The host are incredibly friendly, and so incredibly enthusiastic about words! Each episode has a few little offerings of different new stories, or book releases, or something pertaining to the world of words, and then most of the rest of the show is responding to calls or emails either about word meaning disputes, derivation origin questions or usage queries. Every episode also has a really excellent puzzle. That is often easy enough to do in real time while you’re listening, but almost always gets increasingly harder so that you can’t quite keep up with it. But because the host play the puzzle live it’s something you can sort of play against them, the flow of the show is that they come from the polite culture where you keep saying buy it at the end of the call until someone gives up and since I come from a culture where you say goodbye once it’s agonizing to me to listen to everyone to jockey for final, bye-bye position

I was lucky enough to stumble upon this show on my FM radio dial during the pandemic, and now look forward to listening every Sunday. A Way With Words is the perfect companion for your weekend chores or adventures, and you might even learn a thing or two!

Listening to a way with words makes me laugh with fascination. Wonderful show! Entertaining and curious inspiring.

What I like about this podcast is it goes into the enthusiasm of learning about the meaning or different language means of English words, English phrases and their history but also to understand how certain words that you think mean the same thing may actually have different meanings and how sometimes some things might not be understood the same way in different cultures so it takes peoples phone calls and itdoes research and it does some findings on their questions. This also goes into local dialect, and it also brings up words that somehow might refer to an injustice. For example, the term “wigging” or the term “painting down.” Of course, there is a good amount of whimsy with their conversations between the hosts and also their call-in guests, which is thoroughly delightful. This is one of the few podcasts that I listen to regularly, being a language-lover and social wordsmith that I am. I hope to follow in their path with my own podcast about making up your own words for fun connections. :-)

The listener Cody looking for one word for drink when inviting people to food and drink. Libation/ Libations Can it be used to Libate ?

Very entertaining and a fantastic personalities of the hosts. Fun to listen and learn the essential and the esoteric. It’s only once a week so MAGA illiterate listeners have no pressure to lean something new. Nothing here for Fascist MAGA republicans.

Interesting podcast but how it exists in a world of the internet and Google is baffling. Every listener submission could be answered with a 30 second google search.

My first love of the show came from NPR, but these days I mostly listen to podcasts and had gotten away from the radio version. I heard Grant and Martha on a food broadcast and was reminded of how great they are, so one quick search and they’re back in my world! Such a fun, unique, smart way to learn more about our endlessly fascinating use of language.

Don’t want to miss a single episode. Always thought-provoking ideas about our language.

We listen to this every time we take a trip. It is so interesting, before we know it we are at our destination - smarter than when we started.

This podcast is more fun and interesting than it might sound. Not only are they stunningly knowledgeable,they have elegant, almost old-fashioned, manners. No word or phrase is too trivial for them to obsess over. As a fellow word junkie I appreciate the thrill of tracking down every obscure reference. I appreciate the idea of spending hours, and perhaps a quick trip to the next county, to squeeze every nuance from a phrase that hasn’t been used for 150 years. I love it

Something for all ages and backgrounds.

Martha and Grant, I hope you never stop!

What an oddly fun and funny and easygoing podcast. The hosts are superb. A joy to listen to. And they are brimming with joy when engaging with the callers, each and every one of whom comes with a funky turn of phrase and compelling personal story. Glad I found this show!

Long before podcasts were a “thing”, this radio show made my little word-nerd’s heart sing! As the daughter of a schoolteacher, to being a bartender in college (listening to them break down the meanings behind 86’d and cocktail) to the history of the “bread and butter”, you’ve been with me through every phase of my life! You’ve been bringing richness, laughter, history and a compassionate way of looking at the evolution of language. Thanks you two!

Over the past year or so, A Way With Words has been a port in a storm. The cheerful hosts and their unique fan base share a passion for language that transcends politics and all the rest. Such a pleasure!

I’ve leaned so Much!

You are both amazing. This is my favorite podcast program!!!

Grant & Martha are brilliant in their ability to find word and phrase origins and provide explanations that are clear and accurate while also being entertaining. I really appreciate the way they embrace all dialects as worthy and correct variants of formal language. I save up episodes to binge listen on long road trips.

My local NPR station doesn’t play A Way With Words, so I was very happy to find the podcast! Although the catalogue doesn’t go as far back as I’d like, I was just happy to get as many episodes as are up. I love hearing the family sayings and just learning about language.

Etymology, and language in general, has always fascinated me! I love to hear Martha & John break things down (or build them up) with their enthusiasm and well researched responses.

glad i found this podcast. not on the air in minnesota! (dummkopfs!)

Always learn something new 🤓

I listen to this every night and it definitely helps me sleep!! I like the humor of Martha and grant, and the callers! Very entertaining, me and my mom love it and would like to call one day.

A Way with Words is a great way to end a stressful day by being entertained and taught simultaneously.

I love this show but I always notice that the callers and hosts seem to frequently have awkward ends to their phone call conversations. It has become something that sticks out to me. It doesn’t diminish the value- just seems to be something that could be improved. Love the show.

I do thoroughly enjoy your show and your unique reporting style on the quirkiness of the English Language. Please continue to delight and enlighten us with new vocabulary.

Love this show!!!

Mama Mia this is really good :)))))))))))))))))

This podcast has made me start thinking harder about whatever comes out of my mouth and fingertips as I type this out. It’s sort of a similar thing when you learn a math concept and suddenly all situations presented turn into some sort of complex equation. However, in this case, it’s become a huge conglomeration of etymology and alphabetical harmony. I also love that we seem to have an abundance of Texas listeners which I enjoy. Grant and Martha are so intelligent and passionate, and John adds an extra layer of fun and dedication. Keep it up, from deep in the heart. ✨ PS you can’t even see the stars with all the freaking condensation and smog but you know what? I’m still proud and y’all can go divide twenty-two by seven.

Great Banter

I think grant and Martha are very good people, I can’t even imagine how great it would be to be friends with the nicest linguists ever😁🤗 It’s also very cool to hear about all these old family sayings from all around the world 🤗😁🤩👍

Pleasant interplay between the hosts and callers, fascinating dives into slang, family sayings and history.

I love listening to these two! They share so many interesting tidbits concerning “sayings” I have heard all of my life but had no idea what the origin was. If you have something you have heard from your parents or grandparents and want to know more about you can call Grant and Martha and ask!

I mostly listen because of the great LGBTQ propaganda. This is probable not a selling point for the small minded and fearful, so the show is not really for everyone. And they also have some fascinating discussions on the etymology of words and phrases.

I have listened to almost all the podcast episodes. My only complaint is the insertion of LGBTQ propaganda on occasion. That keeps me from sharing it with others.

So one day in the car my mom forced me to listen to this and I LOVE it I love listening to this stuff at night is so amazing!!

I love listening to this podcast, it feels very much like the radio of earlier times. I would love to hear you discuss the current usage of personal pronouns, with some historical context. I understand that there have been many changes of pronoun usage in English. Thank you!

This show is delightful and very accessible. They don’t make value judgements on language and praise regional and cultural variability. I was really surprised when reading negative reviews. I feel like anyone who doesn’t like this show at least a little bit probably doesn’t find any joy in anything.

I finally had to jump through the hoops to set up a i-tunes account *shudder* so I can thank A Way with Words in this small way. It's such a fun podcast and a great way to learn fascinating things about this language I've been speaking for decades. This is one of the dozen podcasts that has a permanent spot in my list of subscriptions. Thank you Martha, Grant, & all of your team!

If you want to know origins of cutesy words or regional phrases, here’s the show for you. If they bore you to tears, (and that phrase annoys you), listen to Lexicon Valley with John McWhorter. He’s wickedly intelligent, and actually addresses the sh I t t y, gritty reality of language.

Podcasts are the standard now. Radio shows should not be put on here as podcasts because they aren't podcasts. Podcast hosts curate well researched topics based on the fact that they will be interesting. Radio shows relying on listener questions are by their nature not curated at all, and are just a lazy (and free) way to generate content. Let's just call this what it is; a series of phone calls between people in a studio and the people they trick into donating content to the show. Most of the podcast by volume is the hosts telling the audience how to get in touch with them and then having a pleasant exchange with the listener before the user asks their question. Then there is an unsatisfyingly short, simple answer to their usually very simple question. As a result, only like 20 seconds of each phone call is actually informative. A real podcast is written by professionals in order to teach me things I don’t have time to find out. I want to sit in my room and be shot with a firehose of new information and instead what I got was a 5 mile hike to a soggy anecdote lying in a puddle and a 5 mile hike back.

Just beautiful!

This podcast has been so informative & helpful for me as I wade through my many health problems and diagnoses as well as my multitude of symptoms which I haven’t ever discussed with my health provider. I’m so glad these women have put together a podcast that helps to guide me on the path to greater health! I hope it continues a long time. I have listened to all the episodes & hope they keep producing more for years to come!

This self-declared word nerd tried sticking with it, but Grant is perhaps unintentionally but frequently condescending to Martha or callers.

I enjoy A Way With Words so much, I sent them $20 twice, and will do that again soon. Fascinating stuff about the language I speak and write.

Best podcast, ever! I mean, ever! Look it up! I could listen to this until my ears fall off. Grant and Martha, are the best and most engaged hosts. If there was 6 stars available I’d give them 7!

This is my absolute favorite podcast. I just love the topics as well as Martha and Grant! They are so kind and considerate to callers and so informative.

I love this podcast so much that I’ve been binge listening for two days. I’m a total word nerd and thoroughly enjoy learning about word origins and random pithy sayings. The hosts are low key yet engaging. They know their stuff but don’t lord it over you. I learn something new with every single episode. I usually loathe call-in shows but this one doesn’t annoy me at all. Someday I may even call in.

I love the subject matter, and the hosts are so thoughtful and genial. A truly pleasant hour spent.