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

If Grandma Had Wheels (Rebroadcast) - 18 May 2026

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

A Way with Words

Language Learning, Society & Culture, Education

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be in the dictionary and why — including words that might offend Victorian sensibilities. Also why are some words more pleasurable to say than others? And: the German saying that means “If Grandma had wheels, she’d be a bus.” Did something get lost in translation? Plus, an alliterative brain teaser, ovoviviparous, wasper, crack shot, the dessert called buckle, the best term for an adult child, disdainful words for weak coffee, the kind of hairpin I am, proctor vs. proctologist, the smoky jungle frog otherwise known as Leptodactylus pentadactylus, and lots more. Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be a part of the show: call or text 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; elsewhere in the world, call or text +1 619 800 4443. Send voice notes or messages via WhatsApp 16198004443. Email words@waywordradio.org. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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Visit Medexpress.com.com.uk slash podcast to learn it. You're not alone in this. Visit medexpress.com.

0:21.8

dot UK slash podcast to learn more. You're listening to Away With Words, the show about language

0:27.4

and how we use it. I'm Grant Barrett. And I'm Martha Barnett. On our Facebook group, David

0:33.3

Neil writes that he has a friend in his 80s from North Dakota who loves coffee. But the thing is

0:39.5

that this friend keeps reusing the coffee grounds all day long, which means that by sunset,

0:45.7

the guy is pretty much drinking colored water. And his friend likes that brew just fine. He

0:51.2

proudly calls it Wabash Coffee. And Grant, I don't know, I have strong

0:56.2

feelings about this. Wabash coffee just sounds, to me, hideous. It's thrifty. It is indeed

1:03.3

thrifty. And we've talked about this term Wabash before, meaning to add just a little bit of water

1:09.6

to something, to get a little more out of it,

1:11.7

to stretch it a little more. Right. We talked about adding water to ketchup, to wabashing it,

1:17.5

right, to stretch your ketchup bottle a little bit further, like get the stuff that's stuck to the

1:21.4

side. Yeah, yeah, or watering down your shampoo. And it may go back to an old slang use of the word Wabash meaning to cheat.

1:30.1

So that might be the connection there. But in any case, this got me to thinking about weak coffee and all the terms there are out there for that terrible stuff.

1:39.2

Yeah, I posted a bunch of these to the Facebook group. and Martha, not just in English, but every

1:46.1

language cares a great deal about how good their coffee is. As a matter of fact, the

...

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