A calliope — that organ often found on steamboats or at circuses — ends like Penelope, not cantaloupe. The word originally comes from the Greek muse of eloquence and epic poetry, though the sound of a calliope today is associated more with carnival sideshows. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Calliopes”
Hello, you have A Way with Words?
Hi there, this is Phil Slates from Indianapolis, Indiana.
And I’ve got a question about pronunciation.
All right, go ahead, shoot Phil.
All right, we have family down in Evansville, which is kind of at the boot or the toe of Indiana. And it’s a river town. And someone down there was calling what I would call a calliope. They would pronounce it a calliope, and I said, ooh, you’re wrong. They said, no, it’s a calliope when it’s on land, and it’s a calliope if it’s on a steamship, a riverboat. And since I’ve only heard it there, I’m kind of, is that for true? Somebody pulling my leg, what’s up?
Oh, my.
Do they have particular expertise in steamboats or anything like that?
No, they’re not particularly from a riverboating family that I know of. I mean, it’s, although, I mean, gosh, the whole, the whole area is, you know, saturated with river lore.
Yes, indeed.
Right there on the Ohio.
Yeah.
So, Phil, when you talk about a calliope, what you mean is what my father’s people used to call a steam paiana.
Exactly.
Right?
Yeah.
Which you might see in a parade or something like that.
There you go.
Exactly.
We happen to have one right here in the studio.
Yeah, well, don’t quit your day job.
Yeah, this is that tooting keyboard instrument that actually was originally designed for churches. It was patented in the 1850s, and it was supposed to go into churches. But when the parishioners started laughing too much, they had to place it with the somber organ.
Yeah, then it got picked up by circuses and particularly by steamboats. And it was great for steamboats because you could let people know from miles away that you were coming down the river.
Interesting. I hadn’t thought of that.
So instead of just the tooting whistle, you’ve got music.
Yeah.
And the people would come to the shore, rush, and I don’t know.
Right, yeah.
Buy tickets to the show.
Yes, yes.
Go on the boat for a cruise.
And it was given the highfalutin name that you’re talking about, Calliope, who, of course, was the ancient Greek muse of eloquence and epic poetry, Calliope. So she was said to have a beautiful voice.
Yes, yes.
Yeah, literally, literally the name means beautiful voice in ancient Greek. And calliope is the term that has been used traditionally, but there’s always been a certain dispute about it because people look at that, and it’s like for years I thought the name Penelope was Penelope. And it’s sort of easy to see why people would think that it would be Calliope.
I’ve never heard that distinction between on land and on the water. But I will confirm that some older dictionaries, say 150 or more years, do include the Kaliope pronunciation.
Okay.
Yeah.
And there were actually some poems in the 19th century that sort of made fun of that dispute over the pronunciation. They would write poems about this instrument and pronounce it both ways. Or at least that’s what it looks like to me when I look at the text.
Because you’re looking for the rhymes.
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Cool.
Anybody out there, if you know something about that other pronunciation of Calliope, Calliope, to refer to a Calliope aboard a steamship or boat, let us know, 877-929-9673, or email words@waywordradio.org.
Phil, thanks for starting the conversation.
Well, thank you both for letting me talk.
Yeah, sure. Cheers. Take care.
Take care. Bye-bye.
Take care. Bye-bye.
Call us with your questions about language, 877-929-9673.
