A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over celebrates the magic of language in all its forms. Podcast listeners hear the histories and meanings of their favorite sayings. They may also discover new favorites. Hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett discuss speech patterns, vocabulary, and fun books. Every episode explores the ways language helps people communicate with creativity and joy.

Martha and Grant are ardent language lovers. Before working as a broadcaster, Martha was a reporter for The Washington Post. She's also the author of several etymology books. Martha became a cohost of A Way with Words in 2004. Grant is a lexicographer, radio host, linguist, and public speaker. His specialty is new words and slang. Grant has worked on dictionaries for Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. In his spare time, he reads as many books as he can.

A Way with Words started as a public radio show in 1998. It delights in the strange, unusual, and hilarious ways humans communicate. Grant and Martha keep conversations fun, engaging, and modern. Each episode begins with their banter over a phrase or word, like "commando" or "latibulate." The latter means to "hide oneself in a corner." "It's me," Martha quips.

The bulk of every episode consists of Martha and Grant's conversation with callers. In one, a caller tells the two that her family would address her as a "nitnoy." The affectionate nickname comes from Thailand and translates to "little bit." The caller learns the fascinating etymology of the word. Did her father hear it during the Vietnam War? They speculate as much. The hosts also discuss the English term "bookworm." It translates to "book moth" or "book mouse" elsewhere. France uses the phrase "buveur d'encre," or "ink drinker," for people who are voracious readers.

The New Yorker hails Grant and Martha as "the perfect duo." A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over is replete with laughter and compelling knowledge. Listeners can hear new episodes on Fridays and also call in with queries, phrases, words, or books.