Remember Tom, the guy who’s still trying to recall a word he insists he learned long ago meaning “the points on a compass”? That call generated a boatload of proposed answers from listeners. But one response stood out above all the...
A caller asks a delicate question about the phrase “blue bark shipment,” a term involving the transport of deceased members of the military. Martha and Grant discuss this puzzling expression and the challenge of tracking down its...
Power up the vacuum tubes and charge up your iPod! Just in time for the holiday season, we’re happy to announce that the first of our brand-new shows of the new season will air the weekend of Saturday, November 24th, and Sunday, November 25th.
computon n.—Gloss: in information technology, a measure of power or capacity of devices or systems such as storage, networks, or computer processors. Note: The more common spelling is “computron.” «A computon is a measurement...
Halloo and hiya! Here's another podcast from A Way with Words. When you were a child and wanted to lay claim to something, what did you say? Did you call "dibs"? Or did you "hosey" it? A caller is curious about another verb...
ibby-jibbies n.— Note: A variant of “heeby-jeebies.” «Now, personally I’ve always had the ibby-jibbies about putting my amphibians in my refrigerator, for fear of killing them.» —“Re: toads” by Michael R...