Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over
Episode: Good Egg, Bad Apple - 1 September 2025
Description: If you like to use emojis, you have some 3800 to choose fromâand the organization that approves them is about to announce even more. But do we really need a purple splatter emoji? Or one that looks like Sasquatch? Plus: If youâre retired in the US, you may jokingly call yourself a âgeezer.â In the UK, though, the term is more derogatory. Also, why good eggs make much better company than bad apples. And, how to pronounce macabre, the difference between mass nouns and count nouns, an Italian phrase about foolishness, alight from the front, Japanese pager slang, a brain tease...