A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Is there such a thing as a “neutral” accent, and if so what does it sound like? And that quirk in the way southern Californians talk about freeways. They’ll say things like take the 405 and get on the 8. Why the definite article? Plus, those Little Free Libraries filled with books have inspired another kind of giving: little free pantries stocked with canned foods and other h...

Two big, wonderful things happened in 2006 that changed my life: I married my wife, Sarah, and I joined A Way with Words. That’s basically two marriages. I say that because a marriage is about a commitment to working together through thick and thin. That’s what my radio partners and I have done, too, to make A Way with Words successful during my two decades with the show.

Floordrobe is the new word for an old habit: piling your clothes on the floor instead of putting them away. The Oxford English Dictionary recently added an entry for it, defining floordrobe as “an untidy heap of discarded clothing left on the floor of a room instead of stored in a wardrobe.” It’s been around since at least 1995. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript ...

Brianna from Jacksonville, Florida, says her family and friends call someone who’s causing a scene or acting foolish a weapon. A blunder or awkward moment is weaponry. The usage, which she picked up from her dad, who’s from Long Island, New York, turns out to have parallels far beyond her circle. In Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and the UK, the word weapon can be a derogatory...

“Cornbread,” a poem by Kentucky writer Silas House, is thick with sensory memories of Appalachian cooking and family: scooping cornmeal by hand and “the splash of egg, the gallop of buttermilk.” The poet recalls his mother cooking after work, the lessons he learned from his aunt, and his grandmother’s stories. The poem conjures the ache of memory and how food itself becomes a...