&lt;p&gt;SUMMARY&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How much humor and personality can you pack into a 140-character update? A lot, it turns out. Martha and Grant talk about funny Twitter feeds. Also this week, the origins of skosh and can&#039;t hold a candle, why dragonflies are sometimes called snake doctors, whether the word pre-plan is redundant, and how technology is affecting the experience of reading.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FULL DETAILS&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Martha and Grant share some of their latest guilty-pleasure reading from Twitter feeds that show just how much meaning can be compressed into 140 characters. Cases in point: @veryshortstory and @GRAMMARHULK.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://twitter.com/veryshortstory&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://twitter.com/GRAMMARHULK&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He can&#039;t hold a candle to someone means that he can&#039;t possibly compare to the other person. The hosts explain where this phrase comes from.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A zoo tour guide wants a specific word to describe how elephants procure hydration. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents a puzzle called &quot;This, That, and the Other.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Facebook newbie asks if it&#039;s okay to misspell words on purpose when communicating via social media. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The mother of eight-year-old twins wonders why one of her girls habitually adds Dun-dun-DUN! to sentences in everyday conversation. The hosts suspect it&#039;s related to the audio element known as a &quot;sting&quot; in television and movie parlance, like this one in the famous &quot;Dramatic Prairie Dog&quot; video clip.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHjFxJVeCQs&amp;amp;NR=1&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The term skosh means &quot;a small amount,&quot; and derives from a Japanese word that means the same thing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Remember when the expression &quot;reading a book&quot; meant, well, actually reading a book? Martha and Grant discuss a Los Angeles Times series about how electronic devices are changing the way we read.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://lat.ms/auLP0c&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The distinctive shape of the dragonfly has inspired lots of different nicknames for this insect, including snake doctor, devil&#039;s darning needle, skeeter hawk, spindle, snake eyes, and ear sewer, the last of which rhymes with &quot;mower.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What&#039;s the correct term for the male lover of a married woman? The hosts share suggestions from listeners, including paramour and Sancho. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A firefighter is annoyed by his boss&#039;s use of the term pre-plan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Martha shares the term hit and giggle, a bit of sports slang term she picked up while working as an announcer at this year&#039;s Mercury Insurance Open tennis tournament.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;--&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donate&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Email: words@waywordradio.org&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Phone: &lt;br /&gt;United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673&lt;br /&gt;London +44 20 7193 2113&lt;br /&gt;Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;feedflare&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:yIl2AUoC8zA&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=yIl2AUoC8zA&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:qj6IDK7rITs&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=qj6IDK7rITs&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:gIN9vFwOqvQ&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:gIN9vFwOqvQ&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:V_sGLiPBpWU&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:V_sGLiPBpWU&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:F7zBnMyn0Lo&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:F7zBnMyn0Lo&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:63t7Ie-LG7Y&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=63t7Ie-LG7Y&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0Bwb-kZr-tc:Rb7BoEEDm-k:l6gmwiTKsz0&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=l6gmwiTKsz0&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/awwwpodcast/~4/0Bwb-kZr-tc&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot;/&gt;