pronounced Archives – A Way with Words

Little Pitchers

Posted by Grant Barrett on July 19, 2014 · 1 Comment

read more »

A Dancer Who Walks for a Living

Posted by Grant Barrett on July 5, 2014 · Add Comment

You dream of writing the great American novel, but to make ends meet, you spend your days writing boring corporate reports. There’s a difference between writing for love and writing for a living — or is there? Does a heyday have anything to do with hay? Did getting dressed to kill originally refer to soldiers? [...]
read more »

Route Pronunciation

Posted by Grant Barrett on December 29, 2012 · Add Comment

Should route be pronounced to rhyme with root or stout? It has a long history of rhyming with stout — although anyone who’s traveled Route 66 might prefer to say it differently. This is part of a complete episode.
read more »

Kerfuffle, Kerfluffle

Posted by Grant Barrett on December 8, 2012 · Add Comment

Veronica, who grew up in Liverpool, England, has noticed that kerfuffle is a favorite term among American journalists talking about political situations, though it’s much more common across the pond. This word for a disturbance or a bother comes from Scotland, but it’s been picked up in the United States, where it’s often pronounced as [...]
read more »

Kibosh

Posted by Grant Barrett on November 17, 2012 · Add Comment

When you put the kibosh, or kybosh, on something, you’re putting a speedy end to it. This term, usually pronounced KYE-bosh, first showed up in print when Charles Dickens used it in 1836, writing under the pseudonym Boz. In that piece, it was spoken by a cockney fellow. This is part of a complete episode.
read more »

Plural of Cyclops

Posted by Grant Barrett on October 6, 2012 · Add Comment

What’s the plural of cyclops? If you have a group of those one-eyed mythical monsters, your best bet is cyclopes, pronounced sye-KLOH-peez. This is part of a complete episode.
read more »

Newsletter

Contact

Listen