John, a 10-year-old from Dallas, Texas, wonders why an unpredictable or uncontrollable person can be referred to as a loose cannon. This is part of a complete episode.
You must log in to post a comment.
Lasagna Hog (episode #1568) 05/04/2021: Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you're understood and being insulted. "High-involvement" speakers interrupt or talk along with someone... [more]
Kiss the Cow (episode #1567) 04/19/2021: An anadrome is a word that forms a whole new word when you spell it backwards. For example, the word "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts."... [more]
No Cap, No Lie (episode #1566) 04/05/2021: We take our voices for granted, but it's truly miraculous that we communicate complex thoughts simply by moving our mouths while exhaling. A fascinating new... [more]
Lead On, Macduff! (episode #1565) 03/22/2021: For rock climbers, skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, the word send has taken on a whole new meaning. You might cheer on a fellow snowboarder... [more]
Tribble Trouble (episode #1564) 03/08/2021: In Cockney rhyming slang, apples and pears is a synonym for "stairs," and dustbin lids means kids. Plus, sniglets are clever coinages for things we... [more]
I waited days for the online posting of this episode, just so I could forward to family and friends the segment with John thus, under the Subject header “Kid caller’s word-nerd vocabulary cracks up hosts of public-radio language show”: “On ‘A Way With Words’ the other day, little John from Dallas, whose apparent age would seem to be either on the cusp of double digits or that of a descendant of one or more of the actors who played Munchkins somewhere over the rainbow back in 1939, had hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett cracking up right from his salutation (starting at 16:35 on “Yak Shaving” episode from 8 June 2020), thence throughout their discussion of the term ‘loose cannon’, with his grad-school vocabulary.”