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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Niblings and Nieflings (Rebroadcast) - 8 January 2024
Book Moth - 1 January 2024
Kite in a Phonebooth (Rebroadcast) - 25 December 2023
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Spill the Tea (Rebroadcast) - 27 November 2023
Dirty Laundry (Rebroadcast) - 20 November 2023
Strong Coffee - 13 November 2023
Keep Your Powder Dry (Rebroadcast) - 6 November 2023
One-Armed Paper Hanger (Rebroadcast) - 30 October 2023
Hair on Your Tongue (Rebroadcast) - 23 October 2023
Train of Thought (Rebroadcast) - 16 October 2023
Space Cadet (Rebroadcast) - 9 October 2023
Howling Fantods (Rebroadcast) - 2 October 2023
Pizza Bones - 25 September 2023
Bottled Sunshine (Rebroadcast) - 18 September 2023
Endless Summer - 11 September 2023
Care Package (Rebroadcast) - 4 September 2023
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