verbs 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 »

Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch

Posted by Grant Barrett on December 18, 2012 · Add Comment

If you’re looking for a great book about writing, Martha recommends Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing. In it, Constance Hale offers an accessible, bang-up course in writing with excerpted passages that really show how the greats do it. This is part of a complete episode.
read more »

Pie in the Sky

Posted by Grant Barrett on December 17, 2012 · 2 Comments

Looking for a book to read with the kids, or maybe a guide to becoming a better writer? Why are leg cramps called charley horses? And where’d we get a phrase like pie in the sky? If you happen to be tall, you’ve no doubt heard plenty of clueless comments from strangers. A listener who’s [...]
read more »

Up and Quit

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

Why do people up and quit? Can’t they just … quit? In the 1300s, up and followed by an action literally meant you got up and did something. Today, it’s taken the figurative meaning of doing something with vigor and enthusiasm, and it’s often used with speaking verbs. This is part of a complete episode.
read more »

Dressed to Kill

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

If you’re dressed to kill, you’re looking sharp. But does the expression have to do with medieval chivalry or military armor of any kind? Nope. The earliest cases pop up in text in the 1800s, based on the trend of adding the words to kill onto verbs to mean something’s done with force, passion, and [...]
read more »

Newsletter

Contact

Listen