Grant's New Column

And with a circulation of 1.2 million -- not bad! Check out Grant's first column about his adventures in lexicography -- and the slang word "cougar."

Are You a Podcast User?

Then you might enjoy Podcast User Magazine. (And not just because one this month's featured interviewees, Charles Hodgson of Podictionary, tells the magazine that the one podcast he'd never want to do without is -- what else? -- "A Way with Words.")

And may I just take a moment to say how very pleased I am to see that Charles used a serial comma in the subtitle of his new book, Carnal Knowledge: A Navel Gazer's Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia? Charles, thanks for striking another blow for sensible punctuation!

Of Wide Stances and Toe-tappers

Pondering the saga of Larry Craig, Rebecca Boone notes in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

In the list of famous excuses ever given for questionable behavior, "I have a wide stance" must fall somewhere between the schoolchild's favorite, "the dog ate my homework," and President Bill Clinton's, "I didn't inhale."

Later in the article, my co-host Grant weighs in on whether the slang terms popularized by this scandal -- "wide stance" and "toe tapper" -- have, um, legs.

Cartoon of the Week

See? I TOLD you learning grammar is important! (Hat tip to Shpilkes.)

Cackleberries 'n Blinky Milk

Folks, in this week's "A Way with Words" podcast, I'm gittin' all nostalgic for my Southern roots -- a sentimental journey that began as I thumbed through a few pages of glorious reference work, the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English.

Incidentally, in the podcast I mention that my dad, Henlee Barnette, was born in a one-room log cabin at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain in western North Carolina. I wasn't kidding about the one-room log cabin part, either. The cabin has long since fallen in, but here's an old family photograph of it. When I look at this, I can still remember drinking from a cool, clear spring deep in the woods nearby -- and just how cold the battered metal ladle felt when I brought it to my mouth. Anyway, enjoy this week's "A Way with Words" podcast, and be sure to check out the links there, too.