Consciousness Archives – A Way with Words

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Currently viewing the tag: "Consciousness"

Where Do Color Names Come From?

Posted by Grant Barrett on June 23, 2018 · Add Comment

Why does English derive words for some colors, such as blue and orange, from French, but not words for other colors, such as black and white? A fantastic resource about the history of colors is Kassia St. Clair’s The Secret Lives of Color. This is part of a complete episode.

Travel Jargon

Posted by Grant Barrett on September 15, 2012 · Add Comment

Post-9/11, we’ve heard a lot of new jargon pertaining to travel and security. An example is vaporwake, that term for the airborne trail we leave of our natural scent, perfumes, and the odor of any drugs or weapons we may be carrying. Another example of Transportation Safety Administration terminology: puffer machine, the device that’s used [...]

Open Sesame!

Posted by Grant Barrett on June 7, 2012 · Add Comment

Queridos amigos, we have two brand-new episodes to share! On the air this past weekend we debated, among many other things, whether there was a difference in meaning between gray and grey. Martha insists that there is and she’s not the only one. Grant, on the other hand, agrees with this curious note from the [...]

Train Away Verbal Fillers

Posted by grantbarrett on April 9, 2011 · Add Comment

Is it really possible to change your style of speaking so that you stop using the verbal fillers um and you know? Yes, you can. Martha relates her experience with dialect-coach-to-the-stars Sam Chwat. He was adamant that by catching ourselves every time we use that conversational crutch, we can consciously train ourselves to avoid it. [...]

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Where Do Color Names Come From?

Travel Jargon

Open Sesame!

Train Away Verbal Fillers