Hello, guys and dolls–it's another newsletter from A Way with Words.

We aired an episode this past weekend in which we talked about the footwear known as "go-aheads," what part of the body is "possible," aptronyms (when a person's name matches their profession), and we made some holiday book recommendations.

We also posted two online-only minicasts. "The Lipstick Express" summarizes the words of the year inspired by Sarah Palin:

"I Can Has Shimmery Eyez" is a sweet reminiscence about the passing of Martha's cat, Typo, and his "chatoyant" gaze.

Now, some links from the world of language:

Wordsmith Nancy Friedman offers her list of books to buy for the language lover in your life:

Pam Nelson writes in the North Carolina News & Observer about whether we "pick" our elected officials or we "choose" them. Can you only pick fruit and cotton?

Does a whistling orangutan indicate that the animals have higher language capabilities than we thought?

A New York City teacher writes about what it's like to teach a class in which 80% of the students speak a first language other than English in a school that has been officially judged to be in need of "corrective action":

In the Grand Forks Herald, in North Dakota, Lisa Gibson writes about ELL's–English language learners–in the community:

The paper also explains more about how ELLs are defined and characterized:

Best wishes from your radio pals,

Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett
Co-hosts of A Way with Words

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