A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over - Cheese Toasties - 6 July 2026

If you mistype something, that’s a typo. But what do you call it when your voice-to-text program mistypes as you’re dictating? Is that a mico as in microphone? Plus, the word sycophant has a long and surprising history that goes all the way back to ancient Greece. And if you order a cheese toastie in the Midwest, they’ll probably know what you mean. Other places, not so much. Also, the Hawaiian state fish humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa, how to pronounce integral, a word game about connections, whistlebit, lexical gaps, Make it a nice day tomorrow!, down cellar behind the axe, CHX for chicken and DX for distance, and a bullfrog’s advertisement call: jugarum, jugarum!

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