Editor’s note: This segment was rebroadcast on Jan. 14, 2026. Click here for that audio.
Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with radio show co-host and podcaster Martha Barnette. In her show “A Way with Words” and her new book “Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland,” Barnette explores the origins of words like “boycott” and “mellifluous” as well as her own love of language.
Book excerpt: ‘Friends with Words’
By Martha Barnette
Excerpted from “Friends With Words: Adventures in Languageland” by Martha Barnette. Copyright © 2025 by Martha Barnette. Published and reprinted by permission of Abrams Press. All rights reserved.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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