Words of the Year (full episode)

If you want to see random capitalization, check out the CD of the Beatles' White Album. Some song titles capitalize every word, others only the "important" words, and still others only the first word.

(BTW, I had a "screaming yes while pointing at the radio" moment when Grant confirmed the original version of "another country heard from". I had always heard it as "county" growing up and could never get anyone to believe that this was the original.)

As a journalist your program has always inspired me. Your discussion of new words was especially fascinating. I recently wrote an article about an outburst by John Tyner at San Diego International Airport who said to a TSA agent, "If you touch my junk, I'm going to have you arrested," and which can now be found on a variety of merchandise. Is it too early to consider this as a candidate for your 2010 top 10 list? Here's a link to my article,
http://www.examiner.com/airlines-airport-in-national/don-t-touch-my-junk-sells-products

Grant Barrett said:

What's your choice for 2010's word of the year? Mama grizzly? Starwhacker? Who could forget vuvuzela? Martha and Grant discuss the five-oh in Hawaii 5-0, and whether the tagline "I approve this message" is grammatical. Also, is the phrase "it is what it is" annoying or merely philosophical?

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What's your choice for the word or phrase that best captures the zeitgeist of 2010? Grant shares some of his "word of the year" candidates, including refudiate, mama grizzly, starwhacker, and of course, vuvuzela.

Is the TV show Hawaii Five-0 named for Ford Mustang 5.0 engines in police cruisers? No, and it's correctly typed with a zero instead of the letter "O."

It is what it is. A new transplant to California has noticed this phrase popping up more and more. Where does it come from? Is it annoying or merely philosophical?

Grant talks about another "Word of the Year" contender, Obamacare.

Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a puzzle called "Word Ladders."

After passing by an establishment featuring adult entertainment, an Asheville, N.C., man began wondering: When did the word adult come to refer to "material not suitable for children"?

Political candidates end their TV ads with the statement "I approve this message." Is that ungrammatical?

The internet abounds with memes. Grant explains that this word was coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. More about them at Know Your Meme.

Another word of the year candidate is immappacy, which is formed by analogy with "innumeracy," and means the inability to understand maps.

A La Mesa, Calif., woman thinks the term from 1970s films, jive turkey, deserves reviving.

"They shot the white girl first." That's how Toni Morrison's novel, "Paradise," begins, and it's a great example of an irresistible first line. Martha shares others sent in by listeners. She also reads from a Michael Cunningham essay about why a first line must be authoritative.

A reader of The Atlantic magazine is surprised to find that they're not capitalizing letters in headlines the way they used to.

Martha argues in favor of the serial comma, citing a recent newspaper caption: "The documentary was filmed over three years. Among those interviewed were his ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall." How's that again?

A San Diego woman says that when her baby starts crying in another room, her in-laws have a habit of saying, "Another country heard from!" This expression's roots go back to elections in the 19th century, and was originally "another county heard from."

Grant Barrett said:

It is what it is. A new transplant to California has noticed this phrase popping up more and more. Where does it come from? Is it annoying or merely philosophical?

I'm with Martha on those. They seem to me like a lazy way to end a conversation. When someone says "It it what it is," I'll sometimes reply, "Yep, you can't tell which way a train went by its tracks." More than once, the other person says, "Mmmm. Very true." - at which point I know they're not listening or not thinking.

Political candidates end their TV ads with the statement "I approve this message." Is that ungrammatical?

The present tense of that statement makes we want to apply it to the upcoming message, rather than the message that just played. It doesn't help that the set and sound of the endorsement don't match the rest of the ad. The first time I saw this, I ignored the ad then saw, "My name is .... and I approve this message." So I paid attention to the next message and thought, "This senator approves of Tide liquid detergent?"

Martha argues in favor of the serial comma, citing a recent newspaper caption: "The documentary was filmed over three years. Among those interviewed were his ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall." How's that again?

Har! I love that one. I have seen a breach-of-contract lawsuit, which boiled down to two parties' differing interpretations of a list that lacked the serial comma.

Speaking of "junk" - when did it come into common use as a slang expression for genitalia?