A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over

[This episode first aired March 6, 2010.]"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning." Martha talks about this weather proverb, which has been around in one form or another since ancient times. Grant shares a favorite weather word: slatch http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/slatch. Also this week: Is there a better alternative to the word "mentee"? What's "pooflapoo pie"?A Dallas listener and her boss have a dispute. The boss says the staff should get "on the stick." The caller and her co-workers say the correct phrase is "on the ball." Grant gives her an answer, then suggests a third option used in Hawaii: "on the kinipopo." http://bit.ly/bHw1F6What's the best term for "someone who's being mentored"? A woman in a mentoring program at church thinks the word "mentee sounds like "manatee." She's hoping for an alternative.Grant shares another weather-related word from Britain: parky.http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=57638Quiz Guy John Chaneski offers a puzzle in honor of the hosts' initials. Every clue prompts a two-word answer beginning with the letters M and B or G and B. For example: "Paper or plastic?"A caller named Todd says that when people meet him for the first time, they sometimes call him Scott, even if he's wearing a nametag with his real name on it. It's happened too many times to be a coincidence, he says, and wonders if there's something about the double letters that registers the wrong name in people's minds. Why do we get other people's names wrong?Whip up a big batch of pistachio pudding, then add pineapple, walnuts, Cool Whip, and marshmallow bits, and what do you have? A Los Angeles woman says her grandmother used to make a dish with those ingredients that she called "pooflapoo pie." Is that just her family's name for it, or do other people refer to it that way? Other people call it "Watergate salad" or "ambrosia."Have trouble remembering the difference between stalagtites and stalagmites? Martha shares a mnemonic that will help.A police officer says that the prosecutor edits out the word "that" from the reports he submits, as in, "The subject stated that he met the co-defendant at a party." Is the word "that" necessary here? Martha and Grant disagree. Also, the cop also has a brain-teaser for the hosts: Can you use the word "that" five times consecutively in a sentence correctly?The hosts talk about the tricks they use to remember how to spell certain words.Why do we say that someone finely attired is "dressed to the nines"?A woman says that when playing hide-and-seek with a small child, her mother-in-law says "peep-eye"!" instead of "peekaboo"!" Is that usage limited to certain parts of the country? And where do they say "pee-bo"!"?Grant talks about two other weather-related terms, "frontogenesis" and "aeromancy."When comparing one item with the rest of the items in a group, "which is better: more or most"?--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[This episode first aired February 27, 2010.]What's in a pet's name? Martha and Grant swap stories about how they came up with names for their dogs. Also this week: Have you ever been called a "stump-jumper"? How about a snicklefritz? And what's the last word in the dictionary? Depending on which dictionary you consult, it might be "zythum," "zyzzyva," "zyxomma," or "zyxt."Sometimes the process of naming a pet takes a while. The hosts talk about how their dogs' names evolved.A native Japanese speaker is mystified by the expression "happy as a clam." In Japanese, she says, if you had a good night's sleep you might say you "slept like a clam" or "slept like mud." So why do English speakers think clams are content? What's the very last word in the dictionary? Depending on which dictionary you're using, you may see "zythum," "zyzzyva," "zyxomma," or "zyxt."This week's word puzzle from Quiz Guy Greg Pliska involves taking a word, adding an "i" to the beginning, as if creating an Apple product, to get an entirely new word. For instance: "This is how Steve Jobs begins a card game."A caller from Princeton, Texas, remembers that after a satisfying meal, her late father used to push back from the table and say, "I am sufficiently suffonsified. Anything more would be purely obnoxious to my taste. No thank you." What heck did he mean by that?A Vermonter says he's sometimes called a "stump-jumper." Should he be flattered or insulted?Martha shares a couple of "Tom Swifties," those funny sentences that make great punny use of adverbs, like "'My bicycle wheel is damaged,' Tom said outspokenly."Why do we say that someone who's happy is in "hog heaven"?Martha tells the story behind the term "Tom Swifty." Grant shares some more funny examples from the "A Way with Words" discussion forum http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/a-whole-nother-full-episode/."Gradoo" is a word for something undesirable, the kind of thing you'd rather scrape off your shoe. A man who grew up in Louisiana wonders about the term, which he heard from both English and Cajun French speakers. Someone who says, "I'll be there directly," may not necessarily get there right away. How did the meaning of "directly" change in some parts of the country to mean "by and by"?"You little 'snickelfritz'!" An Indiana man says his mother used to call him that when she meant "You little rascal!" Although the term's meaning has changed over time, its original meaning was a bit naughty.--A Way with Words is supported by its listeners. Drop a few bucks in the guitar case: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone:United States an Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Site: http://waywordradio.org/Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradioCopyright 2010, Wayword Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYWhat would you serve a plumber who comes over for dinner? How about ... leeks? The hosts play a word game called "What Would You Serve?" Also, how can you correct someone's grammar without ruining a new relationship? And is there an easy way to remember the difference between who and whom?FULL DETAILSWhat would you serve a plumber for dinner? How about leeks? (We didn't say it had to be appetizing.) What would you serve a jeweler? Carats. Martha and Grant play the "What Would You Serve?" game.A Little Rock, Ark., caller has been going out with a Chinese woman. Her English is pretty good, but he wonders about the most polite way to correct a minor grammar mistake without ruining a new relationship.What's the origin of the expressions "Word!" and "Word up!"? Grant shares a theory from the book "Black Talk" by Geneva Smitherman.http://bit.ly/gLhqdoBy the way, here's that 1980's-era song "Word Up."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZjAantupsAWhat would you serve a chronic procrastinator? Ketchup. What would you serve a fertility specialist? Eggplant. Martha serves up those and others.Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a quiz based on news events of the last several months, all in limerick form.A woman in Gainesville, Fla., says her father and his partner have an ongoing Scrabble feud over rebeheaded. Is it a word?"Anymore, I play golf instead of tennis." Grant explains that this grammatical construction is known as the "positive anymore."What would you serve to people separated by six degrees? Bacon!A sign-language interpreter found herself translating the word doldrums. She wonders if it has to do the area of the ocean known by that name.What would you serve a group of musicians and cardiologists? How about beets?Martha shares some collective nouns sent in by listeners in response to a recent show on the topic.http://www.waywordradio.org/roberta-of-flax/What does nonplussed mean, exactly? Does it mean "unflappable" or "at a loss." Martha and Grant disagree about its use.Is there some kind of snappy jingle for knowing when to use who and whom? Grant shares some familiar proverbs that supposedly arose from African-American English. The book he mentions is Proverbs, by Wolfgang Mieder.http://bit.ly/dQVxmQNeed a word for "lover of the underdog"? It's infracaninophile.--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[This episode first aired February 6, 2010.]If you're inappropriately focused on the minutiae of a project instead of the bigger picture, you're said to be "bike-shedding." Grant talks about that modern slang term and Martha discusses a word that goes way back in time, right back to "In the beginning," in fact. The word is "tohubohu," and it means a "mess" or "confusion."Grant and Martha discuss a new term, "bike-shedding," and an old one, "tohubohu."Where'd we get the term "swan song"? A caller says this expression came up in conversation just before her retirement and she wonders about its origin. Martha reads email from listeners suggesting alternatives to the word retirement.Is the word "criteria" singular or plural? Quiz Guy John Chaneski's puzzle is about phrases that suggest a pair of words that are spelled alike, except that in one of them, a letter is doubled. Try to guess the two nearly identical words suggested by this phrase: "Wagered on a root vegetable." It's likely America's greatest linguistic export: "O.K." A caller raised in the Philippines is curious about its origin. The hosts give him an answer, and also point out a familiar word in English that derives from the caller's native language, Tagalog.When is it more appropriate to use the word female as opposed to woman?David Pogue http://www.davidpogue.com/, technology columnist for the New York Times, grapples with a slang quiz. First he shares own his favorite slang term, "nonversation," then tries to guess the meaning of the archaic technological slang terms "planktonocrit," "phenakistoscope," and "sphygmograph."What's the correct pronunciation of crayon? Is it cray-on? Cran? Crown? Here's a dialect survey map http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_9.html that shows the distribution of these pronunciations.A Green Bay, Wisconsin, caller is curious about her mother's playful interjections. If someone said, "Well," her mother would add, "Well, well. Three holes in the ground." If someone started a sentence with "So..." she'd interject, "Buttons on your underwear!" Or if someone said, "See," she'd add "Said the blind man as he picked up a hammer and saw." And if they were watching a movie and the dramatic tension rose, she'd declare, "The thought plickens!" The caller wonders if those expressions date back to a particular era or context, and says she's now taught them to her Indonesian husband. --A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2010, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYIs the term "Oriental" offensive? Many people think so. Martha and Grant discuss the reasons why. Also, where do we get the phrase "not one iota"? Why do we tell someone to "take a gander"? And who coined the word "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"? FULL DETAILS"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." This kind of sudden, surprising turn in a sentence is called a paraprosdokian. Martha and Grant trade some examples.Instead of crying "uncle," an Indiana woman's family cries calf-rope! She wonders if this expression of submission is unique to her family.Why do we say take a gander for "have a look"?Will Rogers was a master of paraprosdokians. Martha shares a favorite.Too much sugar for a dime can mean either "too good to be true," or "more trouble than it's worth." Merle Travis and Judy Hayden sing about it here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvkppduB5d0Quiz Guy John Chaneski reprises his popular "Puzzle Hunt" game.A Chinese-American says she's not offended by the term "Oriental," but she's been told she should be. Who's right?The expression not one iota means not one bit. Martha explains that it goes back to ancient Greek, and explains its connection to the Sermon on the Mount.A caller was taught that peruse means to examine closely and carefully, but increasingly hears people use it to mean skim quickly. "Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices" is a new exhibit at the British Library in London featuring the earliest printed versions of Beowulf, the Wycliffe and King James Bible, and the oldest known example of written English.http://www.bl.uk/evolvingenglish/A physicist is curious about the term learning curve. He pictures it as a pair of axes. But if that's the case, what's X and what's Y?Who coined Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?Martha shares another paraprosdokian.What's the correct adjective to describe something associated with the Democrats? Is it Democrat or Democratic?Blueberry buckle is a dessert with cake batter, fruit, and a streussel topping. What does that have to do with buckles?--A Way with Words is a self-supporting independent production. It receives no financial support from NPR, PRI, PBS nor any radio station.Support the show with your tax deductible donation: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone:United States an Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Site: http://waywordradio.org/Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradioCopyright 2010, Wayword Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[This episode first aired November 9, 2009.] All aboard! This week, a bit about the musical language of railroad conductors' calls: 'Anaheim, Azusa, and Cu-ca-monga!' Also, the origin of the military slang term 'cumshaw,' tips for learning Latin, the influence of Spanish immigrants on English, and the funny story behind why plain-talking Texans say, 'We're going to tell how the cow ate the cabbage.'A trip to the California State Railroad Museum http://www.csrmf.org/ has Grant musing about the way language can change in the mouth of a single individual -- in this case, railroad conductors. He recommends a collection of sound files from metros and subways around the world http://mic-ro.com/metro/announcements.html. For different type of stroll down mem'ry lane, check out Mel Blanc's version of a train conductor here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVFbz6AsnE.Does anyone still say 'Shut UP!' to mean 'No way!'? A forty-something riding instructor says this Seinfeldian locution confuses some of her younger students.A caller wonders why his North Carolina-born partner uses the phrase 'I'd have liked to' instead of 'I almost' or 'I nearly,' as in 'I'd have liked to died laughing.'Quiz Guy John Chaneski starts a whole lotta shakin' with his puzzle about dances with rhyming names. How about the dance that involves many missteps while dancing to the music of Johann Strauss?Is 'ouch!' a universal word, or does what you say when you stub your toe depend on what language you speak?A Seattle-area veteran remembers that in Vietnam he and others like him were known as 'cumshaw artists.' They were the guys who scared up and permanently borrowed whatever their unit needed -- gasoline, vehicle parts, or whiskey for a party. He's always wondered about the appellation.The phrase 'Let's talk about how the cow ate the cabbage means' 'Let's talk frankly.' The hosts talk plainly about the naughty tale that may be behind it.It's never too late to start learning Latin, a language that will deepen your understanding and appreciation of English. Martha offers tips on how to begin: 'Getting Started with Latin' http://www.gettingstartedwithlatin.com/preview01.php, by William E. Linney, and 'Virent Ova! Viret Perna!' http://www.amazon.com/Virent-Viret-Perna-Green-Latin/dp/0865165556 ('Green Eggs and Ham') by Dr. Seuss, with translation help from Jennifer and Terence Tunberg.A riddle: There's a place where yesterday follows today, and tomorrow's in the middle. Where is it?The word 'scarf,' meaning 'to eat rapidly and greedily,' has a long, winding history. Grant helps a listener unravel it.A die-hard Tyler Perry fan is curious about an emphatic expression she's heard in some of his movies: 'Hell-to-the-no.' What's up with the extra words?A second-generation Mexican-American wonders how much the English language is being influenced by Spanish, especially after a misunderstanding when he turned to his date in the passenger seat and asked if she wanted to 'get down.'Another riddle: I stand on one foot, and my heart is in my head. Who am I?--A Way with Words is a self-supporting independent production. It receives no financial support from NPR, PRI, PBS nor any radio station.Support the show with your tax deductible donation: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone:United States an Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Site: http://waywordradio.org/Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradioCopyright 2010, Wayword Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[This episode first aired October 24, 2009.]Bavarian Chalet. Mushroom Basket. Moose Point. Who in the heck comes up with the names of paints, anyway? Martha and Grant ponder that mystery. They also explain why those annoying emails go by the name "spam." And Grant explains the difference between being "adorbs" and "bobo."Bavarian Chalet. Mushroom Basket. Moose Point. Who in the heck comes up with the names of paint, anyway? Must be the same people who get paid to give names like Love Child, Sellout, and Apocalypse to shades of lipstick. Martha and Grant discuss wacky color names.Hurly-burly, helter-skelter, zigzag, shilly-shally -- the hosts dish out some claptrap about words like these, otherwise known as "reduplications" or "rhyming jingles." If someone's "naked as a needle," just how naked are they? Why "needle"?Grant and Martha discuss more goofy names for lipstick. Mauvelous Memories, anyone?Quiz Guy John Chaneski's latest puzzle requires players to guess the last word in a two-line verse. For example: "He’s seven feet tall and big as a tank, The meanest Marine that you’ve ever BLANK." (Stumped? Take a letter out of "seven.")An Episcopal priest in Toledo worries that her sermons are cluttered with dashes. This works just fine when she's preaching, but when the same text appears on her church's website, it looks like a messy tangle of words and punctuation. The hosts discuss the differences between text written for oral delivery, and text written to be read silently.Why is that annoying stuff in your email box called "spam? Grant has the answer. Here's the Monty Python skit that inspired it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE&feature=player_embeddedCan a first-time event ever be called "The First Annual" Such-and-Such? Members of a Cedar Rapids group planning a social mixer disagree.Is that snazzy new car "adorbs" or "bobo"? Grant talks about adorbs, bobo, and a few other slang terms collected by Professor Connie Eble of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.Theories about how Latin Americans came to use the term "gringo" as a disparaging word for foreigners. We can easily rule out the one about the song "Green Grow the Lilacs," but what about the rest?An insurance fraud investigator in Milwaukee wonders if he's correct to use a semicolon immediately after the word "however." Grant suggests that the word and the punctuation mark should do a do-si-do.Many of us learned the rule about using the preposition "between" when talking about two items, but among when talking about more than two. In reality, though, the rule is a little more complicated.Someone who's extremely busy may be said to be "busier than a cranberry merchant." What is it that keeps cranberry merchants so busy, anyway?--A Way with Words is a self-supporting independent production. It receives no financial support from NPR, PRI, PBS nor any radio station.Support the show with your tax deductible donation: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone:United States an Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Site: http://waywordradio.org/Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradioCopyright 2010, Wayword Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARY We have collective nouns for animals, like "a gaggle of geese," "a pride of lions," and "an exaltation of larks." So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a "greasing of palms," or a "pursing of tulips"? Also, the difference between further and farther, the proper use of crescendo, how Shakespeare sounded in his day, and why a child's runny nose is sometimes referred to as lamb's legs.FULL DESCRIPTIONWe have collective nouns for animals, like "a gaggle of geese," "a pride of lions," and "an exaltation of larks." So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a "greasing of palms," or a "pursing of tulips"? Martha shares some others collected on the site of food writer Gary Allen.http://bit.ly/bKG1yCReverend William Archibald Spooner was known for transposing sounds, like raising a glass "to our queer old dean" instead of "to our dear old queen." A caller shares some favorite Spoonerisms.Boil up some pigs' neck bones, add some liver sausage and buckwheat, mold it in a loaf, then slice, fry, and serve with syrup. Some folks call that scrapple, but a Milwaukee woman's family calls it pannas. A listener asks: "Does the phrase "snap, crackle, and pop" need a cereal comma?"Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a puzzle about anagrams.What did Shakespeare's plays sound like in his day? An acting teacher with an interest in dialects wants to know how researchers reconstruct Elizabethan speech. A Pennsylvania college student remembers playing a game called "Whisper Down the Lane." She's surprised to learn that her fellow students call the same game "Telephone."What's the difference between further and farther?Martha shares more funny collective plant names, including a "mommy of poppies."Pity the poor typeface designer, always seeing anachronisms in movies and TV. Imagine how painful it must be watching a World War II movie, only to see a document printed in Snell Roundhand Bold, a font invented in 1972.Here's typeface expert Mark Simonson's analysis of the lettering on "Mad Men."http://bit.ly/3L4a99More about the life of font designers in the new book, Just My Type, by Simon Garfield:http://bit.ly/as5o5aSome speakers of American English use the word whenever to refer to a single event, as in "whenever Abraham Lincoln" died. This locution is a vestige of Scots-Irish speech.A professional musician maintains that many people use the word crescendo incorrectly.A father of two small children says his Indiana family referred to a child's runny nose as a "lamb's legs," as in "We need to wipe the lamb's legs off." --A Way with Words is an independent production supported by its listeners. It receives no financial support from NPR, PRI, PBS nor any radio station.Support the show with your tax deductible donation: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone:United States an Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Site: http://waywordradio.org/Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradioCopyright 2010, Wayword Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, a special treat: NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz stops by with a quiz about slang and anagrams. Did you know that "A Way with Words" is not produced by NPR or one of the other big radio networks? It's not even produced by a radio station. Our show is produced by a small, nonprofit organization called Wayword, Inc. In the coming year, we hope to bring you even more new episodes. Yep, that's right -- fewer reruns! But we need your help, so please click here and make your tax-deductible contribution today. Remember, it all adds up. Your donation in any amount makes it possible for us to keep producing new episodes.So, OVEN WIG and HANKY OUT! (If you need help with those anagrams, not to worry. Martha unscrambles them at the end of this episode.) --A Way with Words is an independent production supported by its listeners. It receives no financial support from NPR, PRI, PBS nor any radio station.Support the show with your tax deductible donation: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone:United States an Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Site: http://waywordradio.org/Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradioCopyright 2010, Wayword Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYWhat's your choice for 2010's word of the year? Mama grizzly? Starwhacker? And who could forget vuvuzela? Martha and Grant discuss the Five-Oh in Hawaii 5-0, and whether the tagline "I approve this message" is grammatical. Also, is the phrase "it is what it is" annoying or merely philosophical?FULL DETAILSWhat's your choice for the word or phrase that best captures the zeitgeist of 2010? Grant shares some of his "Word of the Year" candidates, including refudiate, mama grizzlies, starwhacker, and of course, vuvuzela.Is the TV show Hawaii Five-0 named for Ford Mustang 5.0 engines in police cruisers? No, and it's correctly typed with a zero instead of the letter "O."It is what it is. A new transplant to California has noticed this phrase popping up more and more. Where does it come from? Is it annoying or merely philosophical?Grant talks about another "Word of the Year" contender, Obamacare.Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a puzzle called "Word Ladders."After passing by an establishment featuring adult entertainment, an Asheville, N.C., man began wondering: When did the word adult come to refer to "material not suitable for children"? Political candidates end their TV ads with the statement "I approve this message." Is that ungrammatical?The internet abounds with memes. Grant explains that this word was coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. More about them at Know Your Meme.http://knowyourmeme.com/Another Word of the Year candidate is immappacy, which is formed by analogy with "innumeracy," and means the inability to understand maps.A La Mesa, Calif., woman thinks the term from 1970s films, jive turkey, deserves reviving."They shot the white girl first." That's how Toni Morrison's novel, "Paradise," begins, and it's a great example of an irresistible first line. Martha shares others sent in by listeners. She also reads from a Michael Cunningham essay about why a first line must be authoritative.http://nyti.ms/cmW78EA reader of The Atlantic magazine is surprised to find that they're not capitalizing letters in headlines the way they used to. Martha argues in favor of the serial comma, citing a recent newspaper caption: "The documentary was filmed over three years. Among those interviewed were his ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall." How's that again?http://bit.ly/98XQ1rA San Diego woman says that when her baby starts crying in another room, her in-laws have a habit of saying, " Another country heard from!" This expression's roots go back to elections in the 19th century, and was originally "another county heard from."--A Way with Words is supported by its listeners. Drop a few bucks in the guitar case: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: words@waywordradio.orgPhone:United States an Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Site: http://waywordradio.org/Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradioCopyright 2010, Wayword Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices