Beck and Call

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, this is Mara Spring. I’m calling from Wisconsin.

Hi, Mara. How are you doing?

I’m doing great.

What’s on your mind today?

Well, I was listening to a song on the radio, and it had the word, what I believe to be, Beck and Call. And so a friend and I were talking about this and trying to figure out what a Beck is, or if perhaps it is Beckon Call.

Mm-Do you have a theory about which one it might be?

Well, I think it’s Beck and Call, but I can’t figure out what a Beck is.

Oh, we can help you with that. Because the word Beck goes all the way back to the 14th century or so. And a Beck was a wordless signal or gesture that’s given by somebody who’s in a position of superiority to get somebody to do something. You know, like they wiggle their finger to make them come over and people just respond to that. That’s a Beck. It’s like a command that you give without even using words.

So say, for example, Grant is lovestruck. You might say in the old days that Grant hangs upon the beck of that young woman that he’s in love with. Or that young woman has Grant at her beck. But the expression that stuck was beck and call. She has Grant at her beck and call. So if she does a beck that I can interpret as a command or a wish, or she calls out her wishes, then I would leap to aid her, right?

You’re right. And you do see beck and call. Sometimes you even see beacon call. People have misinterpreted it. But you’re correct. Beck and call.

Great. That’s very interesting.

Yeah, we think so.

Well, I guess I win.

You do win.

So how are you going to celebrate?

Yeah, what do you win?

Well, I guess just pride.

Well, or maybe you can order this person around for a while, you know?

There you go.

I’ll practice my back.

Right.

Practice your back, right.

All right. Well, Mara, thank you so much for your call.

Thank you.

All right.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Well, we welcome your questions about grammar, usage, slang, dialect, old sayings, how to spell, how to pronounce, whatever. As long as it’s language-related, give us a call, 1-877-929-9673. That’s 1-877-WAYWORD. And you can try us on our discussion forum at waywordradio.org/discussion. Or you can always email us. The address is words@waywordradio.org.