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If someone calls you dibby, should you be flattered or insulted? You'd know if you were in college a century ago—it's outdated college slang! Also, we are voluntold to play a word puzzle about Unknown Superheroes!
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What do we call it when new inventions or ideas change the name of something old? It used to be that the word guitar was sufficient, but now we regularly distinguish between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar. Same for television, a word that sufficed until we started saying color television to distinguish it from the earlier black-and-white version. What's the word for such terms? We know you can't wait: it's retronym.
A Cincinnati man says that at the non-profit where he works, he often hears the word voluntold. It comes up when someone is volunteered by someone else to do some task, rather than volunteering themselves. Does this term for involuntary volunteering have military origins?
You're the apple of my eye is an ancient term of endearment. Martha explains the connections between apples, eyes, and other precious things.
We share a listener's email about nicknames for the city of Vancouver, Canada. How about Word-couver?
Quiz Guy John Chaneski is a huge fan of comic books featuring superheroes like Superman and Spider-Man. Lo and behold, John claims he's discovered a whole treasure trove of Heretofore Unnamed Superheroes, and invites us to guess their names. What do you call the doughty superhero who can take any food item that is past its expiration date, send it back through time, and make it edible again? Need a clue? His mild-mannered alter ego is in his first year at NYU.
An Oakland man is curious about a queasy-making phrase: a face that could gag a maggot off a gutwagon. What's a gutwagon? How's it used? Why is it used? Yech!
Go fly a kite! A caller from Washington, D.C. wonders whose kite is getting flown and why. Naturally, we have some ideas! Here's a copy of the cartoon Grant mentions (from the Chicago Tribune May 15, 1927, p. G2):
A San Diego caller says he's noticed that his high-school grandson and his buddies habitually refer to each other only by their last names, but his granddaughter says she and her own friends never do. Is this just a teenage guy thing? The book that Grant recommends here is A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address by Leslie Dunkling.
Martha shares the oodles of listeners' emails responding to a caller seeking a better word than retiree to describe himself and his wife. How about pre-tiree? Or jubilant?
This week's Slang This! contestant is from Boston. She shares a slang phrase making the rounds among her friends at MIT: find your pants. She then tries to guess the meaning of the slang term boilover and the obscure word nycthemeron.
Is it toward or towards? Forward or forwards? Do they differ in American English and British English? A Seattle listener wants to know.
A California caller is puzzled as to why the prefix un- seems to function in two entirely different ways in the terms undone and unmarried.
If you were raised in North Dakota like our caller, you might wonder about a phrase you heard growing up: It's a horse apiece. It means something like six of one, half a dozen of the other. She is curious about the origin of the horse phrase and whether it's a regional expression.
I meant to share this poem related to the call about “a horse apiece.” Its from Prairie Breezes, a collection of stories and poems published by James W. Foley in 1905.
I have often been accused of being a pedant so I see no reason to stop now.
“The Ashes” is the perpetual trophy for England-Australia cricket test series. In 1882, for the first time, England was beaten in cricket on home soil. A notice was placed in the newspaper; “In affectionate remembrance of English cricket, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P. NB. The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. Every since England-Australia cricket teams have competed for the ashes. There is an actual small urn of ashes.
BUT…, most England-Australia sporting competitions use the term “ashes” even though they have their own official name and trophy.
Now for the pedantic bit. Grant referred to the 1970 series between Great Britain and Australia being Rugby. There are two different games, that Australia plays, with Rugby in the name. “Rugby”, by itself usually refers to Rugby Union but the 1970 series was Rugby League. Great Britain plays Rugby League, while England, Scotland, Wales etc play Rugby Union.
You had a “Rugby” referee on your show a few weeks back. He said that there were 15 players on each side, so he is a Rugby Union referee; Rugby League has 13 players per side. The games are similar but definitely not the same.
Neither of these games should be confused with Australia Rules Football which is played on an oval shaped field and has 18 players on each side.
Oy, Rick. I had no idea! Me, I'm not sporting man. So that's why BBC has coverage of the Rugby League Ashes Series, then?
Interesting that the word 'jubilant' was proffered as a replacement for 'retiree'. In Spanish, 'jubilado' means retiree, so 'jubilant' is not such bad option. 'Jubilacion' is what you get every month when you retire. In Argentina long lines of senior citizens (like me) form at banks where the 'jubilados' get their meagre paycheck or 'jubilacion'.
Grant,
Almost any, on-going, England(or Great Britain)/Australia sporting contest can be referred to as “the ashes”, but the term started with the cricket.
I'm not a sports nut either, but beating the “poms” and the “kiwis” is always important.
If we can beat them in soccer then it really is a “boilover”
Vancouver = Vansterdam? And the email writer said this was by far the most common? I'm not sure I've ever heard that one.
Hollywood North is a little iffy too -- several areas in Canada have that nickname. The 2003 movie Hollywood North took place in Toronto.
In the mid 90s Vancouver got the nickname "Hongcouver" because many moved here from Hong Kong before the Hong Kong hand-over/hand-back to China in 1997. Vancouver still has a huge Asian population, but maybe because it is so diverse (India, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, ...) I don't hear "Hongcouver" very often.
The nickname I do hear a lot in Vancouver about Vancouver is "Raincouver".
Pete Bollini said:
Interesting that the word ‘jubilant' was proffered as a replacement for ‘retiree'. In Spanish, ‘jubilado' means retiree, so ‘jubilant' is not such bad option. ‘Jubilacion' is what you get every month when you retire. In Argentina long lines of senior citizens (like me) form at banks where the ‘jubilados' get their meagre paycheck or ‘jubilacion'.
When Martha was talking of “jubilación”,since I am Argentinean, I had the same image, the long line of jubilados waiting to get their paycheck… I understand it comes from jubilant, but up till now I've never associated the word with its origin…for me it is a melancholic word; may be in the US, since it's not associated with any image, it could be used with a more “jubilant” meaning….
Regarding "the apple of my eye" in Spanish we have a really nice saying: "mi media naranja" (my half orange). I wonder if it is also related to pupils?
Mariana
Mariana said:
Pete Bollini said:
Interesting that the word ‘jubilant' was proffered as a replacement for ‘retiree'. In Spanish, ‘jubilado' means retiree, so ‘jubilant' is not such bad option. ‘Jubilacion' is what you get every month when you retire. In Argentina long lines of senior citizens (like me) form at banks where the ‘jubilados' get their meagre paycheck or ‘jubilacion'.
When Martha was talking of “jubilación”,since I am Argentinean, I had the same image, the long line of jubilados waiting to get their paycheck… I understand it comes from jubilant, but up till now I've never associated the word with its origin…for me it is a melancholic word; may be in the US, since it's not associated with any image, it could be used with a more “jubilant” meaning….
Mariana
As I was driving along listening to the WWW podcast and the discussion of this Spanish term, my mind went immediately to the word “Jubilee” and the possibility of re-labeling us retirees as “jubilees.” When I got home I looked in the OED for its definition of Jubilee, because although I'm familiar with the Hebrew scripture description of the Jubilee year as a time for forgiving all debts so on, I was curious how the dictionary definition might fit with THIS application. I was delighted to read “A year of emancipation and restoration…..” The combined ideas of being set free and being restored makes me appreciate all the more my five years and counting of “jubilee” status.
Plus, it retains the “ee” suffix.
On the other hand, I'd rather see us recapture the full meaning of the original “Jubilee Year.”
Mathetes
>>>>Regarding “the apple of my eye” in Spanish we have a really nice saying: “mi media naranja” (my half orange). I wonder if it is also related to pupils?<<<
Creo que no, Mariana. But I've always loved that expression. I'm assuming it's like English "my better half" or something along those lines. (Similar to Portguese "a minha cara metade," or "my dear half.")
While listening to this episode I was excited to hear the discussion of the term boilover. I can't recall the meaning given on the show but I'd suggest that there may be an alternate meaning.
While in college, my wife worked as a waitress at a restaurant in Door County Wisconsin. The restaurant featured a Fish Boil on the bill of fare. If you've never been to Door County and seen a fish boil it is quite a spectacle. A wood fire is built and a large pot is set to boil. Then baskets of Lake Michigan white fish onions and potatoes are added to the pot. When cooking is nearly done the worker tending the fire rings a bell and calls out "Boilover." The cook then adds addtional liquid fuel to the fire causing an enormous flame and the pot to boilover. This is not just for show, in fact the overflowing pot causes any ashes run off and not be part of your dinner.
As a side note, with so many young college students staffing the various restaurants romance is often on the menu. Among the wait staff a boilover might have an alternate meaning related to some romantic activities.
"Quiz Guy John Chaneski is a huge fan of comic books featuring superheroes like Superman and Spiderman." Of course, it didn't come across on the radio, but the correct spelling for the latter hero is "Spider-Man."
But I digress before I begin. My primary reason for writing is a follow-up on my scream of agony at the word "verbally" used by the host on the broadcast, when he meant "orally." Yikes!
Maggie, you're right about Spider-Man. I'll fix it.
On the other point, as Bryan Garner says, “It is sometimes said that the true sense of the adjective verbal is ‘of or concerned with words,' whether spoken or written (as in: verbal abuse), and that it should not be used to mean ‘spoken rather than written' (as in: a verbal agreement). For this strictly 'spoken' sense, it is said that the adjective oral should be used instead. In practice, however,verbal is well established in this sense and, in certain idiomatic phrases (such as: a verbal agreement), cannot be simply replaced by oral. Note that it is not incorrect to refer to a spoken agreement, order, etc., as verbal, but it is: more exact to describe it as oral—a distinction lawyers are expected to observe.”
I'd add further that in my idiolect, “oral” is specifically used to describe things that concern the mouth (such as “oral surgery”), whereas “verbal” is specifically used to describe things that concern language issuing from the mouth (such as “verbal mistake”).
Not to get picky about this (though, of course, I am) -- and realizing that much time has passed since this all began -- my memory of the "verbal" usage is that you were, specifically, differentiating between a written and a spoken event. It seems to me that in that case the use of the word "verbal" is meaningless as a differentiator, which is what you were after. (Wow, "differentiator": Can I find a few more syllables?)
In any case, thanks for the fun!
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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