1457-Caller-Dave-Cat-Person by A Way with Words

What’s the deal with the use of person, as in I’m a dog person or She’s a cat person? The word person this way functions as a substitute for the Greek-derived suffix -phile, meaning “lover of,” and goes back at least a century. http://waywordradio.org via Pocket http://ift.tt/2f760To

Filed under: My Amazing World Tagged: IFTTT, Pocket, soundcloud

1457-Caller-David-Lit by A Way with Words

A Palmyra, Indiana, listener observes that in online discussions of Pokemon Go, Americans and French-speaking Canadians alike use the word lit to describe an area of town where lots of people playing the game. via Pocket http://ift.tt/2ecpwQO

Filed under: My Amazing World Tagged: IFTTT, Pocket, soundcloud

1457-Caller-Doug-The-Joneses by A Way with Words

A listener in Brazil wants to know about the source of the phrase keeping up with the Joneses, which refers to trying to compete with others in terms of possessions and social status. via Pocket http://ift.tt/2f73zQU

Filed under: My Amazing World Tagged: IFTTT, Pocket, soundcloud

1457-Caller-Holly-Life-Partners by A Way with Words

A listener in Reno, Nevada, wants to know: If one member of a long-term, unmarried couple dies, what’s a good term for the surviving partner, considering that the usual terms widow and widower aren’t exactly correct? http://waywordradio. via Pocket http://ift.tt/2ecnCQh

Filed under: My Amazing World Tagged: IFTTT, Pocket, soundcloud

1457-Caller-Kim-Flip-Flops by A Way with Words

A woman from Hartford, Connecticut, remembers her mom used the term clackers to denote those floppy, rubber-soled shoes otherwise known as flip-flops, go-aheads, or zoris. Anyone else use clackers in that way? http://waywordradio.org via Pocket http://ift.tt/2f2csg4

Filed under: My Amazing World Tagged: IFTTT, Pocket, soundcloud

1457-Caller-Shelly-Chicken-Lane by A Way with Words

In a roadway, the center lane for passing or turning left is sometimes called the chicken lane, a reference to the old game of drivers from opposite directions daring each other in a game of chicken. For the same reason, some people refer to it as the suicide lane. http://waywordradio.org via Pocket http://ift.tt/2eK8D0u

Filed under: My Amazing World Tagged: IFTTT, Pocket, soundcloud

1457-Caller-Willow-Not-The-Boss-Of-Me by A Way with Words

The phrase You’re not the boss of me may have been popularized by the They Might Be Giants song that serves as the theme for TV’s “Malcolm in the Middle.” But this turn of phrase goes back to at least 1883. http://waywordradio.org via Pocket http://ift.tt/2f2d05P

Filed under: My Amazing World Tagged: IFTTT, Pocket, soundcloud