A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over
Society & Culture
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly convoluted and over-the-top — often with hilarious results. Plus: George Orwell’s prescient novel 1984 gave us the terrifying image of Big Brother and helped popularize words like doublespeak and Orwellian. And is there a word for fallen snow while leaves still remain on the trees? Also: motor vs. engine, capitol vs. capital, wannabe vs. wannabee, scrape acquaintance, a quiz about words that link other words, Tutivillis, skell gel, complementary alternation discourse constructions, and words for “eye boogers” in Hungarian, French, German, Portuguese, Turkish, Scots, and English.
Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org/contact. Be a part of the show: call 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; worldwide, call or text/SMS +1 (619) 800-4443. Email words@waywordradio.org. Twitter @wayword. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Animal Crackers - 13 May 2024
Beside Myself (Rebroadcast) - 6 May 2024
Skookum (Rebroadcast) - 29 April 2024
Electric Soup - 22 April 2024
Life of Riley (Rebroadcast) - 15 April 2024
Blue Dolphin - 8 April 2024
Off the Turnip Truck (Rebroadcast) - 1 April 2024
Gilded Age - 25 March 2024
Loaded For Bear (Rebroadcast) - 18 March 2024
Bronx Cheer - 11 March 2024
Mrs. Astor's Horse (Rebroadcast) - 4 March 2024
Ghost Runner - 26 February 2024
At First Blush (Rebroadcast) - 19 February 2024
Sweet Spot - 12 February 2024
Gift Horse (Rebroadcast) - 5 February 2024
Had the Radish (Rebroadcast) - 29 January 2024
Orange Pigs - 22 January 2024
Abso-Bloomin-Lutely (Rebroadcast) - 15 January 2024
Niblings and Nieflings (Rebroadcast) - 8 January 2024
Book Moth - 1 January 2024
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL