A Way with Words
@waywordradio.org
Public radio's lively language show! On-air in US, free podcast worldwide. https://waywordradio.org words@waywordradio.org. Toll-free US/Canada 24/7 1-877-929-9673 or https://wa.me/16198004443 #linguistics #etymology #podcast #books #language
How does the brain build a sentence? Nature looks at neurons that fire in the split second before speech, as grammar, vocabulary, and meaning come together. Read more:
How the brain builds sentences, neuron by neuron
Neural maps reveal the specialized cells that produce speech.
nature.com
Why did Homer call Odysseus a man of "many turns"? Emily Wilson weighs the choices behind "polytropos" and what that word can mean for a person, a journey, and a poem. Read more:
On Complicated...
On the one translation choice I have been asked about a gazillion times, as if it were the only translation choice I’ve ever had to make…
emily613.substack.com
We're wired for sound with a new episode: https://waywordradio.org/wired-for-sound/ Lots of fun weather terms like flisky, flobby, and Snovember, plus a fun time saying "esophagastroduodenoscopy," a look into ballicater, and lots more. No sojering!
Wired for Sound (episode #1685)
If someone tells you it’s flisky or flobby outside, do you need to take an umbrella? A new book about England’s soggy climate includes 188 terms for rainy weather. Americans have their own joking…
waywordradio.org
Can AI crack lost languages? It can quickly spot patterns, but meaning still requires human hunches. A look at the promise and limits of deciphering Linear A and Etruscan:
Cracking the code: can AI help us decipher ancient languages?
AI can help move analysis forward, but human ingenuity is still essential in this field.
theconversation.com
Why did “zucchini” and “courgette” take hold in different places for the same vegetable? BBC America sorts out seven vegetables that differ in the U.S. and U.K.
7 Veggies with Different Names in Britain and America | Anglophenia | BBC America
It’s an oft-asked question, so let’s take a stroll through the vegetable patch while dueting on “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off” and see if
bbcamerica.com
Wordhunting: "Narcissism of small differences" refers to an attitude taken when people who have a lot in common fixate on tiny distinctions. Source:
Shell Attack - Futility Closet
Freud observed that people who have much in common can still fight bitterly because they grow overly sensitive to the disagreements remaining between them. He called this the “narcissism of small differences”: “It is precisely the minor differences in people who are otherwise alike that form the basis of feelings of hostility between them.” In Gulliver’s Travels, 11,000 people die in a war between the Big-endians, who break their eggs at the big end, and the Little-endians, who break them at the little end. A Lilliputian admiral attacks Gulliver because “he had good reasons to think you were a Big-endian...
futilitycloset.com
What do “vibe” and “vibing” have to do with “good vibrations”? A lot, as it turns out, from spiritual ideas to youth slang:
Origins of Vibe and Vibing
Lily in Madison, Wisconsin, wonders about the use of the words vibe and vibing to mean “having a good time” with someone else. The sense of vibrations reflecting some kind of mystical connection goes…
waywordradio.org
Why would young people be called a “whippersnapper”? The word goes back to the 1600s, when young men would strut around snapping whips.
Whippersnapper
A listener in Fairbanks, Alaska, says her husband has long referred to her as a whippersnapper, insisting it’s a playful term of endearment. Whippersnapper goes back to the 17th century…
waywordradio.org
Have you seen “dilemna” with an N instead of “dilemma” without? The N spelling shows up in old print, and many people remember learning it with an N, even though dictionaries stick to “dilemma.”
Is “Dilemna” with an N an Acceptable Spelling of “Dilemma”?
Tom from Phoenix still remembers losing a seventh-grade spelling bee over dilemma, because he had been taught there was a silent n and wrote dilemna. The standard spelling is dilemma…
waywordradio.org
Wordhunting: A "planet parade" or "parade of planets" is when three or more planets seem to line up in the sky. Source:
Most Notable 2026 Astronomical Events: A Year of Watching the Skies - NASA
So, get ready to watch the skies with us! Here are the top astronomical events happening this year:
nasa.gov
Where did “camp” and “campy” come from, referring to a type of exaggerated but low style or humor? We trace the words from gay culture to Susan Sontag’s “Notes on Camp,” with a possible French origin too.
Origins of “Camp” and “Campy”
The noun camp and the adjective campy refer to movies, theater, or a style or an exaggerated manner of creative or personal expression that combines high and low elements of culture.
waywordradio.org
The delightful website ”Scottish Words Illustrated” includes “curl-doddy,” a word for the “devil’s bit scabious,” a type of flowering plant, and for a few other round-headed flowers.
Curl-doddy | Scottish Words Illustrated
stooryduster.co.uk
“You must be smelling yourself” means someone is getting too "full of themself," or has too high an opinion of themself. We dig into the phrase and its appearance in Isabel Wilkerson’s “The Warmth of Other Suns.” Listen: waywordradio.org/smelling-one...
You Must Be Smelling Yourself
Isabel Wilkerson’s magnificent history, The Warmth of Other Suns, chronicles the Great Migration of American blacks from the Southern United States starting in the era of Jim Crow. In it…
waywordradio.org
A Dial essay on recording Pennsylvania Dutch for posterity is also a warm piece on an Amish family.
Our Amish Language — The Dial
As my community modernized, we used Pennsylvania Dutch less and less. Now I'm trying to preserve it.
thedial.world
Referencing a 2018 call on "A Way with Words," the New York Times says "to google" information is old-fashioned. The younger set now says "search it up." Call: https://waywordradio.org/search-it-up/ Article:
Saying ‘Google It’ Makes You Sound Old. ‘Search It Up’ Instead.
As online research evolves, so has the language we use to describe it.
nytimes.com
Wordhunting: To “fumble the bag” means to mess up or miss a valuable chance, often involving money. Source:
My Job Tried to Pay Me to Quit. Did I Fumble the Bag?
Secure the generous severance bag or jettison up the corporate ladder? That was the question.
levelman.com
If "hypo-" means "under," what is the "chondria" in "hypochondria"? A little Greek goes a long way here, from "hypodermic" to "hypothermia." Listen in:
If “Hypo-” Means “Under,” What is the “Chondria” in “Hypochondria”?
Hypochondria derives from the Greek preposition hypo, meaning “under,” as in the hypodermic that goes under the skin, and hypothermia, the condition of being insufficient heat.
waywordradio.org
Decode an alien language in the 90s-style “The Message from Deep Space” video game using math, science, and a dictionary you build. Peek at it here:
The Message from Deep Space on Steam
Mission: Translate an interstellar message, using the universal languages of math & science.
store.steampowered.com
In some languages and cultures, the equivalents of “mama” and “papa” can be terms of endearment for kids, too.
Calling the Kids “Mama” and “Papa”
In Arabic-speaking families, it’s not uncommon for mothers to address their children with the Arabic word for “mama” or for fathers to use the word for “father” when addressing their offspring.
waywordradio.org
New episode! https://waywordradio.org/mischief-night/ The night before Halloween, the phrase for "the real truth" in Argentina, a couple-three or more interesting linguistic gems and novelties. Listen and you'll get all the brownie points!
Mischief Night (episode #1684)
What’s up with ketchup? The shifting history and spelling of the name of this condiment. For centuries, ketchup was a fishy sauce originating in Asia—the tomatoes came only later! Plus…
waywordradio.org
Why is Syracuse, N.Y., such a haven for legendary writers? In the frozen shadows of shuttered factories, icons like Toni Morrison, Raymond Carver, and David Foster Wallace created some of their greatest work.
archive.ph
Wordhunting: The Spanish national World Cup team's playing style is known as "tiki-taka," which involves quick passing and long stretches of possession. Source:
Spain blank France 2-0 to reach 2026 World Cup Final - Spain
The first semifinal matchup at the 2026 World Cup featured two European giants, France and Spain. Neither team had lost a game so far, and their styles of
europesays.com
Why do some speakers say "milk" like "melk" and "eggs" like "aigs"? It's a North American pattern that has been around for at least a century. Learn more:
“Milk” as “Melk” and “Eggs” as “Aigs”: A North American Pronunciation Pattern
Tim from Jacksonville, Florida, has long been teased for saying milk more like melk and eggs with a vowel closer to ages. His mother’s South Carolina accent and his father’s Newfoundland accent may…
waywordradio.org
The new emoji coming to Unicode: A pickle! A monarch butterfly! A cracked smiley face?
Why do some new emoji look familiar?
You’re not going crazy
jenniferdaniel.substack.com
That little button on top of a baseball cap has a word: “squatchee” or “squatcho.”
Name for the Button on the Top of a Baseball Cap
That little button on top of a baseball cap? Some people call it a squatchee or a squatcho, the latter popularized by comedian Rich Hall’s book Sniglets (Amazon), which features apt but made-up words…
waywordradio.org
Wordhunting: “Plot bunnies” are story ideas that keep nudging a writer to put them on the page and that tend to proliferate. Discovered at:
FFM 2026 11: Find A Table
Windy paused once she made it to the Flash Fiction Metaverse Mansion. Hydra’s many-headed laughter came from… somewhere in there. Not that she was surprised after so many FFMers misinte…
windysilver.net
Why does "I reckon" sound rustic in the U.S. but ordinary in the U.K.? Listen:
I Reckon in the US vs. UK
The phrase I reckon meaning I suppose is marked in the United States as rural, rustic or uneducated. The term is centuries old, however, and used widely in the United Kingdom. This is part of a…
waywordradio.org
Like other languages, Spanish picks up new bits of other languages every place it lands, words like “apapacharse,” “resondrar,” and Quito’s “chuchaqui,” from where Kichwa and Spanish mingle.
archive.is
Wordhunting: “Habit-stacking” means tying a desired new habit to one you already have, like adding language-learning flashcards to regular morning coffee drinking. Source:
Psychologists Say This Simple Trick Makes Building New Habits Easier
It builds on things you already do.
goodhousekeeping.com
Wordhunting: A "ruinous honor" is a gift or honor that turns costly, like an actual white elephant. Source:
horse idioms
It was the trial membership open house for the Order of Logogustation, and I was circulating, doing my best impression of an extravert to welcome prospective members. As I neared a man and a woman,…
sesquiotic.com