Word Game with John Cha-Cha Chaneski

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette.

And striding forward with his chest puffed out is our illustrious quiz guy, John Chaneski.

John, welcome.

Welcome, Mick Way.

I take large steps.

How are you?

Hi, guys.

It’s the Monopoly guy.

It’s me.

Mr. Monopoly.

That’s right.

You know, guys, sometimes a word is so fun to say that you just don’t want to stop.

Often, I’ll take the last syllable of a word and I’ll repeat it over and over, especially if it makes some sort of grammatical sense.

For example, I’m so enthralled by a certain luxury fashion house in Spain that I am very much Balenciaga Gaga.

As you can see, I’ve done the last syllable three times.

Gaga.

Balenciaga.

Gaga.

I’ll give you a tortured and overwritten clue to a phrase consisting of a polysyllabic word and another word that repeats the last syllable twice.

Like, when playing a simple game with a toddler, it’s a real faux pas to forget to reveal your face again.

And that would be a…

Peek-a-boo-boo.

Peek-a-boo-boo.

Peek-a-boo-boo.

Yeah, let’s have three of the last syllable.

Here we go.

My business plan is this.

I’ll find a chain of islands, and on each one I’ll open a nightclub with music and dancing.

I plan to be the master of the…

Archipelago-go-go.

Yes, the archipelago-go-go.

Very good.

For Halloween, I want to be a classic spooky vampire.

But I also want to be a ballerina.

I’ve got it.

I’ll wear a…

A tutu, something tutu, tutu.

Yeah, do you know a classic spooky vampire?

Oh, Nosferatu-tutu.

Nosferatu-tutu, yes.

They say that these big flightless birds are extinct, but guess what?

I found one in Denver.

What is it?

Colorado-dodo.

Colorado-dodo, yes.

Everyone ridiculed Nelson Muntz when he invested in a company that makes both musical instruments and motorcycles.

But now they’re the biggest and he’s having the last laugh.

Maybe Martha’s having the last laugh.

Yamaha.

Ha ha.

Ha ha.

Yamaha.

Ha ha.

Very nice.

Your pizza sauce recipe has entirely too much wild marjoram.

Too much spice in the sauce is an…

There’s another name by wild marjoram or soup marjoram goes by, by the way.

How about an oregano no-no?

Yes, that’s an oregano no-no.

Don’t do that.

I could always count on my grandfather to have some candy in his pocket.

He knew I especially liked dum-dums.

That’s why I called him…

Lollipop Pop Pop.

Lollipop Pop Pop.

Yeah, very good.

Finally, as an expert in toys from cities around the world, I can tell you that the best hula hoops are made in Ottawa, the best frisbees are made in London, and for string toys, nothing beats a…

Tokyo Yo-Yo.

Yes, Tokyo Yo-Yo.

You guys did fantastic.

Great job.

Thank you, John, for the quiz.

We appreciate it as always.

Bye, John.

Bye.

All of John’s quizzes and all of our past episodes are on our website at no cost to you at waywordradio.org.

You can also find more than a dozen ways to reach us so that you can be on the show.

Go to our website, waywordradio.org.