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Howdy from your fellow word-wranglers, Martha and Grant!
A huge thank-you to all of you who've contributed to our independently produced show in recent weeks--whether it be with a contribution of your phone calls, your emails, your forum posts, or your cash. Of course, donations from the word-loving community do the most to make it possible for us to help keep grammar alive (though the subjunctive may be beyond all hope).
You can help with your tax-deductible donation here:
https://waywordradio.org/donate/
The episode before that featured the language of love, including the mushy emoticon <3 (or "less than three"), Martha reading part of a poem by the Roman poet Catullus (not one of the naughty ones), fancy words for different kinds of kisses, and more:
https://waywordradio.org/the-language-of-love/
We also tackled a caller's question about the male equivalent of the word "mistress." What do you call a man who's having an affair with a married woman? We made some suggestions, including "consort" and "leman." (Yes, "leman": .)
Many, many of you informed us that our answer was, well, a lemon. We're kicking ourselves that we didn't suggest the word "paramour." Thanks for the reminder!
Also out there in Language Land:
Did you catch Grant's "On Language" column in the New York Times Sunday Magazine? He wrote about the oft-made assertion that the most beautiful phrase in the English language is "cellar door."
Grant was inspired to write this essay after a listener asked about the original source of that claim. He did a lot of digging--no surprise there--and turned up a lot of new, unpublished information. So, keep those calls and emails coming. You never know when you might be our partner in etymological discoveries!
An intriguing study from British Columbia suggests that newborn babies of bilingual mothers may be more inclined than others toward bilingualism:
Researchers used the sucking reflex of babies as an indication of interest in a stimulus. They found that babies of mothers who spoke both English and Tagalog showed interest in hearing both languages, while those born to monolingual moms responded only to English.
If you're interested in speaking with us on the air (in English, please--our Tagalog isn't up to snuff, although we wish it were), drop us a line any time: words@waywordradio.org.
One last note: some of you are aware that Grant and his family were forced out of their home last week due to a fire in their building. The latest news is that everyone in the building was unharmed, things are almost back to normal, and thanks to a fantastic response from the landlord, everything is now smoke-free. Every cover of every book has been wiped clean. A fellow has to have his priorities, right? Family, home, and books in that order? Something like that.
Mad props to the San Mateo, CA, fire department, which responded in just a few minutes with more than nine trucks, thirty firefighters, and lots of professionalism. Respect!
Until next time, lots of less-than-three from us to you!
Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett,
Co-hosts of "A Way with Words"
https://waywordradio.org
words@waywordradio.org
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I had been ruminating on Grant's "On Language" column when I remembered that Neil Young used the phrase in his haunting "The Needle and the Damage Done."
It could have been that Mr. Young simply needed the rhyme, but he could also very well have been aware of the strangely wide-spread appeal of the phrase.
I find the phrase charming. It has a certain "Grandma's root cellar" connotation for me. A real Greg Brown - Canned Goods kind of feeling.
It also recalls to mind the old "Green Glass Door" word game we used to play at summer camp. The set up was simply to say to your audience, "We're going to a party behind the green glass door," and then to invite them to guess what items they could bring. For instance, one could bring a spoon but not a fork; the moon, but not the sun; boots, not shoes. Eventually they would figure out that words with double letters were allowed behind the green glass door.
My favorite thing to bring was a Truffula Tree.
cmanb said:
I find the phrase charming. It has a certain "Grandma's root cellar" connotation for me. A real Greg Brown - Canned Goods kind of feeling.
It also recalls to mind the old "Green Glass Door" word game we used to play at summer camp. The set up was simply to say to your audience, "We're going to a party behind the green glass door," and then to invite them to guess what items they could bring. For instance, one could bring a spoon but not a fork; the moon, but not the sun; boots, not shoes. Eventually they would figure out that words with double letters were allowed behind the green glass door.
My favorite thing to bring was a Truffula Tree.
I know it as "The Valley of the Green Glass Doors", it's a wonderful car game. The players who know the rule (which is never, never spoken, written or referred to!) start talking about things that belong in the Valley, and the object is to make the uninformed player(s) guess the rule and once they know it, they play along. Of course, the opposite game is "Behind the Red Plastic Window", which is everything that does not belong in the Valley of the Green Glass Doors.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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