England expression, its possible origins, and its equivalent in...
A “red letter day” is a special occasion. Martha explains how this term came to be. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Red Letter Day” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello, this is Janet from San Diego...