Transcript of “Animal Sounds Word Game”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Martha Barnette.
And I’m Grant Barrett, and we’re joined by a man wearing clam diggers and holding a basket of showfish, John Chaneski.
Hi, John. He’s our quiz guy.
Hi, Grant. Hi, Martha.
You know, speaking of such a vision, it’s been a while since I arranged an attack on your dignity by having you make animal noises.
We’ve done this before. Let’s fix that. Let’s do it again.
I’m going to give you a clue.
Yeah, yeah.
I’ll give you a clue to a word that begins with a sound that an animal makes.
For example, if I said, I asked the dog what part of a loudspeaker is designed to produce low-frequency sounds,
And she answered, woof, woofer.
Got it?
Oh, yes, of course.
Got it?
So you’ll answer with the animal sound first, and then the word that begins with the animal sound.
Here we go.
Let’s start out pretty simple, and the words will get a little longer.
Here’s the first one.
I asked the chick, you’re an animal, but what do we call human beings in general or considered collectively?
Peep. People.
Very good. Peep. Peep. Peep. Peep. People.
I asked the dog, what’s that series of black lines that a scanner reads to determine the price of an item at the supermarket?
Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark. Barcode.
Barcode is exactly right.
I asked the cow, what’s that strong whiskey distilled from corn mash?
You know, the one that’s produced and sold illegally.
Moonshine.
Moonshine is correct.
I asked the dove, what do you call those knee-length trousers that are cut very wide so that they resemble a skirt?
Koolots.
Koolots is exactly right.
I asked the crow, what is an act or agency that produces an effect?
Now, just because two things are correlated, it doesn’t imply this.
Cause.
Cause or causation.
Yes, very good.
Cause.
I asked the sheep, what’s that mythological snake-like dragon that can kill you just by looking at you?
Basilisk.
Basilisk, yes.
I don’t think you guys want any dignity.
I don’t think you care.
Oh, John, you’re giving us credit, frankly.
That’s true.
I asked the kitty cat, what’s that fancy word for extremely generous?
It comes from the Latin word for gift or duty or service.
And the cat refused to tell you.
No, walked away.
Cats don’t play that.
Tail in the air, headed for the other room.
Mew, munificent.
Oh, nice, munificent, yeah.
I asked the owl, what do you call a gathering at which folk singers entertain, often with the audience joining in?
Hoo, hootenanny.
Hootenanny is correct.
Very nice.
Finally, I asked the fox, what does the fox say?
Ring, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
Because apparently that’s what a fox says.
It never gets old, really.
That song actually has a lot of life left in it if you want to give it a chance.
Shout out to Elvis.
Love that group.
They’re so good.
All right, and you guys, again,
I love you guys just as much because you were fantastic
With your performances. Very good.
Oh, what does the fish say?
The fish says,
Thank you so much,
And if you’d like to join in the fun on A Way with Words,
Give us a call, 877-929-9673,
Or send your stories about language
