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Podcast: A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over
Episode: Spur of the Moment (Rebroadcast) - 22 May 2017
Description: A caller with a 25-year-old parrot wonders: How much language do birds really understand? Plus, Knock-knock. Who's there? Boo. Well… you can guess the rest. But there was a time when these goofy jokes were a brand-new craze sweeping the nation. Also, the words coffee and sugar both come from Arabic, as does ghoul. There's a spooky story about its origin. Also, freckle, diamond in the rough, spur of the moment, literary limericks, the pronunciation of divisive, and a cold vs. the flu.Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, an...