http://www.waywordradio.org Public radio's show about words and language and how we use them, with Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:23:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Are serial commas always necessary? An English teacher says she was surprised to learn that she and her husband, who's also an English teacher, are giving their students conflicting advice. [audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/awww/090624-AWWW-a-snarl-of-serial-commas.mp3] Download the MP3 here (4.5 MB). To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or ... http://www.waywordradio.org/a-snarl-of-serial-commas/ How can the word friend possibly describe both the people you went to school with and the people to whom you are connected through Facebook and MySpace? Are friends on the social sites really friends? Is there a better word to describe someone who follows you on Twitter? A caller ... http://www.waywordradio.org/thats-what-friend-is-for/ This week: Favorite online reading. If the subjunctive mood were to disappear from English, would anybody care? And just in time for this romantic weekend, a caller discovers the meaning of…lurve. That's L-U-R-V-E. This episode first aired February 14, 2009. Listen here: [audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/i-9NdgWG9Ow/090216-AWWW-l-u-r-v-e-love.mp3] Download the MP3 here (23.5 MB). To be automatically ... http://www.waywordradio.org/l-u-r-v-e-love/ "Great Googly Moogly!" A caller wonders where that exclamation comes from. [audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/-8Snnys2iK8/090617-AWWW-great-googly-moogly-minicast.mp3] Download the MP3 here (3.5 MB). To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or another podcatching program, or subscribe to the newsletter. Here's the Snickers commercial that includes the phrase. http://www.waywordradio.org/great-googly-moogly/ Are fairy tales too scary for children? A survey of parents in Britain found that more than half wouldn't read them to their children before age five. Martha and Grant discuss the grisly imagery in fairy tales, and whether they're too traumatizing for kids. Also, when did "dog food" become ... http://www.waywordradio.org/once-upon-a-time/ Has the age of email led to an outbreak of exclamation marks? Do women use them more than men? Also, is there a word for the odd feeling when you listen to a radio personality for years, then discover that they look nothing like your mental picture of them? And ... http://www.waywordradio.org/bogarting-bangers/ Why do we say someone is on the wagon when they abstain from drinking alcohol? Listen here: [audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/wpOI4cXwT5E/090603-AWWW-falling-off-the-wagon.mp3] Download the MP3 here (1.7 MB). To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or another podcatching program, or subscribe to the newsletter. http://www.waywordradio.org/falling-off-the-wagon/ Barack Obama wants to put people to work building roads and bridges. But how about a federal jobs program for out-of-work writers? Also: why do we call it a flight of wine? How did the haircut called a mullet get its name? This episode first aired January 24, 2009. Listen here: ... http://www.waywordradio.org/days-of-wine-flights-and-mullets/ For 341 years, the poets laureate of Britain have all been male. That just changed with the appointment of Britain's new poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Her work has been described as "dealing with the darkest turmoil and the lightest minutiae of everyday life." The hosts discuss Duffy's oddly jarring ... http://www.waywordradio.org/poets-laureate-and-poetry-brothels/ 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) The Sunshine Boys. Also in this episode: "There are three words in the ... http://www.waywordradio.org/words-with-k-in-them-are-funny/ Hip-hop is high art. If you don't understand that, you're missing out on some of the best poetry being created today. Grant talks about the new book by English professor Adam Bradley called Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip-Hop. Listen here: [audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/LnFpXO8qTuc/090513-AWWW-hip-hop-book-of-rhymes.mp3] Download the MP3 here (2.1 MB). To be automatically ... http://www.waywordradio.org/hip-hop-book-of-rhymes/ Like mushrooms in fallen leaves, new words keep popping up overnight. Also, is there an English word that means "the in-laws of your son or daughter"? And what does it mean when someone says, "Well, that was odder than Dick's hatband!"? This episode first aired in a different form on January ... http://www.waywordradio.org/souped-up-and-sizzling/ Martha muses about the language of falconry, and in the process, reveals the origins of several words and phrases in one fell swoop. Listen here: [audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/t0t-yDxs0f0/090506-AWWW-one-swell-foop-minicast.mp3] Download the MP3 here (1.7 MB). To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or another podcatching program, or subscribe ... http://www.waywordradio.org/one-swell-foop/ In this downbeat economy, some advertisers are reaching for upbeat language. Take the new Quaker Oats catchphrase, "Go humans go," or Coca-Cola's current slogan, "Open happiness." Martha and Grant discuss whether chirpy, happy ad copy can go too far. Also this week, why New Yorkers insist they stand on line ... http://www.waywordradio.org/going-for-that-anti-marketing-dollar/ Humorist Roy Blount Jr. sits down with Grant for a conversation about the controversy over writers' rights, the Amazon Kindle 2, Roy's recent book, Alphabet Juice, "sonicky" words, and noodling for catfish. He also clears up the mystery of whether the cancan dancers at George Plimpton's memorial honored the late ... http://www.waywordradio.org/a-conversation-with-roy-blount-jr/ This week: whether cotton-pickin’ is racist, unintentionally funny headlines, a holiday-song quiz from John Chaneski, whether enormity can simply mean "enormous," how a person can be such a pill, and pandiculation. It's good stuff, Maynard! Listen here: [audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/CXNd__Cg50A/090427-AWWW-cut-to-the-chase.mp3] Download the MP3 here (23.5 MB). To be automatically notified when audio is available, ... http://www.waywordradio.org/cut-to-the-chase/ This week, we're going through the e-mail bag. Here's a savory, sensuous one. It's from Stacey in Boulder, Colorado. Listen here: [audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/t_bypCvXOZU/090423-AWWW-macaroni-and-gravy.mp3] Download the MP3 here (1.8 MB). To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or another podcatching program, or subscribe to the newsletter. Stacey grew up ... http://www.waywordradio.org/macaroni-and-gravy/ We recommend books that make great gifts for language lovers, talk about footwear called go-aheads, and look further into going commando. Also, was the 2008 election a historic event or an historic event? This episode was first aired December 13, 2008. Listen here: [audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/u_yOntFlODg/090420-AWWW-almost-up-to-possible.mp3] Download the MP3 here (23.5 MB). To be automatically ... http://www.waywordradio.org/almost-up-to-possible/