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In this episode, Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and product names supposedly botched in translation. They also recommend an eclectic mix of books for the word-lover on your holiday list, from military slang to Yiddish.
Biting the Wax Tadpole? It's the wacky title of a new book by language enthusiast Elizabeth Little which has Martha and Grant talking about whether Coca-Cola and Chevy ran into cultural translation problems when selling products abroad. Did the Chevy Nova really sell poorly in Latin America because “No va” means “don't go” in Spanish? You can find more information about it in Dave Wilton's book Word Myths.
A caller wants help understanding a phrase he saw in Sports Illustrated: enough money to burn a wet dog.
Other callers have weird words on their minds, including biffy (meaning “toilet”) and gedunk (meaning “ice cream” or “a snack bar” where you might buy sweets).
Greg Pliska has a quiz about chemical names that should exist but don't.
A caller asks about how lakes get named and we talk about a lake with a 45-letter Indian name that may or may not translate as, “You fish on your side, I fish on my side and nobody fishes in the middle.” It's Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. if you want to know how to pronounce that, here's the helpful song Martha mentions on the show. It was written by Stephen Willey of the band Shades of Grey.
A caller from Indiana wonders if the T9 text-messaging function has led to the term book being a new term for “cool.”
This week's slang contestant learns about the slang terms bluebird and corpsing.
A New York caller is incensed by the verb incent and a California listener is puzzled when his Southern relatives observe that his new baby is fixing to tune up whenever she's about to start crying.
Grant and Martha recommend books for the word lover on your holiday shopping list:
Grant's picks:
Fubar: Soldier Slang of World War II by Gordon L. Rottman
Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin by Nicholas Ostler
Martha's Picks:
Just Say Nu: Yiddish for Every Occasion by Michael Wex
As I understand the translation of Chinese for Coca Cola -- it loosely means delicious happiness. (One of the words for delicious in Mandarin is: kekou -- the first word, Coca) Quite amazing for something so American to be able to have a phonetic translation into Chinese that actually means something --- AND something that relates to the product as well -- not an easy feat in Chinese!
So, dilettante, I don't suppose you're a fan of "disincent"?:-)
🙂
Grant Barrett said:
I cannot verify that BFI was in the portable toilet business before 1942, when the word “biffy” seems to have first appeared in print, and it also doesn't gibe with the term being most well-known in Wisconsin.
Another interesting anecdotal observation (though not necessarily relevant to the etymology of "biffy") is that in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, one of the most visible providers of portable toilet facilities to events like the Renaissance Festival and the State Fair is called "Biff's."
Regarding the book/cool transmorgification (thank you, Calvin), I came across something similar recently. When posting a comment for an internet video of a skate boarder doing a face plant, one might exclaim "Owned!" If that's not bad enough, an apparent misspelling of Owned has become popular. With the letter O being so close to P on most keyboards, people occasionaly respond "Pwned!" And it has not become intentional.
I think seeing this spelling and usage is more painful than the face plant. I've used computers and the internet since the dawn of personal computers, and I have no patience for these internet word entities. While I may sometimes laugh out loud, I will never lol.
By the way, the math required to post this message asks me what is the sum of 3 + 1. Shouldn't that be what is the sum of 3 AND 1?
i loved your episode with the periodic table of elements words.
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> there are a few additional words that deserve mention. i have provided a
> list for your perusal below.
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> love your show. keep up the excellent work.
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> ______________________________________________________________________
> ______________
> What undertakers do--Barium
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> Entertainer Dione's favorite element—Selenium
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> Dishonorable person's element-Cadmiun
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> What a good doctor does for his patients--Helium
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> What happens when you cut things into two parts—Hafnium
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> What happens when you put the above two back parts together-Holmium
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> Rupert Murdoch's favorite element—Titanium
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> Arnold Schwarzenegger's favorite element—Californium
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> Berlin resident's favorite element—Germanium
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> King of the deep's favorite element-Neptunium
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> Al Gore's favorite element-Nobelium
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> Ex planet's favorite element-Plutonium
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> Fire God's favorite element-Promethium
I was fascinated by query about 'enough money to burn a wet dog'.
The first thing I thought of, and it may be because I live in England, was a dog grate. I am familiar with this design of cast iron fire grate from my childhood.
Could the original meaning of the expression have been 'enough money to light a fire in a wet dog grate'.
Just an idea.
Thanks for your prompt opinion, Grant. I heard your reference to the 'wet mule' on the podcast and there is no usage of 'mule' in fires, grates or stoves that I'm aware of here in England.
P.S. I'm encouraging all my English word-loving friends to subscribe to your FABULOUS podcast! I think it's the best program on radio on the English language anywhere, and that includes the BBC!
Geoff
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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