
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


How colors got their names, and a strange way to write. The terms "blue" and "orange" arrived in English via French, so why didn't we also adapt the French for black and white? Plus, not every example of writing goes in one direction across the page. In antiquity, people sometimes wrote right to left, then left to right, then back again -- the same pattern you use when mowing a lawn. There's a word for that! And: a whiff of those fragrant duplicated worksheets that used to be passed out in elementary schools. Do you call them mimeographed pages or ditto sheets? Also, three-way chili, hangry, frogmarch, the cat may look at the queen, hen turd tea, and the rhetorical backoff I'm just saying.
Listen to all episodes for free: https://waywordradio.org/
Support the show to keep episodes coming: https://waywordradio.org/donate
Your responses, questions, and comments are welcomed at any time!
https://waywordradio.org/contact
[email protected]
Listener line 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the US and Canada
Text/SMS +1 (619) 567-9673
Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. All rights reserved.
By Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett. Produced by Stefanie Levine.4.6
21962,196 ratings
How colors got their names, and a strange way to write. The terms "blue" and "orange" arrived in English via French, so why didn't we also adapt the French for black and white? Plus, not every example of writing goes in one direction across the page. In antiquity, people sometimes wrote right to left, then left to right, then back again -- the same pattern you use when mowing a lawn. There's a word for that! And: a whiff of those fragrant duplicated worksheets that used to be passed out in elementary schools. Do you call them mimeographed pages or ditto sheets? Also, three-way chili, hangry, frogmarch, the cat may look at the queen, hen turd tea, and the rhetorical backoff I'm just saying.
Listen to all episodes for free: https://waywordradio.org/
Support the show to keep episodes coming: https://waywordradio.org/donate
Your responses, questions, and comments are welcomed at any time!
https://waywordradio.org/contact
[email protected]
Listener line 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the US and Canada
Text/SMS +1 (619) 567-9673
Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. All rights reserved.

90,800 Listeners

21,968 Listeners

43,955 Listeners

38,504 Listeners

43,657 Listeners

38,757 Listeners

27,160 Listeners

3,016 Listeners

2,875 Listeners

3,069 Listeners

3,948 Listeners

6,426 Listeners

2,996 Listeners

398 Listeners

113 Listeners