A listener in Brazil challenges Martha’s pronunciation of the odd English word antipodes. Their email exchange leads Martha to muse about a favorite collection of poems, where she first encountered this word.
Transcript of “Antipodes and Grooks (minicast)”
Welcome to another mini podcast of A Way with Words. I’m Martha Barnette.
Recently on our show, I made a linguistic boo-boo. Did you catch it?
We were talking about the word podium, and a listener named Joel noted that the word podium originally meant something that you stand on.
But more and more, people are using it to mean something you stand behind.
And Joel called to say he was none too happy about that.
So I told him he was right about the roots of the word, even though the meaning of the word podium is now changing.
I feel your pain here, Joel.
Absolutely, podium comes from, ultimately, a Greek word meaning foot.
Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that it has to hold it.
Yeah, but hear me out.
Hear me out.
It’s like podiatrist, the doctor who looks after your feet.
It’s like antipodes, the people on the other side of the world from us.
Exactly.
There’s a big old foot in that word.
There sure is.
Did you catch my mistake?
Well, one of our listeners in Brazil did.
A guy named Luciano emailed from Botucatu in the state of Sao Paulo to say that I’d mispronounce that word for people who live on the other side of the world.
The word spelled A-N-T-I-P-O-D-S, he wrote, isn’t pronounced antipodes.
It’s pronounced antipodes.
And you know what?
He’s exactly right. The Oxford English Dictionary defines Antipodes as, quote, those who dwell directly opposite to each other on the globe so that the soles of their feet are, as it were, planted against each other.
It’s a poetic word, Antipodes, with those Greek roots conjuring this image of people standing soul to soul yet separated by an entire planet.
The English word Antipodes was originally plural in form and referred to lots of people.
The singular version, antipode, came only later by a process that linguists call backformation.
In any case, my only excuse for pronouncing the word is this.
In elementary school, I’d seen that singular form, antipode, and naturally assumed that the plural would be antipodes, not antipodes.
Of course, you may be wondering why an elementary school kid would run into the word antipode at all.
Well, let me tell you about a book of poems that I love.
It’s called Grooks, and it’s by Pete Hine.
If you don’t know this book, you’re in for a treat.
Pete Hine was a 20th century Danish scientist, poet, and designer.
He was forever trying to bridge the gap between art and science, and that’s probably why he counted among his close friends both Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin.
He also wrote short, pithy poems in Danish, English, and in Esperanto, which happened to be one of his other passions.
Here’s a poem called Problems.
Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by hitting back.
I’ll agree with that one.
Here’s another he called a psychological tip.
Whenever you’re called on to make up your mind and you’re hampered by not having any, the best way to solve the dilemma you’ll find is simply by spinning a penny.
No, not so that chance shall decide the affair while you’re passively standing there moping, but the moment the penny is up in the air, you’ll suddenly know what you’re hoping.
I tell you, I’ve used that tip more times than I can count.
And finally, here’s the poem that introduced my little elementary school self to the word antipode.
It will steadily shrink, our earthly abode, until antipode stands upon antipode.
Then souls together, the planet gone, we’ll know the ground that we rest upon.
The book is called Grooks by Pete Hine.
Go to waywordradio.org for more information about this famous Danish poet and his work.
Well, whether you’re with us here in the States or you’re a far-flung antipode, we’d love to hear your thoughts and questions about language.
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The number is 1-877-929-9673.
For A Way with Words, I’m Martha Barnette.
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Recently on our show, I made a linguistic boo-boo. Did you catch it?
We were talking about the word podium. A listener named Joel called to say that the word “podium” originally denoted something you stand on. But more and more, people are using it to mean something you “stand behind.” Joel was none too happy about that.
I told him he was right about the roots of the word “podium,” even though its meaning has changed.
Did you catch my mistake? One of our listeners in Brazil did. Luciano emailed from Sao Paolo to say I’d mispronounced that word for people on the other side of world. A-n-t-i-p-o-d-e-s, he wrote, isn’t pronounced “ANN-ti-poads.” It’s “ann-TIP-uh-dees.”
He’s right! “Ann-TIP-uh-dees” means, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it: “Those who dwell directly opposite to each other on the globe, so that the soles of their feet are, as it were, planted against each other.”
It’s a poetic word, “ann-TIP-uh-dees,” those Greek roots conjuring an image of people standing sole to sole, yet separated by an entire planet. The English word “ann-TIP-uh-dees” was originally plural in form, referring to lots of people. The singular version, “ANN-tih-poad,” came only later, by a process linguists call back-formation.
In any case, my only excuse for mispronouncing the word is this: In elementary school, I’d seen that singular form, “ANN-tih-pode,” and just assumed that the plural would naturally be “ANN-ti-podes.”
You may be wondering why an elementary-school kid would run into the word “antipode” at all.
Let me tell you about a book of poems that I just love. It’s “Grooks” by Piet Hein. If you’re not familiar with it, you’re in for a treat.
Hein was a 20th-century Danish scientist, poet, and designer. He was always trying to bridge the gap between art and science, which is probably why he counted among his close friends both Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin.
He also wrote short, insightful poems in Danish, English, and another passion of his, Esperanto.
Here’s a pithy poem called “Problems”:
Nuff said.
Here’s one that he called “A Psychological Tip”:
I tell you, I’ve used that tip more times than I can count.
And finally, the poem that introduced me to the word “antipode.”
The book, again, is called “Grooks” by Piet Hein. Here are some more examples of his poems.
