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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · 3d

If you want the inside scoop to Bad Bunny's lingo, there is a book! Grant says it's excellent. los40.us/2025/cant-ke...

Can’t Keep Up With Bad Bunny? Here’s the Dictionary You Didn’t Know You Needed - los40.us

Puerto Rican lexicographer Maia Sherwood Droz has put together a dictionary that breaks down the references Bad Bunny uses.

los40.us

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · 24d

Wuzzle, fuzzle, gnurr, oosse, squatcho and more in the latest new episode! https://waywordradio.org/cat-bristle/

Nighttime photo of a curving road under a bright full moon, with long red and yellow light trails from a passing vehicle.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Sep 1

New emoji, including "face with bags under its eyes," plus the bug that gives us crimson color: https://waywordradio.org/good-egg-bad-apple/ And tons more in this latest new episode!

Rows of wooden barrels lying on their sides.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Aug 24

We had a blast at the KPBS San Diego Book Festival yesterday at the University of San Diego! Thanks to everyone who came out to hear and see us, and to the organizers for such a fulfilling event.

Martha Barnette of A Way with Words signs copies of her new book at the Warwick's enclosure.

Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette of A Way with Words speak on the main stage at the KPBS San Diego Book Festival at the University of San Diego.

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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.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Aug 5

Martha lays out the story behind "lorem ipsum" and other fun word origins: www.writersdigest.com/7-fun-word-o...

7 Fun Word Origins Every Writer Should Know

Even words have origin stories, and here author Martha Barnette shares seven fun word origins every writer should know.

www.writersdigest.com

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Aug 4

The thousand-year-old love poem — "delight in you is breath together with life" — and more in the latest new episode. https://waywordradio.org/mox-nix/

A great egret stands in shallow water near the edge of a marsh, surrounded by patches of green grass, dry reeds, and muddy terrain. In the background, numerous waterfowl dot the surface of the wetland under a soft, overcast sky. Bare trees line the horizon, reflecting a winter landscape.

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Reposted by A Way with Words

Because Language (becauselangpod) @becauselanguage.com · Jul 22

We're having a live episode with Martha Barnette @marthabarnette.bsky.social of @waywordradio.org.
She's the author of "Friends With Words", which is full of ripping tales of word histories.

All patrons are invited, even free ones, so click here to find out when.

www.patreon.com/posts/134667...

Live episode coming up | Because Language

www.patreon.com

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Jul 20

How do catchphrases become popular? https://waywordradio.org/catchphrases-and-how-they-spread/ And more in this new episode: https://waywordradio.org/imaginary-friends-episode-1661/

An orange bowl of mixed fruit covered with a dollop of cottage cheese, sprinkled with nuts, and sitting on a wooden tabletop.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Jul 18

There's a history behind it: waywordradio.org/punctual-whe...

Using “Whenever” Where Others Would Use “When”

In their article “My Mother, Whenever She passed Away, She Had Pneumonia: The History and Functions of whenever,” Michael Montgomery and John Kirk discuss the “punctual” whenever, a vestige of Scots…

waywordradio.org

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Jun 30

One kind of visiting fireman paints the town red rather than douses it — that and more in our latest new episode. https://waywordradio.org/eat-my-hat/

A purple knitted cap made to look like it is topped with spaghetti, red sauce, and meatballs.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Jun 16

In mud eels are / In clay none are / In pine tar is / In oak none is. New episode is: https://waywordradio.org/straight-and-narrow/

A white baseball rests on a rough, concrete surface with embedded pebbles, next to green-painted wooden beams and some tall grass.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Jun 2

This one's for the pilkunviilaajat, the comma-polishers. The saltigrade tardigrades. The mothers, the madres, the mères. The other shoe has dropped: https://waywordradio.org/the-other-shoe/

A close-up of the laces of a leather boot.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · May 29

With forty-eleven social media outfits vying for your time and mental space, there's always home to come back to: we've relaunched the A Way with Words community forum. Come and get some sugar: https://waywordradio.org/community/

ALT tag:
Welcome sign featuring the word ‘Welcome’ in large white letters surrounded by translations in multiple languages on a dark background.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · May 19

Been out sworping lately? https://waywordradio.org/swarping-sworping/ Or run the sweeper (a.k.a. the vacuum)? https://waywordradio.org/sweeping-with-a-vacuum/ Well, a new episode has hove into view: https://waywordradio.org/bean-counting/

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · May 13

Eh? What did they say? Let's find out — please help fund audio transcriptions for the entire "A Way with Words" episode back catalog! https://waywordradio.org/transcripts Thank you!

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · May 5

Starting tomorrow, "A Way with Words" is on the air in Louisville, Kentucky! https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-05-05/new-programs-are-coming-to-wfpl-this-week Tuesday nights at 8 on 89.3 WFPL, Louisville Public Media.

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · May 5

First and last words, breard and whicken, giving someone down the road, plurale tantem, more on Murphy's law, starnated fool, a pig Latin word game, a sea painter, and tons more in this brand new episode! https://waywordradio.org/honor-bright/

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Apr 28

Good stuff! See the most popular episodes and segments of the radio show and podcast during the last 24 hours: https://waywordradio.org/popular-episodes-and-segments/

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Apr 21

A Swiss dish food mystery! https://waywordradio.org/vogelheu/ And lots more in the in the latest new episode: https://waywordradio.org/real-corker/ #language #etymology #podcast #linguistics

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Apr 19

Fizzy relief headed your way from "A Way with Words": https://waywordradio.org/fizzy-relief-headed-your-way/

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Apr 8

The Sam Spade Case: how writer Dashiell Hammett took on Hollywood and shaped modern copyright law https://www.neh.gov/article/how-dashiell-hammett-took-hollywood-and-shaped-modern-copyright-law

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Apr 4

Do Californians have an accent? A UCLA professor is mapping it out. https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2025-04-02/accent-lingo-valley-girl-ucla-like-essential-california If you're in SoCal, be a part of the language study! https://www.norma-mendoza-denton.com/la-speaks

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Mar 31

About those North Carolina accents and dialects in "The White Lotus"... languageandlife.org/the-white-lo...

Actor Parker Posey, wearing a striped blue-and-white sundress and a wide-brimmed hat, holds hands with actor Sam Nivola, seated beside her at a dining table, suggesting a tender or comforting moment in the television show "The White Lotus."

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A Way with Words @waywordradio.org · Mar 31

"Will you? Won’t you? Can’t I coax you? Aw, c’mon! You said you would! You think you might? You promised me! Won’t your mama let ya, huh?" Maybe Anthony Trollope spawned a catch phrase and lots more in the latest new episode: waywordradio.org/cool-million/

A Cool Million (episode #1654) – A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

So many books and so little time—it's a challenge to choose what to read next! It helps to remember that so-called "reading mortality" is a fact of

waywordradio.org

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