Martha Barnette, words, and the power of connection

The Source

Have you ever wondered about that weird expression that grandma used to say? Martha Barnette, co-host of the radio show and podcast A Way with Words, likely knows the history of that expression. Barnette has spent her life being a word detective, and in her new book, "Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland," she shares that story. During her two decades on the show, Martha has seen that people of all stripes are curious about etymology, they revel in slang, are surprised by regional vocabulary, delighted by idioms, and eager to share that weird phrase Grandma always used to say.