Cut the Mustard

Do people who work together sound alike? Yes! Over time, they may begin to develop similar patterns of speech, or what might be called an “occupational accent” that helps them communicate efficiently. Also, lots of familiar words in English got their start not in the languages of Europe, but in Asia — words including bungalow, ketchup, and avatar. And: what’s that snowbird on the basketball court? All that, plus an Olympic-style word game, Buxtehude, the many ways to pronounce onion, cut the mustard vs. pass muster, Der Bus hält an jeder Milchkanne, how pet names evolve, a punny joke about being addicted to seaweed, and why you might say someone who’s clueless is bored, punched, drilled, or countersunk, and lots more.

This episode first aired November 10, 2024.

Does Something “Live” Where it Belongs?

 When you’re talking about the location of an inanimate object, is it okay to say that it lives there, as in The peanut butter lives in that cabinet or The flashlight lives on that shelf? Strictly speaking, of course, that object isn’t alive, but plenty of people still use that expression, and it makes grammatical sense, so if that’s a peeve of yours, let it go.

Going on Buxtehude

 Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude, meaning some “undetermined place.” There’s a small town in Germany called Buxtehude, and Germans use the expression aus Buxtehude to mean “from the boondocks” or “in the middle of nowhere.” The town also figures in the story of “The Hare and the Hedgehog” from Grimm’s Fairy Tales (Bookshop|Amazon). Buxtehude is also fancifully described as the place where dogs bark with their tails.

The 32 Ways to Say “Onion”

 Joan from Augusta, Georgia, says her grandfather used to pronounce the word onions as if they were spelled ernions. The word onion is adapted from the French cognate oignon, and thanks to variations in dialect, geography, and other factors, this word has been pronounced at least 32 different ways!

Change One Letter Olympic Event Word Games

 Quiz Guy John Chaneski insists that the names of modern Olympic sports resulted from changing one letter in the original names for each activity. For example, he says, the pole vault must have originated from an earlier sport in which participants jumped over what kind of small, lemming-like rodents?

What Makes CB Radio Users Sound Alike?

 David from Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a former truck driver who remembers that his fellow users of CB radio tended to sound similar, no matter what part of the country they were from. Is there such a thing as an occupational accent? Many of those truck drivers sound like Jerry Reed from the 1977 movie “Smokey and the Bandit,” and C.W. McCall’s 1975 song “Convoy.” You can find lots of other samples of CB radio chatter on archive.org. People involved in the same enterprise, such as airline pilots and air-traffic controllers, will begin to develop similar patterns of speech.

Ig-nori This One if Puns Aren’t Your Thing

 If you find yourself addicted to seaweed, no need to worry! There’s a punny solution for that.

Is It Okay to Ask if Someone Is “Any Comfortable”?

 Amanda in Reno, Nevada, has a dispute with her husband. Is it okay to ask if something is any comfortable?

Basketball Snowbird

 In basketball, a snowbird is a player who hangs back while the rest of her team plays defense. That way, she’s ready to break for the basket when her team gets the ball. The terms snowbird and snowbirding most likely derive from the use of the term snowbird for someone who moves south for the winter.

Cut the Mustard vs. Cut the Muster

 Eric from West Lafayette, Indiana, wonders which phrase is correct when referring to “making the grade” or “meeting expectations”: Is it cut the mustard or cut the muster? It’s the former, a reference to the strong, spicy taste of mustard as well as the difficulty of actually cutting the plant when it’s fully grown. The expression pass muster means the same thing, although they’re unrelated.

UFOs: Saucer-Like and Super-Heated

 After our conversation about wishing well eggs, a listener from Viroqua, Wisconsin, chimes in with another name for this egg-in-toast dish: UFOs, short for Unidentified Frying Objects.

Patty, Selma, and Marge: Naming Pets According to Themes

 Dog rescue groups such as California Labradors, Retrievers, and More often keep track of their many adoptable puppies by naming each litter according to themes. Once adopted, an animal’s characteristics or behavior may suggest other names. And pets’ names may also evolve over time.

English’s Borrowings from Asian Languages

 The English language has been greatly enriched by borrowings from the languages of Asia. Barely scratching the surface, we have from Japan skosh, tycoon, tsunami, origami, yen, kimono, futon, and karaoke. From Chinese comes yen, kowtow, gung ho, and ketchup. One of the most traveled words in any language, tea, has spread throughout the word from a dialect of Chinese. From India comes juggernaut, pundit, loot, bungalow, and from Sanskrit, avatar.

Stopping at Every Milk Can

 The German phrase Der Bus hält an jeder Milchkanne literally translates as “The bus stops at every milk can,” and refers to a bus that stops at every little out-of-the-way town.

Punched, Bored, or Drifted

 Penny in Savannah, Georgia, recalls that her father, a Navy veteran who served in the South Pacific, would say of someone who was clueless or didn’t know what he was talking about: That person doesn’t know if he’s punched, bored, or drifted. There are lots of versions, particularly in the United Kingdom and Australia, all of them metaphorically referring to the action of woodworking tools on wood, which included such verbs as drilled, countersunk, reamed, and tapered. Other versions include bored, punched, drilled, or countersunk and punched, bored, or burnt out by lightning.

Throw the Book at Someone

 Katie in Kalamazoo, Michigan, wonders about the expression throw the book at, meaning to “try every means possible.” Did it originally involve literally throwing books? It’s just a metaphor in which the book refers to “the criminal code.” In the early 1900s, if someone got the book, they received the maximum sentence for a crime. So no, it doesn’t have to do with tossing books — although thwacking books has been used to relieve people of so-called Bible bumps.

This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.

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