Hi, all -- In this week's episode of "A Way with Words": If you want to make a room cooler, do you "turn up" the air conditioning? Or do you "turn it down"? Also, "croaker" meaning a...
Hello, language-lover — A Way with Words an independent nonprofit production, which means it doesn’t get financial support from any radio network or government agency. We do the show ourselves, from top to bottom. We make it, we ship it. We...
This week: whether cotton-pickin’ is racist, unintentionally funny headlines, whether enormity can simply mean “enormous,” how a person can be “such a pill,” and pandiculation. “It’s good stuff, Maynard...
arm hangover n.— «“After the last outing in Tampa I had what I call an arm hangover,” Bannister said. “It was extra sore. I tried to get ready, but I honestly just didn’t have it tonight. I didn’t punch anybody out until that...
Oyez, oyez! All rise for another newsletter from "A Way with Words"! We took another listen to an episode concerning "orient" vs. "orientate," "sockdologizing," and "my dogs are barking." Hear it...
There’s nothing like an oddly phrased headline to brighten your day. How about “Actor Sent to Jail for Not Finishing Sentence”? Or “Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped”? Same for signs that make you do a double take, like...