Chuck in Dallas, Texas, is a member of an online group of Winnebago Solis owners and would-be Winnebago Solis owners. They’re having a big debate over whether the would-be RV owners are properly called wannabees with two Es or wannabes with one E. The far more common spelling is wannabe, deriving from the hyphenated term that arose in the 1970s, wanna-be. This is part of a complete episode.
A Winter Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon) by Paul Anthony Jones includes some words to lift your spirits. The verb whicken involves the lengthening of days in springtime, a variant of quicken, meaning “come to life.” Another word, breard, is...
Rosalind from Montgomery, Alabama, says her mother used to scold her for acting like a starnadle fool. The more common version of this term is starnated fool, a term that appears particular to Black English, and appears in the work of such writers...
Subscribe to the fantastic A Way with Words newsletter!
Martha and Grant send occasional messages with language headlines, event announcements, linguistic tidbits, and episode reminders. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what’s happening with the show.
︎
