Gift Horse - 1 July 2019

<p>The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop, or a medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you're close to another dimension of space and time. There's a term for such locales: thin places. And: did you ever go tick-tacking a few nights before Halloween? Tic-tacking refers to pranks like tapping ominously on windows without being caught, or tossing corn kernels all over a front porch. Also, horses run throughout our language, a relic of when these animals were much more commonplace in everyday life. For example, the best place to get information about a horse you might buy isn't from the owner -- it's straight from the horse's mouth. Plus, shoofly pie, bring you down a buttonhole lower, didaskaleinophobia, pangrams by middle schoolers, Albany beef, starting a sentence with Say, and a brain teaser inspired by a New Jersey grandma.</p> <p>Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, and learn more on the <em>A Way with Words</em> website: <a href= "https://waywordradio.org/">https://waywordradio.org/</a>. Email <a href="mailto:words@waywordradio.org">words@waywordradio.org</a>. Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/wayword">@wayword</a>. Our listener phone line <a href="tel:+18779299673">1 (877) 929-9673</a> is toll-free in the United States and Canada. Elsewhere in the world, call <a href="tel:+16198004443">+1 (619) 800-4443</a>; charges may apply. From anywhere, text/SMS <a href= "sms:+16195679673">+1 (619) 567-9673</a>. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.</p>