A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over

A Murphy, a Melvin, and a Wedgie (rebroadcast) - 29 March 2011


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[This episode first aird March 13, 2010.]

When it comes to joining Facebook affinity groups, grammar lovers have lots of choices. Take, for example, the group whose motto is Punctuation saves lives. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-eat-Grandma-or-Lets-eat-Grandma-Punctuation-saves-lives/276265851258 It's called  Let's Eat Grandma!'" or "Let's eat, Grandma! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-eat-Grandma-or-Lets-eat-Grandma-Punctuation-saves-lives/276265851258 Martha and Grant talk about their favorite tongue-in-cheek "Facebook groups for grammar lovers." Also this week: when to use "apostrophes," whether to distinguish between "bring and take," and the "difference between a murphy and a wedgie."

Martha and Grant share some favorite Facebook groups:

Ambrose Bierce was the baddest-ass lexicographer who ever lived.

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=I+judge+you+when+you+use+poor+grammar&init=quick#!/group.php?gid=2209136261&ref=ts

I judge you when you use poor grammar.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2209553478&ref=search&sid=730080987.3196765532..1

I judge you when you call acceptable usage 'poor grammar.'

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=punctuation+saves+lives&init=quick#!/group.php?gid=44033721482&ref=ts

What are grammar?

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=272109356251&ref=search&sid=730080987.1532898575..1#!/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=272109356251

People Who Always Have To Spell Their Names For Other People

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=what+are+grammar&init=quick#!/group.php?gid=2221197812&ref=ts

Of course, you can also find "A Way with Words" on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/waywordradio?ref=ts.

Ever notice how you can sing the lyrics of "Amazing Grace" to the theme from "Gilligan's Island" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WbnDN14tw8 -- or for that matter, to The House of the Rising Sun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDE4URgxVas? Turns out there are many more examples of this. Is there a word for this musical phenomenon? (Did you know Garrison Keillor can sing "Amazing Grace" to theme song of "The Mickey Mouse Club" http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/posthost/2008/05/01/amazing_grace.php.)

A Connecticut listener says her Generation Y friends make fun of her when she describes something happening in "fits and starts." Is it that antiquated a phrase? Where does it come from, anyway?

Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a quiz about famous trios. Try this one: "Steve Martin, Martin Short, and ___________?"

If someone gives you "crazy props or mad props," they're congratulating you. A Chicago college student wants to know what props means in this context.

What's the difference between "bring and take"?

When someone grabs your underwear from behind and gives it a good, vertical yank, it's called a "wedgie." A caller knows that term, but wonders whether and "how a wedgie differs from a murphy or a melvin."

Grant quizzes Martha about the meaning of several rhyming verb and noun phrases: "cuff and stuff," the "cherries and blueberries," "chew and screw," "eat it and beat it," and "flap and zap."

A Lawrenceville, Georgia, woman wonders: If chalkboards go the way of the buggy whip, what simile will replace the expression nails on a chalkboard?

Grant answers a listener's email question about the meaning of the musical phrase "chicky-wah-wah."

A caller from Veroqua, Wisconsin, is fascinated by "hoarfrost" and wonders about the origin of its name. Grant explains its relation to the English term hoary.

The mother of a boy named Hendrix wonders how to punctuate the possessive of his name.

Should she add an apostrophe or apostrophe with an "s"? Hendrix' or Hendrix's?

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A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all overBy Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett. Produced by Stefanie Levine.

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