You're listening to Away With Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I'm Grant Barrett.

And I'm Martha Barnett. When you answer the phone, do you have a favorite word or phrase that's

a little bit out of the ordinary or maybe know somebody who does that? We asked readers of our

email newsletter that question and they had some surprising responses. We heard from Matt

on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, who told us that when he picks up the phone,

he says, front desk. He says he does that in an attempt to stop the collar's brain if only

for a nanosecond and adds it often works. We heard from Anne Lynn in Ithaca, New York,

who wrote that her grandfather, who was born in the late 1800s and lived in Ontario, Canada,

used to pick up the phone and say, comments. Just comments. Yeah. And then for Marlene Dryden,

this question brought back memories of her great Aunt Yule McQuage of Southbury, North Carolina.

She says Miss Yule would hear her phone ring from a little alcove in the wall of her foyer

and she'd slowly walk over there, pick it up calmly and holler. All right. All right.

That's fantastic. Isn't that great? She says that beautiful, nearly tidewater accent and the

smell of cornbread are the most vivid memories I have of her. And I mean, I wonder if that's a

vestige of, you know, when you had operators plugging in the cords. Right. Right. When you did

need to make sure that the line was okay before you began your conversation, we would love to hear

more about how you answer the phone. What do you say? Is it funny? Is it old-fashioned? Is it

something cool or weird? Eight, seven, seven, nine, two, nine, nine, six, seven, three. Eat male

words at waywardradio.org. And the lines are open to talk about anything related to language.

You can talk to us on Twitter too at W-A-Y-W-O-R-D. Hello. You have a way with words.

Hello. This is Marianne. I'm calling from Valdosta, Georgia. Hi, Marianne.

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