That's What "Friend" is For? Minicast - 18 June 2009

How can the word 'friend' possibly describe both the people you went to school with *and* the people to whom you are connected through Facebook and MySpace? Are friends on the social sites really friends? Is there a better word to describe someone who follows you on Twitter? A caller thinks the English language could use some new words to differentiate among varying levels and types of friendship.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:<br/><br/>Email: words@waywordradio.org<br/><br/>Phone: <br/>United States toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673<br/>London +44 20 7193 2113<br/>Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771<br/><br/>Site: http://waywordradio.org.<br/>Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/<br/>Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/<br/>Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/<br/>Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/<br/>Skype: skype://waywordradio <br/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lxzFDS3aSYw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lxzFDS3aSYw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lxzFDS3aSYw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lxzFDS3aSYw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lxzFDS3aSYw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lxzFDS3aSYw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lxzFDS3aSYw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lxzFDS3aSYw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=-jjQ2cvYHEQ:lx