Happy Palindrome Day--or, if you prefer, "011110 Day"--from your friends at "A Way with Words"! Lots to report from Language Land: First, there are a number of recent full-length episodes you may not have...
In L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the scarecrow gets what he calls a bran-new brain. A caller wonders: Is the correct term bran-new or brand-new? This is part of a complete episode.
Grant and Martha discuss a new collection of college slang compiled by UCLA linguistics professor Pamela Munro. Learn more about it and order a copy here. This is part of a complete episode.
In an earlier episode, the hosts heard from a woman who, as a teenager, was scolded by her grandmother for wearing a skirt that Granny said was almost up to possible. The woman wondered about that phrase’s meaning and origin. Grant shares...
A Texan says his grandmother used to refer to the thigh of a chicken as the “second joint.” Martha and Grant discuss whether it’s a regional term. By the way, if you want to know the French term Martha mentions that roughly...
It’s the Moby Dick of etymology: Where do we get the phrase “the whole nine yards”? A pediatrician in North Carolina wonders if it derives from a World War II phrase involving “nine yards” of ammunition. Grant and...