Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Sneaky contract lingo, advice for writing well, and preserving a dying language. Say you’re scrolling through an online transaction where you're asked to read the "Terms and Conditions." Do you actually read them or just check the box and move on? If you move on, watch out for the Herod’s clause. Plus: When does your own communication style make you sound out-of-date? A 50-something boss wants suggestions on speaking with and writing for his younger co-workers. Finally, if we lose a language, how many of our childhood memories perish in the process? Also, "dark as Egypt," "not quite cricket," "down to the lick log," "light dawns on Marblehead," "sneezing to the truth," and hot mess.

This episode first aired February 5, 2016.

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[Image Can Not Be Found] Herod Clause
When you get to the stage of an online transaction where you're asked to read the "Terms and Conditions," do you actually read them? Or do you just check the box and move on? A London security firm once offered free use of a WiFi hotspot, provided the users agreed to sign over their firstborn child "for the duration of eternity." Sure enough, some people signed. The company called that sneaky contract language a Herod clause, after the Biblical king who ordered the deaths of firstborn babies in Bethlehem.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Dark as Egypt
The expression "dark as Egypt" means really dark, and is a reference to the story in the book of Exodus of the ten plagues that descended upon Egypt, the ninth of these being complete darkness.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Down to the Lick Log
If you're "down to the lick log," you're close to the end of negotiations, or nearing some kind of decision. This expression is associated with cattle ranching, a salt lick being a place where the herd congregates. The 19th-century frontiersman Davy Crockett used the term in his autobiography.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Not Quite Cricket
"Not quite cricket" means not proper, substandard, or perhaps even illegal. The phrase is a reference to the world's second most popular sport, cricket, and derives from the 19th-century notion that the "Spirit of the Game" is the epitome of good sportsmanship.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Hot Topics of 2015 Limerick Game
Quiz guy John Chaneski shares limericks about things people were talking about in 2015.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Thief Finesse
A high school teacher in Indianapolis reports her students use the verb finesse to mean "to steal."

[Image Can Not Be Found] Golden Apple Riddle
Here's a riddle: Within a fountain crystal clear / A golden apple doth appear / No doors or locks to this stronghold / Yet thieves break in and steal the gold. What is it?

[Image Can Not Be Found] Generation Slang Gap
A 50-something boss in Reno, Nevada, wants suggestions on speaking with and writing for his younger co-workers. When does your own communication style make you sound out-of-date, and when does using younger folks' slang make you sound like you're trying too hard?

[Image Can Not Be Found] Light Dawns on Marblehead
A Massachusetts native living in Washington, D.C. says her professor and classmates had no idea what she meant by a "light dawns on Marblehead" moment. It's a reference to the town of Marblehead in her home state, on an outcropping of land where the sun first hits the coast. It's also a pun on Marblehead, meaning someone who's dense.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Precious Little Dying Language
Imagine that you're the last living speaker of a dying language.  What memories do the words of your childhood evoke? What do you miss talking about? Those are questions raised by Precious Little, a play by Madeleine George. Martha reads a moving passage in which an elderly speaker of a dying language counts to 20 in her native tongue.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Southern Expression "Hot Mess"
The term hot mess refers to someone whose life is chaotic or otherwise somewhat dysfunctional. Heard primarily in the South, hot mess is often used affectionately, suggesting that the person is attractive despite the messiness of their life.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Sneeze Confirmed the Truth
If someone sneezes while you're saying something, a Yiddish speaker might say "G'nossem tsum emes," or "The sneeze confirmed the truth," meaning that what you just said is true, and the sternutation proves it. An English speaker expresses the same idea with the phrases "sneezin' to the truth," "sneezing on the truth," or "the sneeze confirmed the truth."

[Image Can Not Be Found] Etymology of Poormouthing
Someone who's cheap or just likes to complain that they don't have much money are said to be poormouthing. This expression goes back to at least the 1850's, and originated in the American South, although now it's more widespread.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Apple Core, Baltimore!
A Madison, Wisconsin, caller says his father will eat an apple down to the core, then call out "Apple core, Baltimore! Who's your friend?" and if the person doesn't answer fast enough, his dad will throw the core at him. This game, and variations of it, was recorded by the researchers gathering folklore for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930's.

[Image Can Not Be Found] A Southern Mess
In parts of the South, according to the Dictionary of American Regional English, the word mess can denote "a witty, clever, or mischievous person."

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

Photo by Rick. Used under a Creative Commons license.

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