Some countries have strict laws about naming babies. New Zealand authorities, for example, denied a request to name some twins Fish and Chips. • Halley’s Comet seen centuries before English astronomer Edmund Halley ever spotted it. That’s an example of Stigler’s Law, which says no scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer. Funny thing is, Stigler didn’t come up with that idea. • Anagrams formed by rearranging the letters of another word. But what do you call anagrams that are synonyms, like enraged and angered? There’s a word for that, too. • Flip side, over yonder, kyarn, old-fashioned script, avoiding adverbs, and another country heard from.
Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, and learn more on the A Way with Words website:
https://waywordradio.org/. Email
words@waywordradio.org. Twitter @wayword. Our listener phone line 1 (877) 929-9673 is toll-free in the United States and Canada. Elsewhere in the world, call +1 (619) 800-4443; charges may apply. From anywhere, text/SMS +1 (619) 567-9673. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices