A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over
Society & Culture
“What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like a cat, but isn’t a cat?” Answer: a kitten! A 1948 children’s joke book has lots of these to share with kids. Plus: an easy explanation for the difference between immigrate with an i, and emigrate with an e. And: The ancient Greeks revered storks for the way they cared for each other. They even had a legal requirement called the Stork Law, which mandated that Greek adults look after their elderly parents. Much later, the same idea inspired a rare English word that means “reciprocal love between children and parents.” All that, plus a brain-busting quiz about scrambled words, Mrs. Astor’s pet horse, dissimilation when pronouncing the word forward, tap ’er light, allopreening, raise the window down, why we call a zipper a fly, and lots more.
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Moon Palace - 17 August 2020
Space Cadet (Rebroadcast) - 10 August 2020
Howling Fantods (Rebroadcast) - 3 August 2020
Cherry Bombs (#1551)
Bottled Sunshine (Rebroadcast) - 20 July 2020
Queen Bee - 13 July 2020
Cootie Shot (Rebroadcast) - 6 July 2020
Navel Gazing - 29 June 2020
Ding Ding Man (Rebroadcast) - 22 June 2020
Take Tea for the Fever (Rebroadcast) - 15 June 2020
Yak Shaving - 8 June 2020
Sun Dog (Rebroadcast) - 1 June 2020
Oh For Cute (Rebroadcast) - 25 May 2020
Coinkydink (Rebroadcast) - 18 May 2020
Up Your Alley (Rebroadcast) - 11 May 2020
Piping Hot (Rebroadcast) - 4 May 2020
Mimeographs and Dittos (Rebroadcast) - 27 April 2020
Cabin Fever - 20 April 2020
Chopped Liver (Rebroadcast) - 13 April 2020
Singing Sand - 6 April 2020
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