On a recent post about short bike lanes near intersections, a discussion started up about whether we should use a technical term or simpler ones. To help you learn some transportation lingo, here are some recently-discovered, never-published verses to the Barenaked Ladies’ children’s song,

A Word for That. Listen below first, then read along:

There’s a word for that

But I can’t quite recall

When cars wait at a corner and I go around them all

The word for that

Some drivers are annoyed

But others say it’s safe and isn’t something to avoid

There’s a word for that

What does it start with?

The word for that

I’d sound so smart if I only knew

The word for that

Perhaps you do

(The word you are looking for is “filtering.”)

There’s a word for that

It sure is aggravating

To not remember what’s the term for how long I am waiting

The word for that

In sun or snow or rain

How far apart arrivals are for any bus or train

There’s a word for that

What does it start with?

The word for that

I’d sound so smart if I only knew

The word for that

Perhaps you do

(Do you mean “headways”?)

There’s a word for that

It’s different every day

Sometimes I walk or ride a bus or go another way

The word for that

When traffic engineers

Ensure the road is safe no matter what your type of gears

There’s a word for that

What does it start with?

The word for that

I’d sound so smart if I only knew

The word for that

Perhaps you do

(Are you nuts, it’s “multimodal.”)

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.