Why would some Spanish speakers use adaptations of certain English words when perfectly good Spanish words for the same thing already exist? Plus, handy terms in a dictionary of the Sussex dialect from 150 years ago: Back then, a dezzick was “a day’s work” and January butter was another term for “mud.” And: you can’t judge a book by its cover, but the outer sides of its pages may impress you. A new trend in publishing features colorful patterns and images that look gorgeous when the book is closed. These decorations are called spredges, from the words “sprayed” and “edges.” Also: brass tacks, beevers, a punning puzzle for cinephiles, shmutzing, lonche, go chalk, archaic names for ladybugs, close-toe vs. close-toed vs. closed-toe, denominalization, mucksig, God Almighty’s cow, and more.
This episode first aired September 27, 2025.
Fly-Golding, Beever, and God Almighty’s Cow
An 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect from southeastern England gives a colorful glimpse of life there in those days. A beever is “an 11 o’clock luncheon.” In parts of Sussex, a ladybug is variously known as a Bishop Barnaby, a fly-golding, or God Almighty’s cow.
Schmutz as a Verb
A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, listener says when he was growing up, his family used the word schmutz as a verb. For example, when one parent reminded the other to apply sunscreen to the youngsters, they might say Make sure you schmutz the kids before you go to the beach! The Yiddish noun shmuts means “dirt” or “grime,” as does German Schmutz. Ian’s family may have simply verbed the noun schmutz, a process called denominalization and added it to their familect, or particular way of speaking.
It’s All in a Dezzick
The word dezzick is defined in an 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect as “a day’s work.”
Down to Brass Tacks
Alisa from Memphis, Tennessee, shares a story about her mother emerging from sedation after a significant head injury. Her mom’s first words were Let’s get down to brass tacks. The phrase means “Let’s get to the point” or “Let’s get down to business,” but where did it originate? Word historian Pascal Tréguer notes on his website Word Histories that an earlier version of the phrase was to come right down to the brass, which referred to the brass studs on coffins—in other words, to come right down to the essentials, or to a point as fundamental as the finality of death.
Book Spredges
Spredge is a portmanteau word, a blend of sprayed and edge, and refers to decorative spraying of the edges of book pages, a trend in book design. These are historically similar to fore-edge paintings.
Cinema Synonym Sequels
Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents a puzzle about fanciful sequels to real movies. John proposes new movies using a synonym of each of two words in a real title. For example, Vulgar Velour would be the title of what remake?
Why Do Spanish-Speakers Adopt English Words?
Why do some Spanish speakers use adaptations of certain English terms when there’s already a perfectly good word for the same thing in Spanish? Sometimes the result is called “Spanglish.” For example, Spanish cuentas means “bills,” but some Spanish speakers now use the word biles, which sounds like the English equivalent. Similarly, camión means “truck,” but some have adopted the similar-sounding troca, and replaced almuerzo, or “lunch,” with lonche.
Close Enough for This Old Shack
Following up on our conversation about the phrase good enough for who it’s for, referring to something that wasn’t done perfectly but was nevertheless good enough, a Clarinda, Iowa, listener shares a similar phrase he used when doing construction work: Close enough for this old shack.
Go to Chalk in Sports
The expression to go chalk has to do with rankings in an athletic tournament and harks back to when seeded teams or players were listed on a chalkboard. To pick chalk means to choose one’s favorite competitor, and you can also speak of a chalk player or a chalky player. Originally, the phrase to go chalk comes from chalkboard rankings in horse racing.
Close-Toed vs. Closed-Toe vs. Close-Toe Shoes
When describing shoes, which is correct: close-toe, close-toed, or closed-toe? And what about forms of footwear that leave those pedal digits exposed? Open-toe shoes? Open-toed shoes?
Eloquent Thoughts About the Sensation of Thin Places
Responding to our discussion about thin places, those spots where the boundary between this world and other realities seems narrow or permeable, a listener in Kirkland, Washington, sent us some eloquent thoughts about her own experiences of that sensation. She’s a librarian at The Overlake School in nearby Redmond, Washington, and has since elaborated on those thoughts and posted them on the school library’s website.
Mooksie, Mucksig, Mucksch
Grace in Abilene, Texas, says her grandmother, who was of German descent, would tell children to stop sulking or pouting with a word that sounded to Grace like “mooksie.” Her grandmother was probably using a form of the German dialectal terms mucksig or mucksch, which describe someone “sullen,” “sulking,” “moody,” or “defiant,” and are related to the verb muckschen meaning “to fuss.” In German, a child who is mucksig might express it with a pouty, protruding lower lip, which goes by the fanciful name Schippchen, literally “little shovel.”
Don’t Track That January Butter in the House!
According to an 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect from southeastern England, January butter means “mud.”
Hisn, Hern, Yourn, Ourn
John in Tucson, Arizona, remembers his grandfather used the possessives hisn, hern, yourn, and ourn, as in Those cattle are hisn or That house is hern. These archaic forms originated hundreds of years ago, formed by analogy with mine and thine. Their use has persisted in scattered pockets of the United States, Canada, and the U.K. They’re known as possessive forms in the absolute position, which means that they can stand on their own and don’t need a noun to follow them.
Run the Traps
The expression to run the traps means “to perform due diligence” or “solicit a wide variety of opinions” or “investigate every angle thoroughly.” This metaphor derives from the literal sense of running the traps, which refers to hunting and fishing, where someone inspects an entire line of traps to ensure no animals remain caught, each trap has bait, and everything else is in order.
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Music Used in the Episode
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cry | Money Mark | Mark’s Keyboard Repair | Mo’ Wax |
| We’ve Only Just Begun | Grant Green | Visions | Blue Note |
| Bold and Black | Ramsey Lewis | Another Voyage | Cadet |
| New Humanity | Los Retros | Everlasting | Stones Throw |
| Uhuru | Ramsey Lewis | Another Voyage | Cadet |
| Tremendous Fantastic | Karate Boogaloo | Tremendous Fantastic (Single) | Colemine Records |
| The Other Side | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Step Down | Colemine Records |
