A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over

Give Now for the $25,000 Fundraising Challenge Dear friends and listeners, As we near the end of our biggest year yet, we must raise $25,000 to cover the remainder of this season. We need your help to reach that amount before December 30th. Reaching that goal will mean covering fixed costs: Broadcast studio rental. A sound engineer and board operator. Website hosting. Podcast hosting. The toll-free phone line. Episode distribution through the Public Radio Satellite System — an expense that will increase 50% in 2012. What you may not know is that when you donate to your local station — as you should — none of that money goes to A Way with Words. We’re independent of any radio station and independent of NPR. We receive no funds from them at all. This means, in part, that A Way with Words can carry out its educational mission without excessive bureaucracy and overhead costs. It also means we can make it available to everyone, completely free of charge. But it also means that to do well, we require support from our listeners. We need your donations, whether you listen online or on the air. Show us that we can count on you. Make a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more today. If that’s too much, please donate what you can. If you’ve given to A Way with Words before, thank you! But can we ask you to double your donation this time? Will you go the extra mile to support quality radio that respects your intelligence? You can also send your donations by postal mail to this address: Wayword, Inc. P.O. Box 632721 San Diego, CA 92163 Thank you for the affection and support you’ve shown in your phone calls in emails over the past year. We wish you and your family all the love in the world. Best wishes, and happy holidays, Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette co-hosts of A Way with Words PS: A Way with Words is now heard on the air in more than 173 cities across North America and we’re happy to report that the program will also be heard on Vermont Public Radio starting in January! Wayword, Inc., is a small non-profit 501(c)3 corporation. It receives no funding from NPR, PRI, PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or any public radio station or broadcast network. Support amazing radio today! All donations to Wayword, Inc., the nonprofit that produces A Way with Words, are tax-deductible. Our Federal tax ID number is #27-0277377. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve eaten crispy chicken, you might also have had jo-jo potatoes. Speaking of chicken, ever wonder why colonel isn’t pronounced KOH-loh-nell? Grant and Martha have the answers to those nagging little questions, like the difference between a turnpike and a highway and the rules on me versus I. Who’s behind eponyms in anatomy and why are doctors phasing them out? Plus, a newsy limerick challenge, dog breed mashups, pallets, a little Spanglish, and enough -ologies to fill a course catalog! Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org/contact. Be a part of the show: call 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; worldwide, call or text/SMS +1 (619) 800-4443. Email [email protected]. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever drop a reference that just makes you sound, well, of a certain age? Grant and Martha discuss language that’s lost on other generations. Why is the entree the main course? Shouldn’t it come first? And why is the letter k silent in “knot” and “knight”? Plus, the right way to say “the,” a remedy for the superstition of splitting the pole, names for the toes straight from Mother Goose, the difference between finished and done, and a special word quiz for all you zombie fans! Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org/contact. Be a part of the show: call 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; worldwide, call or text/SMS +1 (619) 800-4443. Email [email protected]. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYIs typing two spaces after a period "totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong?" Martha and Grant disagree. Also, is the language of the movie "True Grit" historically accurate? Also, shut your pie-hole, Southern grammar, Oh my Lady Gaga, and a little town called Podunk.FULL DETAILSHow many spaces go after a period? Your schoolteacher may have taught you to use two, but others strongly disagree. http://www.slate.com/id/2281146/Shut your piehole! means "Shut your mouth!" Need more slang terms for the mouth? For starters, there's potato trap, tater trap, tatty trap, bun trap, gingerbread trap, kissing trap, fly trap, rattle trap, baconhole, and cakehole.Where is Podunk? Grant explains that a columnist in the 1800s used the name for his series called "Life in the Small Town of Podunk," referring to a generic backwoods American town.A listener shares a phrase he learned in Peru that translates as "more lost than a hard-boiled egg in ceviche." It describes someone who's lost or clueless.Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game worthy of the Saturday puzzle called "Cryptic Crosswords".Is the formal language in "True Grit" (2010) historically accurate? The hosts discuss why the Coen brothers would do away with contractions to set a tone for the movie.A transplant from Zimbabwe finds the word irregardless annoying and ungrammatical. Grant explains that regardless of its status, "irregardless" is needlessly redundant.The phrase oh, my goodness may be a dated way to express surprise or disbelief. A listener asks for a contemporary replacement.Multiple modals, as in the phrase "I thought y'all may would have some more of them," have their own logic and are well understood by many in the American South.The Database of Multiple Modals compiled by Paul Reed and Michael Montgomery is here.http://casdemo.cas.sc.edu/modals_d/If you call someone a card, it means they're funny or quick-witted. Grant and Martha discuss the metaphors inspired by the language of playing cards. What do you serve to a lawyer coming to dinner? A listener shares her riddle for the "What Would You Serve" game?Have you been asked to trip the light fantastic? This phrase, meaning "dance the night away", dates back to a poem by John Milton from 1640.Martha shares the German slang term niveaulimbo, meaning "a limbo of standards". Why is the word pound abbreviated lb.? A listener from Tijuana, Mex., learns that the answer relates to his native Spanish as well as the Latin term for "weighing."Martha reads a love sonnet by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Here's the text of the original Spanish, with an English translation by Mark Eisner.http://www.redpoppy.net/poem37.phpAnd here's a lovely audio rendering of the poem in Spanish.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJhxNhy3BVA--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYThis week on "A Way with Words": If you've "seen the elephant," it means you've been in combat. But why an elephant? Also, Martha and Grant discuss some funny idioms in Spanish, including one that translates as "your bowtie is whistling." And what names do you call YOUR grandparents? FULL DETAILSIf you're in Bangladesh, the expression that translates as "oiling your mustache in anticipation of the jackfruit tree bearing fruit" makes perfect sense. In English, it means "don't count your chickens." A discussion thread on Reddit with this and many other examples has Martha and Grant talking about odd idioms in other languages. http://bit.ly/ifBbAQA Marine stationed in California says that growing up in North Carolina, he understood the expression fixin' to mean "to be about to."Some office workers say their word processor's spellchecker always flags the words overnighted and overnighting. Are those words acceptable in a business environment?"You really love peeled potatoes." That's a translation of a Venezuelan idiom describing someone who's lazy. Grant and Martha share other idioms from South America.Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a puzzle called "Blank My Blank."A woman in Burlington, Vt., says her mother used to use the expression Land o' Goshen! to express surprise or amazement. Where is Goshen?A Yankee transplant to the South says that restaurant servers are confused when he tells them, "I'm all set." Is he all set to continue his meal, or all set to leave? A woman in Eau Claire, Wis., remembers a ditty she learned from her mother about "thirty purple birds," but with a distinctive pronunciation that sounds more like "Toidy poipel blackbirds / Sittin' on a coibstone / Choipin' and boipin' / And eatin' doity oithworms."Here's the Red Hot Chili Peppers version:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fw8YywYatAMartha offers excellent writing advice from the former editor of People magazine, Landon Y. Jones. His whole article is here:http://bit.ly/gVRekIA former Texan wonders if only Texans use the terms Mamaw and Papaw instead of Grandma and Grandpa.Martha shares some Argentine idioms, including one that translates as "What a handrail!" for "What a bad smell!"A West Point graduate says he and fellow members of the military use the expression He has seen the elephant to mean "He's seen combat." Grant explains that this expression originated outside the military.Do you flesh out a plan or flush out a plan?Another Argentine idiom goes arrugaste como frenada de gusano. It means "You were scared," but literally, it's "You wrinkled like a stopping worm."--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYShadowdabbled. Moon-blanched. Augusttremulous. William Faulkner often used odd adjectives like these. But why? Grant and Martha discuss the poetic effects of compressed language. Also, African-American proverbs, classic children's books, pore vs. pour, and the double meaning of the word sanction.FULL DETAILSAmid the stacks of new titles at the library, Grant picks out The Wind in the Willows to read with his son. The hosts discuss the appeal of classic children's books. A bi-coastal listener wonders about the terms West Coast and Eastern Seaboard. Why don't we say Californians live on the Western Seaboard?Does an avid reader pore or pour over a book?There is always a person greater or lesser than yourself. Grant shares this and other African-American proverbs.Quiz Guy John Chaneski borrows a classic game from Joseph Shipley called Twin Ends. The expression that smarts, meaning "that hurts," dates back over a thousand years. Does sanction mean "a penalty" or "an approval"? Well, both. Martha explains the nature of contranyms, also known as Janus words. Here's an article about them in the periodical Verbatim.www.verbatimmag.com/27_2.pdfListeners share their suggestions for the game What Would You Serve? Hosting a golfer for dinner? Tea and greens should be lovely!William Faulkner used adjectives like shadowdabbled, Augusttremulous, and others that can only be described as, well, Faulknerian. Grant and Martha trade theories about why the great writer chose them. The University of Virginia has an online audio archive of Faulkner's during his tenure as that school's Writer-in-Residence.http://faulkner.lib.virginia.edu/Here's a 1956 interview with Faulkner about the art of writing. It ran in The Paris Review.http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4954/the-art-of-fiction-no-12-william-faulknerIn a previous episode, we wondered how U-turn might translate in different languages. One listener explains that in Hebrew, drivers make a horseshoe or a hoof-turn.The Century Dictionary contains a list of amended spellings from the late 1800s that only creates more of the confusion it set out to alleviate. Which is correct: We appreciate your asking or We appreciate you're asking? A new transplant to Dallas wants to assimilate into the Texan way of speaking without offending the locals or forcing any new vocabulary.Ever hear a broadcast where the announcer enunciates a little too precisely? Grant and Martha discuss the effect of softening syllables, such as "prolly" for "probably," and "wanna" for "want to."--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hot traffic talk! A caller is looking for a word for the point at which you have to reach in order to make it through a stoplight before it turns red. -- A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donate Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time: Email: [email protected] Phone: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673 London +44 20 7193 2113 Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771 Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate Site: http://waywordradio.org/ Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/ Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/ Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/ Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYWhat do the words marathon, paisley, and bikini have in common? They're all words that derive from the names of places. Martha and Grant talk toponyms. Also, what's the difference between a nerd and a geek? Why do some Marines greet each other with the word "Yambo"? And what do you call the crust that forms at the corners of your eyes after a night's sleep?FULL DETAILSWhat do the words marathon, paisley, and bikini have in common? They're all words that derive from the names of places. Martha and Grant talk about these and other toponyms.What's the difference between a nerd and a geek? An Ohio professor of popular culture wants to talk about it. Here's the Metafilter thread mentioned in that discussion.http://bit.ly/Nl38hHere's a Venn Diagram about nerds, geeks, dorks, and dweebs. http://bit.ly/aJxb9EIn the Pacific Northwest, the term spendy means "expensive." Grant has an update on the jocular pronunciation of "skedooly" for the word schedule. The original discussion about it is here:http://waywordradio.org/chester-drawers/Puzzle Guy John Chaneski presents a quiz called "Repeat after Me." It's a quiz that's neither so-so nor too-too. A Marine at Camp Pendleton says that while in Iraq, he and his buddies heard the greeting "Yambo!" from Ugandan troops there. Now they use it with each other, and he wonders about its literal meaning. Martha explains that it's a common Kiswahili term.In the novel Jane Eyre, characters sometimes speak whole sentences in French. A high school English teacher says her students wonder if there's a term for inserting whole sentences from another language into fiction. Grant talks about the use of foreignisms and loanwords.Martha has a crazy crossword clue sent by a listener: "Camel's Nemesis." Twelve letters. Got it?Residents of Maine are called "Mainers," people in Texas are "Texans," those in Wisconsin are "Wisconsinites," and people in Phoenix are . . . Phoenicians"? Grant and Martha explain that there are consistent rules for the naming the locals. The book they reference is Paul Dickson's Labels for Locals.http://bit.ly/eXeAWxMartha and Grant offer gift recommendations for language lovers:Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages, by Guy Deutscherhttp://bit.ly/bSjZONOK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word, by Allan Metcalfhttp://bit.ly/igLJn8Lost in Lexicon: An Adventure in Words and Numbershttp://www.lostinlexicon.com/Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language http://www.deborahfallows.com/What do you call the crust that forms in the corners of your eyes when you sleep? Sleepydust, sleepysand, eyejam, slam, eye boogers, eye potatoes, sleep sugar, eye crusties, sleepyjacks. An Indiana man wonders if anyone else uses his family's term for it, cat butter.Is the proper phrase toe the line or tow the line?Grant talks about how that great American export, the word OK, was part of the first conversation on the surface of the moon.You upgrade your software, and instead of working better, it's worse. Is there a word for that phenomenon? Downgrade? Oopsgrade? How about Newcoked?Poutrage is a new term for "acting outraged when you're really not. It's sort of like accismus, "the pretended refusal of something actually very much desired."--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC.very much desired." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A question from a listener on the “A Way with Words” Facebook page has Martha musing about the entomological and etymological connections between the word pupil and the pupal stage of an insect’s life. -- A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donate Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time: Email: [email protected] Phone: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673 London +44 20 7193 2113 Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771 Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate Site: http://waywordradio.org/ Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/ Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/ Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/ Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's the one word that comes to mind when you hear the name J. D. Salinger? "Masterpiece"? "Recluse"? How about the "F-word"? An Indianapolis listener came across an article about Salinger's use of that word, and that got him wondering about the linguistic terms for inserting at least one extra syllable into a word to make it more emphatic. -- A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donate Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time: Email: [email protected] Phone: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673 London +44 20 7193 2113 Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771 Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate Site: http://waywordradio.org/ Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/ Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/ Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/ Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARY Ready for some crazy crossword clues? The hosts discuss some clever ones, like "Hula hoop?" (3 letters). Also, is the correct term jury-rigged or jerry-rigged? Why are Marines called Gyrenes? When someone points out the obvious, do you say "Duh!" or do you say "No DUH!"? And what, pray tell, is in a cannibal sandwich?FULL DETAILSGrant shares some diabolically clever crossword clues. Have at 'em: Hula hoop? (3 letters). A city in Czechoslovakia? (Four letters). Want to try more? Check out these clues here and here.http://www.crosswordese.com/ccotm.htmlhttp://barelybad.com/xwdcuteclues2002.htm Hankering for a cannibal sandwich? An Appleton, Wis., woman has fond memories of raw ground round steak on top of rye bread, topped with salt, pepper, and onion. She wonders if it's a regional dish.When someone points out the blindingly obvious, a listener might respond with Duh! There are other options, too, including No duh!, Doy!, and Der! Grant creates an online survey to find out which terms people tend to use.If you're not yet old enough to understand homophones, you can wind up with some funny misunderstandings. Martha shares a listener's story about avoiding cotton candy as a child, fearing that it was literally made of cotton.Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a quiz based on descriptions of characters in novels. Something that's repaired in a makeshift, haphazard fashion, is said to be jury-rigged. Martha discusses the expression's likely nautical origin and Grant tells how a different term, jerry-built, led to the variation jerry-rigged. Crazy crossword clues, Round 2: "Letters from your parents"? (3 letters) and "Sound elicited by an electric can opener" (5 letters).An officer from Camp Pendleton is curious about Gyrene, a slang term for "Marine." Grant says it may derive from the Greek word for "tadpole."Martha relates a story from a listener in Valdosta, Ga., about her four-year-old's misunderstanding of a homophone.Need to type something in Linear B or Mayan? Want to make Japanese emoticons? Now you can. Grant explains why the release of Unicode 6 has many word lovers doing the happy dance.When speakers of foreign languages try to adapt their own idioms into English, the results can be poetic, if not downright puzzling. A Dallas listener shares some favorite examples from his Italian-born wife, including "I can put my hand to the fire," and "The watermelon isn't always red on the inside." Crazy crossword clues, Round 3: Cover of the Bible? (2 words). Source of relief? (7 letters).When did the word slick become a positive word meaning "cool" or "excellent"?--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYEnglish is full of unusual terms, both old (eleemosynary, favonian) and new (flyway, catio). Also, the Swahili term that means "sleep like a log," the multiple meanings of the word joint, what it means to play gooseberry, cowpies and horse biscuits, and how to punctuate the expression "Guess what."FULL DETAILSThinking about a flyaway, or will you spend the weekend gazing out at the catio? Grant explains these new terms.Is subscribing just for magazines and podcasts, or can you subscribe to an idea? A husband and wife disagree over whether the latter is grammatically correct.The Swahili phrase nililala fofofo means "to sleep really well." Literally, though, it translates as "to sleep like a log." Are the English and Swahili idioms related?In French, tenir la chandelle means "to act as a chaperone," though literally it's "to hold the candle." Another expression that means "to chaperone" is the antiquated English phrase "to play gooseberry."License-plate bingo, anyone? Quiz Guy John Chaneski offers a radio version."Who is 'she'? The cat's mother?" A Davis, Ca., man remembers his mother's indignant use of this expression, and he's curious about the origin.Should you pronounce the word coyote with two syllables or three? A Northern California caller that discovers that in Britain, an invitation to share a joint doesn't mean what it does back home.Eleemosynary is the title of a play by Lee Blessing. The play celebrates this and other unusual words, including sortilege, charivari, ungulate, favonian, and logodaedaly. Martha saw a production at San Diego's Moxie Theater, and takes the opportunity to discuss those words, plus the fizzy roots of moxie.Guess what! Or would that be Guess what? A Honolulu listener asks about the right way to punctuate this interjection. Should you use an exclamation mark or a question mark? How about an interrobang or a pronequark? A Texas listener says his family often describes a great meal as larrupin'. What does that mean, exactly?Grant talks about FOIA ("pronounced FOY-uh"), a bit of journalists' jargon.Cowpies, horse biscuits, buffalo chips, horse dumplings -- why do so many names for animal droppings have to do with food? A caller wonders this, and whether the term cowpie would be an anachronism in a Civil War novel.--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYIn this week's episode, "It was bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen." Martha and Grant discuss their favorite first lines from novels. Also this week, Palmer Housing, beanplating, meeting cute, bad billboard grammar, and what it means when someone says you look like a tree full of owls. And which is correct: another thing coming or another think coming?FULL DETAILSSome novels grab you from the get-go. "I am an invisible man." "Call me Ishmael." "The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting." Martha and Grant discuss some of their favorite first lines.You're falling asleep, then suddenly snap awake. There's a term for that: hypnagogic startle or hypnic jerk.A North Carolina listener reports seeing a billboard that read, "Be Stronger Connected to Your Son." Bad grammar or good advertising?When is your golden birthday? It's when your age and the date match, such as turning 23 years old on the 23rd day of the month.Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents a puzzle involving inverted M's and W's called "Turn the Worm."Among many African-Americans, the term Palmer Housing means, "walking with an unusual gait." A screenwriter connects some dots in his own family's history when he asks about the origin.In the film industry, the expression meet cute refers to "an overly precious first encounter between the romantic leads." A man named Kris wants to name his son Qhristopher. Have a problem with that?Grant shares some favorite bad first lines from novels.The hosts tackle a longstanding mystery about the word shoshabong.A favorite quotation from George Eliot: "Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact."Is the correct phrase another think coming or another thing coming?Grant reveals the surprising origin of the term lunatic fringe.The term like a tree full of owls describes someone's appearance. What does it mean, exactly? And why owls?Need a great synonym for "overthinking"? Try beanplating. --A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYSome of the world's most famous writers had to support themselves with day jobs. Martha and Grant discuss well-known authors who toiled away at other trades. Also this week, Eskimo kisses, the frozen Puerto Rican treat called a limber, how the word fail ended up as a noun, the phrase I'm efforting that, and where you would throw a houlihan. And what's a chester drawers?FULL DETAILSSome of the world's greatest writers had to do their work while holding down a day job. William Faulkner and Anthony Trollope toiled as postal clerks. Zora Neal Hurston trained as an anthropologist. Vladimir Nabokov was a lepidopterist who curated a butterfly exhibit at Harvard. Literary historian Jack Lynch tells the stories of these and others in his new book, Don't Quit Your Day Job: What the Famous Did That Wasn't. http://bit.ly/aT4oXeAn Indianapolis newspaperman complains about his colleagues' use of the phrase I'm efforting that.A woman in Racine, Wis., says her father and his fellow bus drivers always pronounced the word schedule as "skeh-DOO-lee." Is that an accepted pronunciation? Todd Purdum's recent Vanity Fair article on the presidency contains intriguing beltway slang, including gaggle and full lid.http://bit.ly/cXgmIjQuiz Guy John Chaneski has a game called "Word Search." A woman of Puerto Rican descent wonders about limber, the name of the savory frozen treat popular in her homeland. Was it really named in honor of aviator Charles Lindbergh?A man in Huntington Beach, Ca., ponders his teenager's frequent use of the words fail and epic fail. Grant explains what this has to do with linguistic bleaching, and discusses some funny fails on failblog.org.http://failblog.org/Martha has an example of a linguistic false friend: In Latvian, the word vista means "chicken."On a recent episode of "Mad Men," a character said "keep me in the loop." Was that phrase really around in the 1960s? Everyone knows old proverbs, but what about modern ones? Here's an aphorism attributed to William Gibson: "The future is already here. It's just not evenly distributed." The hosts discuss some others.After a San Diego man used the term Eskimo kiss with his preschooler, they both wondered about its origin.An Indiana woman is puzzled about a phrase in the old western song, "I Ride An Old Paint": "I'm goin' to Montana to throw the houlihan." What's a houlihan? You'll find one version of the lyrics here.http://to.pbs.org/bmHyw2Here are different interpretations of this cowboy classic by Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie.http://bit.ly/9h03hDhttp://bit.ly/9cEqwsOn an earlier show, Martha mentioned the popular detergent in the Middle East called Barf. Martha shares email from listeners who say that although the word spelled the same as English "barf," the Farsi pronunciation is somewhat different.http://www.waywordradio.org/a-gazelle-on-the-lawn/Ever hear anyone refer to a wooden dresser as a chester drawers? A woman who grew up in St. Louis only recently learned that not everyone uses this term.Martha reports that, during her recent attempt at learning to surf, she picked up lots of surfing lingo in between wipeouts. Here's a handy glossary of such terms, including tombstoning and pearling, both of which she did quite a bit.http://bit.ly/da7hqe--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYRemember misunderstanding certain words as a child? Maybe you figured "cat burglars" only stole cats, or assumed guerrilla fighters must be angry apes. Martha and Grant discuss childhood misunderstandings about language. Also this week, Yankee dimes, culch piles, hanging crepe, educational rubrics, and whether the language you speak influences the way you think. FULL DETAILSThere's a point when children understand just enough of their native language to be confused by homophones and metaphors. What misunderstandings do you remember? Maybe you thought cat burglars stole only cats, or that you might be swept out to sea by the undertoad? The hosts discuss childhood misunderstandings about language.Some business owners give their establishments names like "Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe." What most people don't realize is that the letter Y in this case is a vestige of a letter we no longer use, and has a "th" sound. More about this letter here.http://bbc.in/9Vy8BaA woman from upstate New York says her stepfather used to keep small dishes in various rooms to collect small odds and ends like paper clips and rubber bands. He called them culch piles. Martha has the story on this term.Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a puzzle based on the candy called "Mentos." It's called Mento Stimulation. Example: What kind of minty candy would be appropriate for musicians?A North Carolina man says he was surprised as a child when he did a chore for his grandmother, and the Yankee dime she promised him turned out to be a peck on the cheek.A Texas caller says her child's middle-school teacher insists that students should never begin a sentence with a preposition. The hosts are shocked, shocked.Martha describes a funny linguistic misunderstanding she had while trying to read Harry Potter in Spanish.Predictive text on cellphones can result in some amusing accidental substitutions. The word for that: textonym.Does the language you speak shape how you think? The hosts discuss an essay on that topic adapted from the new book "Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages," by Guy Deutscher.http://nyti.ms/chDUjOReading Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, an Indiana listener is stopped short by the sentence "She carried a tray of charlotte." Who or what is charlotte?Someone who paints a negative or pessimistic picture is said to be hanging crepe. Martha has the origin.The word rubric derives from a Latin word for "red." Originally, it referred to red letters used as section headings in religious texts and the like. Rubric has since become a term used in modern educational jargon, as in grading rubric.What's the connection?--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYHow 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'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.FULL DETAILSMartha 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.http://twitter.com/veryshortstoryhttp://twitter.com/GRAMMARHULKHe can't hold a candle to someone means that he can't possibly compare to the other person. The hosts explain where this phrase comes from.A zoo tour guide wants a specific word to describe how elephants procure hydration. Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents a puzzle called "This, That, and the Other."A Facebook newbie asks if it's okay to misspell words on purpose when communicating via social media. 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's related to the audio element known as a "sting" in television and movie parlance, like this one in the famous "Dramatic Prairie Dog" video clip.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHjFxJVeCQs&NR=1The term skosh means "a small amount," and derives from a Japanese word that means the same thing.Remember when the expression "reading a book" 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.http://lat.ms/auLP0cThe distinctive shape of the dragonfly has inspired lots of different nicknames for this insect, including snake doctor, devil's darning needle, skeeter hawk, spindle, snake eyes, and ear sewer, the last of which rhymes with "mower."What's the correct term for the male lover of a married woman? The hosts share suggestions from listeners, including paramour and Sancho. A firefighter is annoyed by his boss's use of the term pre-plan.Martha shares the term hit and giggle, a bit of sports slang term she picked up while working as an announcer at this year's Mercury Insurance Open tennis tournament. --A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYAnagrams, rebuses, cryptograms, Jumble -- Martha and Grant swap stories about the games that first made them realize that playing with words and letters can be fun. Also this week, what's a jitney supper and where do you eat graveyard stew? The hosts explain the origin of the term “hang fire” and why Alaskans sound like they're from the Midwest, and take on a debate about whether an egregious falsehood is a bald-faced lie or a bold-faced lie.FULL DETAILSWhat games first made you realize that words and letters make great playthings? Martha describes puzzling, as a child, over the odd combination of letters, F-U-N-E-X, until she finally figured out the joke. Grant talks about discovering anagrams as a youngster, and how word puzzles in the newspaper became a daily ritual.An office worker in Indianapolis is mystified when a British colleague sends an email telling her to "hang fire." The hosts explain the expression has to do with faulty firearms. "Call up to 24 hours in advance to make a reservation." Do those instructions mean you can call until 24 hours before the deadline, or that you should call within 24 hours of it. When a San Diego listener assumed it was the former, she had an unpleasant surprise. Did you know the POTUS (President of the United States) has a BOTUS? Grant explains what a BOTUS is.Quiz Guy Greg Pliska's game this week is "Name Dropping." The answer for each set of clues will be a word that has a common first name hidden somewhere in it; when that name's removed, the remaining letters spell a new word. For example, the first clue is "one of the seven deadly sins," the second is "the grain consumed by one-fifth of the world's inhabitants." Subtract the latter from the former, and you get a woman's name.A Charlottesville, Virginia, caller says that when she was a child and recovering from an illness, her mother fed her a kind of milk toast she called graveyard stew. Is that strange name unique to her family?During the health care debate in Congress, there was lots of talk about an up-or-down vote. A Montana listener finds this expression annoying. What's wrong with plain old "vote"?In youth slang, "totes" is short for "totally." Grant talks about new, lengthened version of this slang shortening.A Carlsbad, California, couple has a running debate over whether an egregious whopper is correctly called a bold-faced lie or a bald-faced lie.The Library of Congress is archiving the entire content of Twitter. Grant explains why that's a gold mine for language researchers like David Bamman at Tufts University. You can see some of the results Bamman's compiled at Lexicalist.com.http://www.lexicalist.com/What do you eat at a jitney supper? Jitney?Why do people from Alaska sound like they're from the Midwest?A caller who grew up in Arkansas says his mother used a colorful expression instead of "mind your own business," which was “tend to your own rat-killing.” Grant talks about that and a similar phrase, go on with your rat-killing, meaning "Finish what you were saying." --A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUMMARYNews reports that the makers of Scrabble were changing the rules to allow proper names left some purists fuming. The rumors were false, but they got Grant thinking about idiosyncratic adaptations of the game's rules. Also this week, the origins of the terms picket lines and hooch, why actors go up on their lines, terms for diarrhea of the mouth, and what we mean when we say there's an 800-lb. gorilla in the room.FULL DETAILSSome families have their own idiosyncratic rules for Scrabble. Grant talks about the rules in his house.What do we mean when we say there's an 800-lb. gorilla in the room?An Indianapolis listener says her family often refers to strong liquor as hooch, and wonders where that term comes from. The hosts trace the term's path from an Indian village in Alaska. Grant follows up on his chickpea vs. garbanzo poll, and shares an email on the subject from the U.S. Dry Bean Council.Quiz Guy Greg Pliska reprises his game called Initiarithmetic. The object is to guess a set of items associated with certain numbers, as in "There are 12 m__________ in the y___________." Here's another: "76 t___________ in the b__________ p____________." If you missed the first Initiarithmetic game, it's here:http://www.waywordradio.org/like-a-duck-on-a-june-bug/An SAT prep teacher in Santa Cruz, California, hears lots of teen slang in his work, and is struck by a new use of the term legit.What's a synonym for diarrhea of the mouth? A caller swears she heard the word on an earlier episode, but can't recall it. The hosts try to help. Tumidity? Multiloquence? Logorrhea?Several decades ago, the expression tickety-boo was commonly used to mean "all in order," "correct," or "just dandy." Although it's rarely heard, a caller who once lived in Florida says her boss there often used it. Does it derive from Hindi? By the way, if you just can't get enough of this expression, check out Danny Kaye singing "Everything is Tickety-boo."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzVCahrtaWIGrant quizzes Martha about some odd terms: three sisters garden, weak-hand draw, and strimmer.In the theater, actors who forget their lines are said to go up or to go up on their lines. But why go up?A listener from Bethel, Maine, calls with a riddle she heard at summer camp: The maker doesn't want it, the buyer doesn't use it, and the user never sees it. What is it? She proceeds to stump the hosts with a puzzle: What adjective requires five letters to form the superlative? A Fort Worth listener wonders about a claim she saw in a 1930s magazine. The article said that traditionally, a picket line was an area between the front lines of two opposing armies where soldiers might safely venture out to pick berries without fear of being attacked. Might that be connected to the modern sense of picket line meaning a group of striking workers or protesters? --A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[This episode first aired May 1, 2010.] SUMMARY Digital timepieces may be changing the way we talk, at least a little. There's Bob o'clock (8:08), Big o'clock (8:19), and even Pi o'clock. Also this week, what do you call that gesture with your fingers when you want to make an image larger on an iPhone? Does anyone use the expression fat chance any more? And do the expressions graveyard shift, saved by the bell, and dead ringer has anything to do with weird Victorian burial practices?FULL DESCRIPTIONAs members of the Bob o'clock Facebook group know, the expression "It's Bob O'clock!" means, "It's 8:08!" The hosts discuss this and other silly ways to tell time inspired by the boxy numbers on a digital clock. http://bit.ly/cufbDxWhat's the word for that gesture you make with your fingers when you want to make an image larger on an iPhone? Unpinch? Fwoop?A Wisconsin man says he learned an expression that sounds like quixibar from his father to describe something confusing or befuddling. But he's never heard anyone else use it. Is it unique to his family?Does anyone use the expression fat chance any more? Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a puzzle about heteronyms, words that have the same spelling, but different meanings, like "moped" as in "acted glum" and "moped" as in a motorized bike.A San Diego caller wonders about the expression a-gogo, as in the name of a local restaurant, Hash House A-Gogo. Where'd it come from?You look like death eatin' a cracker walkin' backwards. In Appalachia, this phrase means, "you look terrible." A caller wants to know its origin.A Dallas listener is struck by the fact that Texans talk about East Texas, North Texas, South Texas, and West Texas. So why, she wonders, do people in other states say things like Southern Indiana and Northern California? Grant talks about his daily work as a lexicographer.A Wellesley College student has been reading about the Victorian fear of being buried alive -- also known as taphophobia -- and the bizarre 19th-century burial practices associated with it. She's heard that they gave rise to such expressions as dead ringer, graveyard shift, and saved by the bell. Martha and Grant debunk those linguistic myths. By the way, here's a cool article about those weird Victorian "escape coffins."http://obit-mag.com/articles/escape-coffins-the-fear-of-being-buried-aliveA listener in Buford, Ga., says his mother's maiden name was Barnett, and reports that he was told that the addition of an "e" to a last name was once an indication that the person was descended from slave families. Why do physicians speak of turfing an undesirable patient?--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordrad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[This episode first aired April 10, 2010.]SUMMARYA few pickles short of a jar, a few peas short of a casserole, two French fries short of a Happy Meal -- this week, Martha and Grant discuss these and other full-deckisms, those clever ways to describe someone who falls short in some way. Also, what's the story behind the old phrase "fish or cut bait"? When does the word "it's" have an apostrophe? And is "That's a good question" really a good response?FULL DISCRIPTION"Not the brightest bulb in the Christmas tree lights," "The wind is blowing but nothing's moving," "A few tacos short of a combo platter." After Grant tells a story on himself, the hosts discuss euphemistic ways of saying someone's not playing with a full deck.Is it ever okay to write the word it's to indicate the possessive? Is the correct sentence "The dog is chewing its bone," or "The dog is chewing it's bone"? It's easy to figure out once you know the formula: It's = it is. By the way, Grant mentions that there's an ice cream called "It's It." Here "it" is: http://www.itsiticecream.com/media.cfmFish or cut bait. What does it mean, exactly? Stop fishing and cut your line, or stop fishing and do something else useful, like cutting bait?In an earlier episode, we discussed linguistic false friends, those words in foreign languages that look like familiar English words, but mean something quite different.Martha reads an email response from a listener who learned the hard way that in Norway "Tann Paste" is not the same as "tanning cream."http://www.waywordradio.org/a-gazelle-on-the-lawn/Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a puzzle called "Categorical Allies." After he says a word, you must come up with second word that's in the same category, and begins with the last two letters of the original word. For example, if he says "Sampras," then the category is tennis, and the second word is "Ashe." Now try this first clue: "Sacramento." The second word would be . . . ?If someone says, "That's a good question," do you find it annoying or insincere?A Texas caller wonders about the origin and meaning of the term ultra-crepidarian.Grant shares an entomological--not etymological--riddle.The expression It'll never be seen on a galloping horse means "Don't be such a perfectionist." But why? A caller remembers an even odder version: It'll never be seen on a galloping goose.In an earlier episode, a caller named Todd said that people are forever calling him Scott. He wondered if there was some linguistic reason that people so often confused these names. Grant does a follow-up on why people sometimes mix up names.http://www.waywordradio.org/sailors-delight/You're struggling to live on a budget. Are you trying to make ends meet, or make ends meat?The hosts offer some more full-deckisms, such as "He doesn't have all his cornflakes in one box" and "She thought she couldn't use her AM radio in the evening."A San Francisco man confesses he routinely pronounces the word "both" as "bolth." Grant gives him the results of an informal online survey that shows the caller he's not alone -- some 10 percent of respondents said they do the same thing.Is there a single word that sums up the idea of morbid fascination?--A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: http://waywordradio.org/donateGet your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:Email: [email protected]: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673London +44 20 7193 2113Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donateSite: http://waywordradio.org/Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2011, Wayword LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices