The Lexicographer's Rules

I’m happy to announce that a lot of hard work goes out for public consumption starting this Saturday, January 20th, when the first shows of the new season of the radio show A Way With Words begin broadcasting.

My lovely cohost Martha Barnette and I have been recording since October, trying a bunch of new ideas and perfecting our shotgunning technique for the call-in questions and answers. Our listeners’ quest for knowledge about words and language is limitless—I feel like I’ve been digging in every book in my library.

Besides a huge world-wide listenership that tunes in via streaming and podcast (which means questions from places like Singapore, India, and Afghanistan!), the show is broadcast by electromagnetic over-the-air sure-fire wireless radio on these stations:

KBPS, San Diego, California, 97.7 FM, Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 10 a.m.

WFPL, Louisville, Kentucky, 89.3, Sundays at 7 p.m.

On stations throughout Wisconsin, via Wisconsin Public Radio, which also provides streaming. Sundays at 9 a.m. (thought that may vary by station).

Want to find out how to hear the show on your local public radio affiliate? Drop us a line!.

Also, don’t forget: we’re looking for contestants for our new language quiz!

In its 17th annual words of the year vote--the longest-running vote of its kind in the English-speaking world--the American Dialect Society voted “plutoed” as the word of the year, in a run-off against “climate canary.” To “pluto” is to demote or devalue someone or something, as happened to the former planet Pluto when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto no longer met its definition of a planet.

See the full press release, including all nominations and vote tallies.

We’re looking for contestants for our new language quiz on A Way With Words, broadcast from KPBS in San Diego to California, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and around the world via streaming and podcast. The quiz is a short, playful game about words and their meanings. Plus, there may be a little prize in it for you. : )

To be considered as a candidate for the quiz, just send a message to words@kpbs.org. Include your full name, city and state, daytime telephone number, the best time to reach you, and include a few lines about your favorite slang word, new word, or colloquial expression.