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A Way with Words, public radio's lively language call-in show, hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett.
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This week on A Way with Words we start a brand-new season! Find out what a motorcyclist wears to keep from getting sunburned and why your little finger is called a pinkie. Plus, a recap of 2007—in limericks!

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It’s a brand-new season here on A Way with Words! To celebrate, Martha and Grant are noodling with anagrams—including the one in the title of this episode. Also:

A New York City schoolteacher asks, “Why do we call our little finger a pinkie?” and relates his invented etymology.

Another caller snickers over a newscaster’s attempt to pronounce the word homage. Which of the six ways is best?

A Hoosier who’s been hanging out on motorcycle discussion boards is curious about the origin of the term do-rag. Or is it dew-rag?

“Why is an undesirable task called a g-job?” asks a crew member on the set of the Fox Television series 24.

Martha shares a trick for remembering the answer to that perennial question: “Does a comma go inside or outside of quotation marks?”

The hosts weigh in on whether the expression “very fun” is grammatically correct.

What the heck is a podsnicker, anyway?

Puzzle-man Greg Pliska joins us for a recap of 2007—in limericks!

Is your DVD player always flashing “12:00″? A caller wonders if there’s a word for a society ruled by children, something along the lines of patriarchy and matriarchy.

Also join us for another slang quiz, in which DeeDee picks “slon doon” as her favorite slang word. You can see what she’s talking about in the picture below, taken by Kiwi world travelers Carol and Lawrie Chandler in Gansu Province, China.

You can see two other pictures of it here and here.

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