A trip to the zoo where he saw the Madagascar lemur called an aye-aye gave Quiz Guy John Chaneski an aye-dea for a puzzle about pairs of words or syllables that each have a long I sound. What two-word phrase denotes what’s often found between two...
Martha shares an email from a listener from Delray Beach, Florida, about the rewards of looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Looking Up Unfamiliar Words” You’re listening to A Way with...
Remember a few years ago when Amazon introduced that mysterious device called a Kindle? People worried that electronic readers would replace traditional books. Turns out the death of the hardcover was greatly exaggerated. Also, the expression “bump...
One of our listeners was visiting the Orchid House at the San Diego Zoo and happened across the word fugacious, meaning “blooming only briefly.” The word can also apply to one’s mood, and shares a Latin root with “fleeting” words like refuge...
A zoo tour guide wants a specific word to describe how elephants procure hydration. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Watering Animals” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hey. Hi, who’s this? This is Viv Lindquist from San Diego. All...
howdy process n.— «Vivian, who arrived at the old Central Texas Zoo in 1966 as a teenager from the wild, had literally bitten the heads off two previous suitors. But the third time was the charm: Vivian reacted well during the “howdy” process—zoo...

