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That Word Chat @word_chat

That Word Chat is an online chat show featuring people and things lexical, hosted by @EditorMark.

Joined April 2020
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  • Followers 850
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Today: Nick Norlen on #ThatWordChat. Hear about “Paper Airplane”—70 pages of writing, comics, puzzles, and more. Last chance to register: ThatWordChat.com #Publishing #WordNerds #Writers
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Tomorrow on #ThatWordChat: Nick Norlen, freelance writer and editor of “Paper Airplane.” Inside Vol. 1: escape pages, photo essays, wordplay, and more. Register to attend: ThatWordChat.com #WritingCommunity #Editors #Language
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Next week on #ThatWordChat, we’ll be sitting down with Nick Norlen, founder of “Paper Airplane.” Join us Tuesday, September 16, at 4:30 p.m. ET to hear how the first issue came together. Register here: ThatWordChat.com #Publishing #Editors #WritersLife
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Episode 87 of #ThatWordChat is now on YouTube! We talk with “A Way With Words” co-host Martha Barnette about: – Her new book “Friends with Words” – Spark words and etymology – Improv, listening, and speaking fears Watch it here: bit.ly/ThatWordVideo #Etymology #Language
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On Sept. 16, #ThatWordChat welcomes Nick Norlen, founder of “Paper Airplane,” a magazine that’s fun, fascinating, uncynical, and human—writing, comics, games, and art with no ads and no AI. Sign up to attend: ThatWordChat.com #Publishing #WritingCommunity #WordNerds
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📢 Missed Keith Houston on #ThatWordChat? Catch the YouTube Premiere today at 4:30 PM ET! Watch here: bit.ly/ThatWordVideo #Editors #Writers #Emoji #Typography #Publishing
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Thank you to Martha Barnette for joining us on today’s #ThatWordChat! Her new book "Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland" is out now. Get your copy: amazon.com/Friends-Words-Lan…

Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland

Martha Barnette has spent two decades as the co-host of , lauded by Mary Norris in as “a virtual treasure house” and “‘Car Talk’ for Lexiphiles.” Over that time, she’s developed a keen sense of what...

amazon.com
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“These are the stories I don’t always get to share on the radio,” Barnette says. “But they’re key to who I am. That’s why I wanted to include them in the book.” #ThatWordChat
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Her dad was a civil rights advocate in Kentucky. There’s a photo of him with Martin Luther King Jr. “He invited Dr. King to speak to his class and got in a lot of trouble for it.” #ThatWordChat
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Martha comes from a very wordy household: “My mom was an English teacher. My dad taught ethics at a Baptist seminary. My brother got a PhD in Russian from a Swedish university.” #ThatWordChat
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She had wanted to dive into etymology—nice once meant ignorant—but her co-host and the caller were more interested in emotional nuance. Still, fate had other plans. #ThatWordChat
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Fast-forward to a fundraiser in San Diego. “I walk into the pub and see this woman across the room. She says, ‘I came here to meet you.’” Turns out she was a caller who had wanted to talk about the difference between nice and kind. #ThatWordChat
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So when a caller brought up the word ex and wanted a softer alternative, Barnette seized the moment: “I said, I have a good relationship with my ex… and just kind of put that out there.” #ThatWordChat
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Martha Barnette met her wife… as a caller on A Way With Words. At the time, Barnette says, “I was lonely. I’d been on the apps, nothing was working. I couldn’t say it on-air, but I thought: maybe I can hint.” #ThatWordChat
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Martha’s spark word: Crās, Latin for “tomorrow.” “In 9th-grade Latin, I thought: crās… procrastinate?” She looked it up: procrastinate = to put off until tomorrow. There’s even a rarer one: perendinate—to put something off until the day after tomorrow. #ThatWordChat
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On "spark words": words that ignite a lifelong fascination. Barnette: “Birders have spark birds. Why not spark words for us ‘worders’? #ThatWordChat
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Behind the scenes, one name keeps coming up: producer Stefanie Levine. “She plucked me from Kentucky. Plucked Grant from NYC. She’s raised us both.” Barnette calls her “the heart and soul of the show.” #ThatWordChat
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Listeners now call in from all over the world, not just from NPR-affiliate towns. Barnette: “It’s like a three-way ping-pong match: me, Grant, and the caller. The caller is the third voice that makes the show.” #ThatWordChat
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Has podcasting changed A Way With Words? Absolutely. “It’s so much easier for listeners to go back. Some start at the very beginning,” Barnette says. “By the time they catch up, Grant’s kid is off to college.” #ThatWordChat
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They formed a nonprofit and kept going, with no salaries for the first three years. “That’s three years of no income, doing a full-time job." And to this day, the show is listener-supported and freely available to stations. #ThatWordChat
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