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Language Headlines Minicast- 25 August 2008
Grant has the latest headlines from the world of language, including the debate over the name of the home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Is 'Beijing' pronounced 'bay-JING' or 'bay-ZHING'? Also, a recent court decision concerning an offense that's coming to be known as 'Talking While Spanish.' And what's the origin of the phrase 'the skinny'?--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web si ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 25 Aug. 2008[This episode first aired December 8th and 9th, 2007.]This week
Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky
awards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher a
puzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'paratereseomaniac' mean?A
electronic teenager repellent? An alarm clock that runs away from you
to make you'll wake up? Yep, it's the Ig Nobel Prizes, those awards for
academic research that first makes you laugh and then makes you think.
Martha and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
When is a Bell Pepper a Mango? Minicast - 17 Aug. 2008When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it's a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.--Get your language question answered on the air! Call
or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673,
words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at
http://waywordradio.org. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.
Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Word Jocks, Lettered in Language - 17 Aug. 2008[This episode originally aired Dec. 1, 2007.]Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they
tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They
also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-friendly'
and unlock the etymology of 'skeleton key.'Do
you know what a 'rampike' is? Or a 'colobus'? Martha and Grant test
each other's knowledge of ten-dollars words with the online quiz at
FreeRice.com.A reader of Anthony Bourdain's 'Kitchen Con ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Language Headlines - 11 August 2008Grant dishes up the latest language headlines from around the world.Oh, what a difference a letter can make! The Moscow Times reports this week that Tatyana Tetyorkina was stripped of her Russian citizenship because a government clerk's typewriter was missing a single letter. Instead, a different vowel was used, making her Teterkina rather than Tetyorkina--and making who she said she was and who her papers said she was disagree. Public outcry over the matter has since caused her citiz ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Give It the Old College Slang - 11 August 2008[This episode originally aired May 17, 2008.]If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted?
You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated college
slang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about Unknown
Superheroes! What do we call it when new inventions or ideas
change the name of something old? It used to be that the word 'guitar'
was sufficient, but now we regularly distinguish between an 'acoustic
guitar' and an 'electric guitar.' Sam ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Name That Accent Minicast - 3 August 2008For true word nerds, it's a guilty pleasure. You meet a stranger, and you find yourself listening closely to that person's way of speaking as you try to guess the accent. Martha and Grant confess they play "Name That Accent" all the time in the privacy of their own heads. Recently though, a listener phoned to challenge them to guess where she'd grown up based on her accent. See if you can figure it out!--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 04 August 2008We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words
on purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly'
for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote
a newspaper column about saying things wrong on purpose, the response
was enormous. Why is it that many people find such wordplay hard to
resist? We consider this question and share their own favorite examples.A
Pennsylvania minister is curious about a phrase her family uses: 'by
way ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Index v. Indice Minicast - 28 July 2008A caller has client who uses what sounds like a strange, three-syllable word: indice. The caller knows that the plural of index is indices. But, he wonders...indice? And should he talk about it with his client? ...Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at http://waywordradio.org/. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.
Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Put a Snap on the Grouch Bag - 28 July 2008This episode first aired May 5, 2008....Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'pork
steak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifying
to someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean to
tell someone to 'put a snap on the grouch bag'?A rugby referee from Indiana calls to ask if his sport is the origin of the word 'touchdown' as it is used in American football.How
do you pronounce the word 'patronize'? Is one pronunciation us ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Small Talk, the Word Game Minicast - 21 July 2008Puzzle Guys John Chaneski and Greg Pliska team up to make double trouble for Martha and Grant. The four divide into teams, and the object of the game is to make your partner guess words from a list. The only catch? All of the clues have to be one syllable only. It's tougher than you think! ---Get your language question answered on the air! Call or
write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673,
words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at
http://waywordradio.o ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Word Encounters of the First Kind - 21 July 2008[This episode first aired April 12, 2008.]There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about some terms that had just that effect on them: 'ucalegon' and 'cacoethes scribendi.'A recent college graduate from Portland, Oregon, calls to ask about a term popular on her campus. She and her classmates use 'sketchy' to mean 'creepy, shady, possi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Emoticons Minicast - 14 July 2008A listener has a question about emoticons, those little sideways symbols you type to suggest emotions in informal electronic writing. You know, like using a colon, dash, and a capital P to stick out your tongue like this :-P or using a colon, dash, and small letter d to say 'Yum!' :-d But if you're going to toss emoticons into your prose, the caller asks, how in the world do you punctuate them?---Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(8 ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies and the Vapors - 14 July 2008[This episode originally aired April 5, 2008.]Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it.
Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind
them. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And is
there a better word than 'retiree' for someone who moves on from a job
late in life?Speaking of nicknames, the word 'nickname' has an
interesting etymology. It's an example of a word formed by what
linguists call 'misdivision.' More here. If you ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Dits and Dat Minicast - 7 July 2008What's a dittler? What's a dit? A traveling preacher named Fred says he's heard these strange terms in parts of Appalachia used to refer to 'baby chicks' and 'little ducklings.' We share some of our own research about these curious terms.--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at http://waywordradio.org. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.
Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Barbecue Stoppers and Marmalade Droppers - 7 July 2008[This episode originally aired March 15, 2008.]Unless you've been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of 'glass pockets'? Or 'horseracism'? Is there an etymological connection between 'caucus' and 'Caucasian'?A caller wants to settle a friendly argument: Is something not worth debating called a 'moot point' or a 'mute point'?A listener calls from in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to say that i ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Do Singers Have Accents? Minicast - 30 June 2008You've heard this happen: A singer belts out a song, and then afterward, she starts talking and you're startled to hear what sounds like a completely different accent. What is it about singing that seems to change some people's accents? A caller from Indianapolis wants to know.--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at http://waywordradio.org. Copyright ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Paper to Pixels, Pages to Screens - 30 June 2008[This episode first aired March 8, 2008.]You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any
differently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen of
an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and
psychological implications of books that run on batteries.A
caller remembers an odd phrase from her childhood. If she asked too
many questions, her mother would brush them off with the phrase 'layers
for meddlers and crutches for lame ducks.' Say what?A Milwau ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
My Brilliant Careen Minicast- 23 June 2008A New York City listener says he's reading lots of thrillers this summer. But a couple of words keep tripping him up. Does a speeding car careen or career? The hosts spell out the differences, and throw in the origin of the word carom for good measure.
---
Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at http://waywordradio.org. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.
... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Celebrate National Grammar Day - 23 June 2008[This episode originally aired March 3, 2008.]Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day. Also,
when you're scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself
expecting spellcheck to kick in and underline your misspellings with
squiggly red lines? A caller wants a term for the act of trying to do
offline what can only be done online. Let's see...there's
National Cheese Day on January 20 and of course National Iguana
Awareness Day on Septemb ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
How to Address an Envelope to a Married Couple Minicast - 16 June 2008A San Diego woman is bothered by the convention of addressing envelopes to Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. Shouldn't we also include the woman's first name? For her, it's more than just a theoretical question: she spends a lot of time sending thank-you letters for nonprofit fundraising. So she's wondering, what's the best way to address them so as not to offend potential donors? Her question provokes a lively exchange about grammar, etiquette, and feminism....Get your language question answered on ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Cruciverbalists Play Across and Down - 16 June 2008[This episode first aired February 23, 2008.]Sharpen those pencils! Martha and Grant are doing crossword puzzles on
the air again, preparing for their appearance with NPR Puzzlemaster
Will Shortz at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New York
City.http://www.crosswordtournament.com/An
Atlanta native wants to know why she and her fellow Southerners grew up
using the word 'plum,' as in 'plum tuckered out.' Martha explains the
connection between that kind of 'plum' and 'plumbers.'Whic ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Careful with That Teakettle Minicast! - 9 June 2008A caller who grew up in New Jersey remembers hearing a neighbor use the expression 'Hak mir nisht ken tshaynik' whenever she wanted to shush someone. He's sure the phrase is Yiddish, but he's never been able to figure out the literal meaning. Grant solves the mystery for him. Hint: It has to do with teakettles.By the way, you'll find more details about this colorful expression in Michael Wex's book 'Born to Kvetch' here:http://www.the-yiddish-world-of-michael-wex.com/born-to-kvetch-ch-2.htm ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Expresso Dating and Dying Tongues - 9 June 2008[This episode originally aired February 16, 2008.]There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some
estimates, they're dying off at the rate of one every week. What's lost
when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question and
efforts to record some endangered languages before they die out
completely.A caller named Holly confesses that there's a word
that practically makes her break out in hives every time she hears it.
Grant assures her she's not alone in her avers ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
The Word Candidate Minicast - 2 June 2008[This is the first of our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online.]We hear a lot about political candidates these days. But did you ever stop to think about where the word 'candidate' comes from? Martha says it goes back to an ancient Roman fashion statement. She also explains the etymology of the term for what drives so many candidates: 'ambition.'--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or vis ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
An Estival Festival of Summer Minicasts - 2 June 2008This week we announce our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online. It's what we're calling an 'estival festival.'--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at http://waywordradio.org. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles - 2 June 2008[This episode originally aired February 9th and 10th, 2008]In this week's episode: Just how far back could you go and stillunderstand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trustytime machine to find out. Hint: You'd probably have a tough timegetting around in the eighth century, when English poetry looked like:'Hwaet we gardena in geardagum...'Speaking of the more recentpast: When you played hide-and-seek as a child, did you yell 'Ollie,Ollie Oxen Free'? Or 'Ally Ally in Free'? ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Road Trip! - 26 May 2008[This episode originally aired January 26 and 27, 2008.]In this episode, a listener says his friend Harold likes to do social phoning while driving, so he's invented a term for mindless calling while in the car. And no, it's not 'car-pe diem.' Also, Martha and Grant also discuss the rules of the road games 'padiddle' and 'slug bug.' Maybe you know it as 'perdiddle,' but a Wisconsinite shares memories of playing 'padiddle.' You need at least two people in a car, an oncoming vehicle with a he ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Give It the Old College Slang - 19 May 2008If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted? You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated college slang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about Unknown Superheroes! What do we call it when new inventions or ideas change the name of something old? It used to be that the word 'guitar' was sufficient, but now we regularly distinguish between an 'acoustic guitar' and an 'electric guitar.' Same for television, a word that sufficed until ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Coinkydinks and Big Boxes - 12 May 2008We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say 'fambly' instead of family, 'perazackly' for exactly, or 'coinkydink' for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things wrong on purpose, the response was enormous. Why is it that many people find such wordplay hard to resist? We consider this question and share their own favorite examples.A Pennsylvania minister is curious about a phrase her family uses: 'by way ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Put a Snap on the Grouch Bag - 5 May 2008Have you ever eaten a 'Benedictine sandwich'? Or savored a juicy 'pork steak'? What's a favorite dish you grew up with that may be mystifying to someone from another part of the country? Also, what does it mean to tell someone to 'put a snap on the grouch bag'?A rugby referee from Indiana calls to ask if his sport is the origin of the word 'touchdown' as it is used in American football.How do you pronounce the word 'patronize'? Is one pronunciation used if you say 'Don't patronize me!' and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
The Secret Language of Families - 28 Apr. 2008[This episode first aired January 19th and 20th, 2008.]Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A
funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting
relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, Martha and Grant
discuss 'family words,' and Martha reveals the story behind her own
family's secret word, 'fubby.'Why do we say that someone who's
pregnant is 'knocked up'? The hit movie starring Katherine Heigl and
Seth Rogen has a caller won ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
See A Man About A Horse - 21 Apr. 2008[This episode first aired January 12th and 13th, 2008.]In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed
articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion,
including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past Tense
from Language Programs.'By the way, did you ever notice how ONION is ZO-ZO if you tilt your head to the right?A
caller has a friendly disagreement with a pal: Is the expression 'tide
me over' or 'tie me over'? Hint: The answer she gets sh ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Word Encounters of the First Kind - 14 Apr. 2008There's a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time--feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, 'What the heck does that mean?' and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about some terms that had just that effect on them: 'ucalegon' and 'cacoethes scribendi.'A recent college graduate from Portland, Oregon, calls to ask about a term popular on her campus. She and her classmates use 'sketchy' to mean 'creepy, shady, possibly dangerous,' as in 'a sketchy part of t ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Nicknames Give Me the Heebie-Jeebies and the Vapors - 7 April 2008Everybody has a nickname, and there's usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Also, is the expression 'heebie-jeebies' anti-Semitic? And is there a better word than 'retiree' for someone who moves on from a job late in life?Speaking of nicknames, the word 'nickname' has an interesting etymology. It's an example of a word formed by what linguists call 'misdivision.' More here. If you have a nickname you'd like to share (and hey, ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Typewriters We Have Loved - 31 Mar. 2008(This episode first aired January 5, 2008.)Ding! In this week's episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that
it's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly
exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it's not the horseless carriage
return yet. Martha and Grant wax nostalgic about the pleasures of
pecking away at a rumbling, shuddering Selectric.A newspaper
headline about a faltering legislative proposal prompts a caller to
ask: Should they have written 'floundering' or 'founder ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Bite the Wax Tadpole - 24 March 2008(This episode first aired December 15, 2007.)In this episode, Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and
product names supposedly botched in translation. They also recommend an
eclectic mix of books for the word-lover on your holiday list, from
military slang to Yiddish.'Biting the Wax Tadpole'? It's the
wacky title of a new book by language enthusiast Elizabeth Little which
has Martha and Grant talking about whether Coca-Cola and Chevrolet ran
into cultural translation problems when ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Barbecue Stoppers and Marmalade Droppers - 17 Mar. 2008Unless you've been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of 'glass pockets'? Or 'horseracism'? Is there an etymological connection between 'caucus' and 'Caucasian'?A caller wants to settle a friendly argument: Is something not worth debating called a 'moot point' or a 'mute point'?A listener calls from in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to say that in her native Spanish, she can use several diffe ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Paper to Pixels, Pages to Screens - 10 Mar. 2008You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that run on batteries.A caller remembers an odd phrase from her childhood. If she asked too many questions, her mother would brush them off with the phrase 'layers for meddlers and crutches for lame ducks.' Say what?A Milwaukee listener is curious about an expressi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Celebrate National Grammar Day - 3 Mar. 2008Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day on March 4. Also, when you're scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and underline your misspellings with squiggly red lines? A caller wants a term for the act of trying to do offline what can only be done online. Let's see...there's National Cheese Day on January 20 and of course National Iguana Awareness Day on September 8. So it's only fitting that goo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Cruciverbalists Play Across and Down - 25 Feb. 2008Sharpen those pencils! Martha and Grant are doing crossword puzzles on the air again, preparing for their appearance with NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New York City at the end of the month.http://www.crosswordtournament.com/An Atlanta native wants to know why she and her fellow Southerners grew up using the word 'plum,' as in 'plum tuckered out.' Martha explains the connection between that kind of 'plum' and 'plumbers.'Which is the correct form ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Expresso Dating and Dying Tongues - 18 Feb. 2008There are nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, and by some estimates, they're dying off at the rate of one every week. What's lost when a language dies? Martha and Grant discuss that question and efforts to record some endangered languages before they die out completely.A caller named Holly confesses that there's a word that practically makes her break out in hives every time she hears it. Grant assures her she's not alone in her aversion to the word--Holly, cover your eyes--'moist.' ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Squeejawed Red-heads and Grockles - 11 Feb. 2008In this week's episode: Just how far back could you go and still understand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trusty time machine to find out. Hint: You'd probably have a tough time getting around in the eighth century, when English poetry looked like: 'Hwaet we gardena in geardagum...'Speaking of the more recent past: When you played hide-and-seek as a child, did you yell 'Ollie, Ollie Oxen Free'? Or 'Ally Ally in Free'? Or maybe 'Ally Ally Ump Free'? 'Ole Ole Olsen Free'? ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Insegrevious Paratereseomaniacs - 04 Feb. 2008This episode first aired December 8th and 9th, 2007.This week Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does 'paratereseomaniac' mean?A electronic teenager repellent? An alarm clock that runs away from you to make you'll wake up? Yep, it's the Ig Nobel Prizes, those awards for academic research that first makes you laugh and then makes you think. Martha and G ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Road Trip! - 28 Jan. 2008In this episode, a listener says his friend Harold does all his social phoning while driving, so he's invented a term for mindless calling while in the car. And no, it's not 'car-pe diem.' Also, Martha and Grant also discuss the rules of the road games 'padiddle' and 'slug bug.'Maybe you know it as 'perdiddle,' but a Wisconsinite shares fond memories of playing 'padiddle.' The game involves at least two people in a car, an oncoming vehicle with a headlight out, and--depending on which versi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
The Secret Language of Families - 21 Jan. 2008Does your family use a special word you've never heard anywhere else? A funny name for 'the heel of a loaf of bread,' perhaps, or for 'visiting relatives who won't leave.' In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss 'family words,' and Martha reveals the story behind her own family's secret word, 'fubby.'Why do we say that someone who's pregnant is 'knocked up'? The hit movie starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen has a caller wondering about this term.A man whose last name is McCoy w ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
See A Man About A Horse - 14 Jan. 2008In this week's episode, Martha and Grant discuss not-to-be-believed articles about language from the satirical newspaper The Onion, including one headlined 'Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past Tense from Language Programs.'By the way, did you ever notice how ONION is ZO-ZO if you tilt your head to the right?A caller has a friendly disagreement with a pal: Is the expression 'tide me over' or 'tie me over'? Hint: The answer she gets should tide her over.If a dictator dictates, and an aviat ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Typewriters We Have Loved - 7 Jan. 2008Ding! In this week's episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that it's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it's not the horseless carriage return yet. Martha and Grant wax nostalgic about the pleasures of pecking away at a rumbling, shuddering Selectric.A newspaper headline about a faltering legislative proposal prompts a caller to ask: Should they have written 'floundering' or 'foundering'?A longboarder reports she and her fell ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Word Jocks Lettered in Language - 31 Dec. 2007Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-friendly' and unlock the etymology of 'skeleton key.'This episode originally aired Dec. 1st and 2nd, 2007.Do you know what a 'rampike' is? Or a 'colobus'? Martha and Grant test each other's knowledge of ten-dollars words with the online quiz at FreeRice.com.A reader of Anthony Bourdain's 'Kit ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | |
