Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Martha Barnette

@marthabarnette.bsky.social

1.3K followers 2.3K following 170 posts

Co-host, “A Way with Words" public radio show/podcast Check out my new book! FRIENDS WITH WORDS: Adventures in Languageland marthabarnette.com #etymology #writing #books #words @wayword

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Nov 14

I think this lovely article in The New Yorker by the lovely Comma Queen herself is still the best intro to what we do on the radio show. A wee oasis in the midst of other gnarly news.

“A Way with Words” Is “Car Talk” for Lexiphiles

Scouting for words to talk about is a constant effort, but it comes naturally to the radio show’s co-hosts, a writer in love with so-called dead languages and a linguist with an ear for contemporary s...

www.newyorker.com

1 6 56

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 8h

Louavull

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 2d

Agree! Also cool to boldly split infinitives. These “rules” are attempts by 17th & 18th c. self-appointed grammarians to fit the swollen feet of English into the tight shoes of Latin syntax.

1 1 4

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 10d

My progressive Southern Baptist minister (yes, there are still some out there!) dad would have LOVED this book! Thank you!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 11d

… And them’s mah beans!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 11d

Thank you, Mignon!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 13d

I somehow missed “groksucker” until just now.

Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 13d

“Clanker” is a derogatory term used to insult AI products such as delivery robots, therapist chatbots and automated servants. Our future robotic overlords might take, writes Sarah Ogilvie.

Is it okay to say clanker?

Artificial intelligence won’t be offended by this new slur. But our future robotic overlords might take a different view

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

1 3 9

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 15d

Do you speak Sylheti? Tamajaght? Klingon? Inside the Festival for Endangered Languages

Every two weeks, a language is lost – and by the end of the century, half of the world’s 7,000 tongues could have vanished. We meet the artist using eyeliner and chokeberries to rescue everything from...

www.theguardian.com

1 1

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 16d

Looking forward to chatting with Spain’s largest English speaking talk radio station shortly!

TRE - Talk Radio Europe @tre.radio · 16d

On Hannah Murray's TRE in the Afternoon from 16.00CET - Karen Walrond's 'In Defense of Dabbling: The Brilliance of Being a Total Amateur', @marthabarnette.bsky.social's 'Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland', and Freddie Lamb's weekend sport round up

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 19d

My book makes this Arkansas library’s “Most Requested” list. Yay #libraries and #books! 📚👓

At the library | Hot Springs Sentinel Record

Top 5 requests

www.hotsr.com

1 2

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 22d

Super-fun interview on WORT-FM about my mom, playing the Pink Panther theme, how Ritalin was named, and my upcoming appearance in Madison, Wisconsin, on Oct. 26! www.wortfm.org/martha-barne...

Martha Barnette on Words, Teaching, and Her New Book - WORT-FM 89.9

Martha Barnette joins the 8 O’Clock Buzz to discuss her new book Friends with Words, her radio show A Way with Words, and why language matters.

www.wortfm.org

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 25d

“The squirt gun of truth” is my new favorite expression. TY!

1 6

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 26d

I’ll never hear about trundles or Piggly Wigglys again without thinking of you fine folks!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 26d

So much fun to chew the fat with y’all! 🙏🏼

Because Language (becauselangpod) @becauselanguage.com · 26d

We had a great time talking with @marthabarnette.bsky.social of @waywordradio.org about her new book "Friends With Words". And she helped us with some of our toughest listener questions! It's a free episode for everyone.

Video: www.patreon.com/posts/video-...
Audio: www.patreon.com/posts/audio-...

Video 125: Friends With Words (live with Martha Barnette and friends) | Because Language

www.patreon.com

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · 26d

This looks fabulous, Peter!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Sep 4

I’m so looking forward to signing #FriendswithWords and meeting other book lovers at this festival next month!

Parnassus Books @parnassusbooks.bsky.social · Jul 10

Sandy from Humanities Tennessee stopped by the store earlier this week to give us the good news in person — the Southern Festival of Books is on for 2025!!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Sep 3

Thanks, @npr, for choosing #FriendswithWords as your Book of the Day!

‘Friends with Words’ is a book about language, from word origins to regional dialects : NPR's Book of the Day

For Martha Barnette, griping about grammatical pet peeves is one of the least interesting ways to talk about language. Instead, the co-host of the radio show “A Way with Words” says she’d rather think...

www.npr.org

1 11

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Aug 30

Great conversation, you muckraker, you!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Aug 29

Well, that was easy!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Aug 26

This was fabulous 🙏 More, please!

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Aug 26

Word of the Day: struthonian, or “Tending to ‘hide one’s head in the sand.”

Struthonian

An invention of the late Arthur Koestler, <em>Struthonian</em> is extremely rare but not quite defunct.

www.worldwidewords.org

1 2

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Aug 24

Got one as well.

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Aug 24

Enlightening and encouraging 🙏🏼 And yeah, Qui docet, discit.

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Aug 23

stalagMite

Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social · Aug 23

Come hang out with @grantbarrett.com and me tomorrow, 11:30 a.m, Main Stage. I’ll sign my new book afterwards! 📘

A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Aug 14

Hi! Martha and Grant will speak at the KPBS San Diego Book Festival presented by the University of San Diego, Saturday, August 23, University of San Diego campus. Come join the Wayword word nerds and book nerds and RSVP at https://kpbs.org/sdbookfestival @UofSanDiego #KPBSBookFestival

KPBS San Diego Book Festival presented by the University of San Diego, Saturday, August 23, 2025, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., University of San Diego campus, with book icons in the background.