South African English is a rich mix of Afrikaans, English, and indigenous languages such as Zulu and Xhosa. Martha and Grant discuss some favorite terms from that part of the world, including lekker, diski, and ubuntu. Also, where'd we get the term hurt locker and why do we say "pardon my French" after cursing? What's the difference between supposedly and supposably? And is having a vast vocabulary filled with obscure words really all that important?
This episode first aired April 17, 2010.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/179672822" params="auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&color=ff7700&show_playcount=false" width="100%" height="180" iframe="true" /]
South African English
Looking ahead to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Martha and Grant discuss some terms you might hear there.
Origin of "Pardon My French"
Why do we say "pardon my French" after cursing?
Canadian Vowels
A Dallas listener says he was confused at first when a friend from rural North Dakota reported coming home and finding a moose in his kitchen. Only later did he learn what difference the so-called Canadian raising of a vowel can make. More about Canadian raising in A Handbook of Varieties of English by Bernd Kortmann and Edgar W. Schneider.
2010 Oxcar Quiz
Quiz Guy Greg Pliska presents a puzzle about the Oxcar awards, given to fictitious films, the names of which differ by just one letter from the names of the real 2010 Best Picture Oscar nominees. Here's one such plot: "George Clooney plays a corporate downsizer who avoids close personal relationships by spending his time climbing evergreen trees."
Supposedly vs. Supposably
Which adverb is usually correct: supposably or supposedly?
Round-Heeled Woman
What's a round-heeled woman?
Hurt Locker Etymology
The 2010 winner of the "Best Picture" Oscar has a Seattle woman wondering about the term hurt locker. Ben Zimmer wrote about it recently in his column at the Visual Thesaurus and we talk about it, too. Here's the searing poem by Brian Turner called "The Hurt Locker."
Large, Obscure Vocabulary
The hosts discuss Ammon Shea's recent New York Times Magazine column about whether a large vocabulary filled with obscure and unusual words is all that necessary.
Lay vs. Laid
A medical transcriptionist who majored in English reports that her co-workers are squabbling over a sentence: "The patient was brought to the operating room, and laid supine on the operating-room table."
Evolving Pet Names
Martha shares a listener's email about a pet's name changing over time. In this case, it's a cat whose name morphed from "Orange Juice" all the way to "Lanny." Martha traces the con-cat-enation of monikers.
Newby Last Name
A Texas nurse says she's often teased about her last name, which happens to be "Newby." She wonders if she should change it and how long the term newbie has been around.
Plural of Mustache
Is it ever correct to refer to a mustache as a plural?
Pet Dog Name Change
Martha shares another email about the evolution of a pet's name, in this case a dog whose original name was Dumpster. Now the pooch is named after the 19th president of the United States. Sort of.
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Photo by A.G. Photographe. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Book Mentioned in the Broadcast
| A Handbook of Varieties of English by Bernd Kortmann and Edgar W. Schneider. |
Your caller asked about the use of "hurt locker" to get her children to do their chores -- I remember very fondly a 5th grade teacher who pretended to threaten us with "purple curtains" -- "If you don't finish your assignments on time, it'll be purple curtains for you!" etc.
Absquatulate ? Merci beaucoup, petit fille.
With regard to the "laid-lay" surgery question, I side with "laid." I'm a doctor (a neurologist) myself, and have both positioned patients and dictated surgical reports, although my last was years ago. Here's my argument:
In a typical case, the patient is brought to the OR, and before anesthesia, does usually scoot himself or herself over from the stretcher to the operating table. However, once the patient is under anesthesia, the surgeon may well fine-tune the placement of the patient for best access to the surgical site, wherever it may be. Thus, although the patient does move independently to some extent, it is the surgeon who is responsible for the final position during the operation, not the patient.
Furthermore, a correctly written report always indicates the position of the patient during the operation. "Supine" and "prone" are technical terms in these circumstances. Later on, if there are complications, position may be an important piece of the puzzle, both medically and legally. I've seen nerve injuries related to improper positioning of a limb, for example, and you shouldn't imply that the anesthetized patient was primarily responsible for that position.
Hence, I'd say "the patient was laid on the table," implying "by, or under direction of, the surgeon."
But...wouldn't it be just as easy and much better to use the words "placed" or "positioned"?!
I had never heard of hurt locker before the movie (which I have not seen yet, but there are two hurt constructions that I remember from the mid- to late-sixties: world of hurt, which Grant mentioned, usually with the connotation, as I remember it, of being in deep trouble with the law, as in "He got caught after a hit-and-run, so now he's in a world of hurt"; and doing a hurt dance, tending to be used in an academic vein: "After that last exam he's really doing a hurt dance in physics." Either one could be used in other circumstances. I don't believe I've heard either of them much since I finished college in 1970. Wish I'd paid more attention.
Peter