Wicked Good - 17 March 2025

邪恶之极 - 2025年3月17日

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

社会与文化

2025-03-17

53 分钟
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单集简介 ...

To grok something means “to understand it completely.” The word grok comes from a language spoken on the planet Mars—well, at least according to the science fiction writer who coined the term! Also, we know the meaning of the word trauma, but is there a word that denotes “the opposite of trauma”? Plus, if someone describes something as “wicked good,” they mean it’s extremely good, especially if they’re from New England. All that, plus cut to the chase, more super-short town names, a puzzle that involves lopping off letters, an Ethiopian proverb, hell strip vs. devil strip, words from the Norn language, corny, and more. This wicked good show’s as cool as 4-55 air conditioning! 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
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单集文稿 ...

  • 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.

  • And Grant,

  • you remember that conversation we had not too long ago about towns and cities that have very...

  • very short names, like even one or two letters.

  • Right.

  • There was the town in France.

  • It was just the letter Y, or called YGREC in French.

  • Just Y. Right.

  • And the reason was that there were rows that intersected in a Y. And what's really interesting about that is that several of our listeners wrote to tell us that there is a Y,

  • Arizona, that is named for the same reason.

  • has two major highways,

  • state routes 85 and 86 that originally intersected in a Y. And they weren't allowed to just use one letter,

  • so they called the town Y, W-H-Y.

  • Why Arizona?

  • Because it has beautiful landscapes.

  • That's why.

  • That's right.

  • And a dry heat.