Everybody has a nickname, and there’s usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Speaking of nicknames, the word nickname has an interesting etymology. It’s an example of a...
Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words, public radio's lively language show! Next week's show will be brand new, but this past weekend's show was a juicy repeat in which we talked about the demise of the typewriter, surfing...
whimperative n.— «The clearest example is ordinary politeness. When you are at a dinner party and want the salt, you don’t blurt out, “Gimme the salt.” Rather, you use what linguists call a whimperative, as in “Do you...
ethnicon n.— «Dirty Sanchez is just one of many sex acts named after a locale or ethnicity, in a subgenre of slurs linguists call “ethnicons.” These are insults meant to comment on an ethnic group’s supposed depravity that become...
back door victory n.— «Still more fiendish is the strategy of “playing dead,” again supposedly being employed by the Conservatives. According to a series of pundits, Conservative leader Michael Howard has avoided saying...
play dead v. phr.— «Still more fiendish is the strategy of “playing dead,” again supposedly being employed by the Conservatives. According to a series of pundits, Conservative leader Michael Howard has avoided saying directly...