‘Car Talk’ For Word Nerds

“The hosts [of the radio show A Way with Words], Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, are the Click and Clack of word talk. Barnette is a writer who has studied Latin and Greek (her books include A Garden of Words), and Barrett is a linguist and lexicographer with an ear for contemporary slang. They make a perfect duo. The show is modelled after Car Talk, though it is broadcast from San Diego, not Cambridge: the hosts laugh a lot, and when people call in they answer by saying, ‘You have a way with words,’ which is always nice to hear.” – The New Yorker