A Way with Words

Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett have been hosting A Way with Words for well over a decade, racking up more than 800 episodes of call-in conversations about English. The format is old-school public radio at its best: listeners call in with questions about word origins, regional expressions, family sayings that nobody else seems to use, and slang they can't quite pin down. Barnette, a journalist and author, and Barrett, a professional lexicographer, trade off answering with genuine expertise and zero condescension. The magic here is the callers. Someone from Alabama phones in wondering why their grandmother always called a TV remote a "doofer." A caller from Minnesota asks about the phrase "uff da" and whether it counts as English. A teenager wants to know why "cool" has meant "good" for nearly a hundred years when most slang dies fast. Each call becomes a mini-investigation, with the hosts tracing expressions through historical dictionaries, dialect atlases, and sometimes just shared regional memory. Episodes run about 50 minutes, which gives the show room to breathe. There are usually six or seven calls per episode, plus word puzzles and games that are harder than they sound. The 4.6-star rating across more than 2,200 reviews reflects a community that genuinely participates. If you've ever gotten into an argument at dinner about where a phrase comes from, this is the show that settles it -- and makes you glad you asked.