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	<title>A Way with Words</title>
	<link>http://www.waywordradio.org</link>
	<description>Public radio's show about words and language and how we use them, with Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:39:20 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>A Murphy, a Melvin, and a Wedgie (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When it comes to joining Facebook affinity groups, grammar lovers have lots of choices. Take, for example, the group whose motto is &#8220;Punctuation saves lives.&#8221; It&#8217;s called  &#8220;Let&#8217;s Eat Grandma!&#8217;&#8221; or &#8220;Let&#8217;s eat, Grandma!&#8221; Martha and Grant talk about their favorite tongue-in-cheek Facebook groups for grammar lovers. Also this week: when to use apostrophes, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/a-murphy-a-melvin-and-a-wedgie/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Sailor&#8217;s Delight (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Red sky at night, sailor&#8217;s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning.&#8221; Martha talks about this weather proverb, which has been around in one form or another since ancient times. Grant shares a favorite weather word: slatch. Also this week: Is there a better alternative to the word mentee? What&#8217;s pooflapoo pie?

Listen here: 
Download [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/sailors-delight/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Jan Freeman, Write it Right (minicast)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One hundred years ago, American journalist and satirist Ambrose Bierce published a curmudgeonly book of writing advice called Write It Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults.

Listen here: 
Download audio file (100304-Jan-Freeman-write-it-right.mp3)
Download  the MP3 here (5.5 MB).
To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or another podcatching program.
In [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/write-it-right/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Sufficiently Suffonsified (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What&#8217;s in a pet&#8217;s name? Martha and Grant swap stories about how they came up with names for their dogs. Also this week: Have you ever been called a stump-jumper? How about a snicklefritz? And what&#8217;s the last word in the dictionary? Depending on which dictionary you consult, it might be zythum, zyzzyva, zyxomma, or [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/sufficiently-suffonsified/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Spendthrift Snollygosters (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week, it&#8217;s the language of politics. Martha and Grant discuss two handy terms describing politicians: far center and snollygoster. Also, a presidential word puzzle, false friends, spendthrifts, and a long list of 17th-century insults. So listen up, all you flouting milksops, blockish grutnols, and slubberdegullions! 

Listen here: 
Download audio file (100222-AWWW-spendthrift-snollygosters.mp3)
Download  the MP3 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/spendthrift-snollygosters/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Language of Less Than Three (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Whoever wrote &#8220;The Book of Love&#8221; neglected to include the handy emoticon ]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/the-language-of-love/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Thought Plickens (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re inappropriately focused on the minutiae of a project instead of the bigger picture, you&#8217;re said to be bike-shedding. Grant talks about that modern slang term and Martha discusses a word that goes way back in time, right back to &#8220;In the beginning,&#8221; in fact. The word is tohubohu, and it means a &#8220;mess&#8221; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/the-thought-plickens/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>A Whole Nother (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For the final word on grammar, many writers turn to the Associated Press Stylebook. But if you find that stylebook too stuffy, you’ll love Fake AP Stylebook, the online send-up that features such sage journalistic advice “The plural of apostrophe is ‘apostrophe’s.’” Grant and Martha share some favorite “rules” from that guide. Also this week: [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/a-whole-nother/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Down A Chimney Up (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Good poetry is even better when you read it aloud. For his anthology, Essential Pleasures, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky selected works with just that in mind. Martha and Grant discuss a poem from the book with lines that are more delicious when spoken. Also this week: If a woman decides to keep her [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/down-a-chimney-up/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Jack Lynch, author of &#8220;The Lexicographer&#8217;s Dilemma&#8221; (minicast)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[You know that grammatical &#8220;rule&#8221; about not ending a sentence with a preposition? Well, who ever decided finishing off a sentence like that is a bad thing? (Personally, we think it&#8217;s one of the silliest things anyone ever came up with.)

Listen here: 
Download audio file (100122-AWWW-Jack-Lynch-minicast.mp3)
Download  the MP3 here (7.2 MB).
 To be automatically [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/jack-lynch/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Picklebacks and Mountweazels (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week on A Way with Words, Martha and Grant talk about phrases you love to hate, like &#8220;Do you mind if I put you on hold?&#8221; They also talk about mountweazels, jakey bums, picklebacks, and step-ins. And which is the proper term: mothers-in-law or mother-in-laws?

Listen here: 
Download audio file (100118-AWWW-picklebacks-and-mountweazels.mp3)
Download  the MP3 here [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/picklebacks-and-mountweazels/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Ken Jennings: Not-So-Trivial Pursuits (minicast)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Grant interviews Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings about the grueling nature of TV quiz shows, the fine art of writing trivia questions, the special challenges of competing in European quiz contests, and how it feels to answer incorrectly.

Listen here: 
Download audio file (100112-AWWW-Ken-Jennings-Minicast.mp3)
Download  the MP3 here (4 MB).
 To be automatically notified when audio is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/ken-jennings-not-so-trivial-pursuits/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Everybody has a nickname, and there&#8217;s usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Also, is the expression &#8220;heebie-jeebies&#8221; anti-Semitic? And is there a better word than &#8220;retiree&#8221; for someone who moves on from a job late in life?

This episode originally aired April 5, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/nicknames-give-me-the-heebie-jeebies-and-the-vapors/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In this week&#8217;s episode: Just how far back could you go and still understand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trusty time machine to find out. Hint: You&#8217;d probably have a tough time getting around in the eighth century, when English poetry looked like: &#8220;Hwaet we gardena in geardagum.&#8221;


This episode originally aired [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/squeejawed-red-heads-and-grockles/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>See A Man About A Horse (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In this week&#8217;s episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined &#8220;Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past Tense from Language Programs.&#8221;

By the way, did you ever notice how &#8220;ONION&#8221; is ZO-ZO if you tilt your head to the right?
This episode first aired January 12th and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/see-a-man-about-a-horse/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Words of the Decade (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Enough about the Word of the Year. How about the Word of the Decade? Bailout? Google? Martha and Grant discuss some candidates. Also in this episode, does speaking a different language make you feel different emotions? What did Don Draper on Mad Men mean when he called Betty a Main Line brat? And why do [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/words-of-the-decade/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Crash Blossoms: When Words Collide (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week, it&#8217;s headlines that make you do a doubletake, like &#8220;Child&#8217;s Stool Great for Use in Garden.&#8221; Martha and Grant discuss a few of these bloopers, also known as crash blossoms. Also, if you unthaw something, are you freezing it or unfreezing it? Do hotcakes really sell that fast? What&#8217;s the likelihood of getting [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/crash-blossoms-when-words-collide/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>The Fighting Kewpies, Un-hunh! (full episode)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In high school, no one thinks twice about cheering for the Fighting Trojans or the Tigers. But what about the Hickman Kewpies? Or the Maryville Spoofhounds? Martha and Grant talk about some of the odder names for school athletic teams. Also, in this episode: If you&#8217;re queasy, are you nauseous or nauseated? How do you [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.waywordradio.org/the-fighting-kewpies/</link>
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