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"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning." Martha talks about this weather proverb, which has been around in one form or another since ancient times. Grant shares a favorite weather word: slatch. Also this week: Is there a better alternative to the word mentee? What's pooflapoo pie?
This episode first aired March 6, 2010.
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Red Sky at Night
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning." Martha talks about this weather proverb, which has been around in one form or another since ancient times.
On The Stick
A Dallas listener and her boss have a dispute. The boss says the staff should get "on the stick." The caller and her co-workers say the correct phrase is "on the ball." Grant gives her an answer, then suggests a third option used in Hawaii: "on the kinipopo."
Different Terms for Mentee
What's the best term for someone who's being mentored? A woman in a mentoring program at church thinks the word mentee sounds like "manatee." She's hoping for an alternative.
Parky
Grant shares another weather-related word from Britain: parky.
Initials Quiz
Quiz Guy John Chaneski offers a puzzle in honor of the hosts' initials. Every clue prompts a two-word answer beginning with the letters M and B or G and B. For example: "Paper or plastic?"
Called by the Wrong Name
A caller named Todd says that when people meet him for the first time, they sometimes call him Scott, even if he's wearing a nametag with his real name on it. It's happened too many times to be a coincidence, he says, and wonders if there's something about the double letters that registers the wrong name in people's minds. Why do we get other people's names wrong?
Pooflapoo Pie
Whip up a big batch of pistachio pudding, then add pineapple, walnuts, Cool Whip, and marshmallow bits, and what do you have? A Los Angeles woman says her grandmother used to make a dish with those ingredients that she called pooflapoo pie. Is that just her family's name for it, or do other people refer to it that way? Other people call it Watergate salad or ambrosia.
Stalagtites vs. Stalagmites
Have trouble remembering the difference between stalagtites and stalagmites? Martha shares a mnemonic that will help.
Leaving Out "That"
A police officer says that the prosecutor edits out the word "that" from the reports he submits, as in, "The subject stated that he met the co-defendant at a party." Is the word "that" necessary here? Martha and Grant disagree. Also, the cop also has a brain-teaser for the hosts: Can you use the word "that" five times consecutively in a sentence correctly?
Spelling Tricks
The hosts talk about the tricks they use to remember how to spell certain words.
Dressed to the Nines
Why do we say that someone finely attired is "dressed to the nines"?
Peep-Eye
A woman says that when playing hide-and-seek with a small child, her mother-in-law says "peep-eye!" instead of "peekaboo!" Is that usage limited to certain parts of the country? And where do they say "pee-bo!"?
Frontogenesis
Grant talks about two other weather-related terms, frontogenesis and aeromancy.
More vs. Most
When comparing one item with the rest of the items in a group, which is better: more or most?
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Photo by UnknownNet Photography. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Music Used in the Broadcast
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bubble Gum | The 9th Creation | Bubble Gum | Pony Canyon Japan |
| Red Onion | Groove Holmes | New Groove | Groove Merchant |
| Mystical Brotherhood | Karl Hector and The Malcouns | Sahara Swing | Now-Again |
| Jellybread | Booker T and The MG's | Soul Dressing | Stax |
| Chicken Pox | Booker T and The MG's | Melting Pot | Stax |
| Mello (Version) | Karl Hector and The Malcouns | Sahara Swing | Now-Again |
| Mango Meat | Mandrill | Just Outside Of Town | Collectables |
| Let's Call The Whole Thing Off | Fred Astaire | JFred Astaire's Finest Hour | Verve |
Regarding the word mentee, you can subject yourself to my rant in the earlier discussion in the Recommended topic section entitled "What words do you hate?" ('nuf said?) I won't bother to copy it here.
I hate mentee
Grant Barrett said:
Whip up a big batch of pistachio pudding, then add pineapple, walnuts, Cool Whip, and marshmallow bits, and what do you have? A Los Angeles woman says her grandmother used to make a dish with those ingredients that she called pooflapoo pie. Is that just her family's name for it, or do other people refer to it that way? Other people call it Watergate salad or ambrosia.
The family of my former girlfriend used to serve that or something much like it at every big family get-together. They all just called it "the green stuff".
I too am keen to hear of any suggested alternatives to the awkward and passive Mentee. At the organization where I am the head of Talent Management, we have a Development Manager (DM) responsible for guiding each Mentee's professional development. We'd love to come up with something more collaborative and catchy than Mentee, but have yet to find the right word. The name of the firm is Dominion Digital and we're in the habit of referring to each other as DDIGers (DEE-dig-ers) after the nickname for the firm, DDIG. We'd be happy to go with a made up name for the mentee role. Suggestions welcome and greatly appreciated.
Grant Barrett said:
What's the best term for someone who's being mentored? A woman in a mentoring program at church thinks the word mentee sounds like "manatee." She's hoping for an alternative.
I like Grant's suggestion of protege. It seems that the caller, like my parents, associates some of the meaning of prodigy with the word protege, perhaps because of the similar pronunciations. However, the denoted meaning of protege works quite well in this context.
Of course, in a church context, the word disciple could work very well — not to be confused with apostle, which would not do at all.
To pair with mentor a word of Greek origin might be nice, but I haven't found a good Greek option yet.
In a field that I work in, new professionals have to spend a time working under the supervision of a series of experienced professionals, and the terms mentor and mentee are in common use. I agree that mentee is an ugly coinage.
I suspect the proper substitute depends on the exact situation. "Protege" to me suggests a long-term and professional relationship. Student, intern, junior, pupil, apprentice, candidate, learner, team member (in relation to a coach), or associate might all have a place. Or how about abecedarian?
I'd like to add a weather-word question or two.
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and "black ice" was a common winter weather word. When I went to college in the Northeast in the 1970s, no one seemed to know the term. Now it seems to be commonplace in the East. Was this a regional word that caught on?
Another winter weather word that I knew growing up was "silver thaw," meaning an ice storm. I think this was a Pacific Northwest and New England term, and I never hear it where I live now, in the Mid Atlantic states. Does this term have any currency?
I can attest to the wide use of the term "black ice" in Concord N.H. in the winter of 1974-1975. It was great to skate all over the lakes and ponds.
There and then it refered to the water freezing to a safe thickness without having snow to ruin the smooth surface, making all the lakes and ponds open for recreation. This newspaper article (The Day, New London CT, Nov. 23, 1977) puts it well.
Black Ice
Now I more often hear it refer to the road hazard of hard-to-spot frozen patches.
Which did it mean in the Pacific Northwest?
Regarding "On the stick":
I was surprised that MUSIC was not mentioned as I've heard this same phrase used in the context of orchestra rehearsals and conducting classes and then applied as a metaphor outside those circumstances. To be "on the stick" in rehearsal meant that you were playing in tempo and in the same style as being portrayed by the conductor.
Glenn said:
Grant Barrett said:
What's the best term for someone who's being mentored? A woman in a mentoring program at church thinks the word mentee sounds like "manatee." She's hoping for an alternative.
I like Grant's suggestion of protege. It seems that the caller, like my parents, associates some of the meaning of prodigy with the word protege, perhaps because of the similar pronunciations. However, the denoted meaning of protege works quite well in this context.
Of course, in a church context, the word disciple could work very well — not to be confused with apostle, which would not do at all.
To pair with mentor a word of Greek origin might be nice, but I haven't found a good Greek option yet.
The caller came very close to my suggestion but backed away at the last instant: call the student a telemachus. The idea stated by the caller's husband, that it's wrong to interpret a proper name as a regular word, flies in the face of all those other Homeric characters who receive similar treatment: Hector, Stentor, Achilles.
(I worry, though, that people will put the stress on the third syllable of "telemachus", making it sound like it's derived from "telemarketer".)
Regarding Peep Eye...I'm from South Louisiana and we played Peep Eye as well as Peek A Boo as children, but I remember Peep Eye more so. It cracked me up that Martha heard it as Pea Pie! Similar to that, when playing I Spy as a child, I always heard it as Ice Buy, but I never could figure out why they called it that...I just liked playing it!
Grant Barrett said:
When comparing one item with the rest of the items in a group, which is better: more or most?
To me, one with engineering disciplines, this is a fairly simply question involving probabilities, averages, ratios, relative qualities or math in short, LOL. When saying someone is 'more' (adjective) in some group, I would think of someone is better than average. As in picking anyone from the group to compare the subject, the person is likely better. As in the caller's case, Johny is a stronger candidate of the group than anyone that is picked at random to compare. If someone is one of the 'most' (adjective) in a group, the person has to be in the top third of group. As in Johny would be the strongest of the candidate if two other people picked at random to compare.
Personally, this method of the thinking makes the most sense. Johny is likely a strong candidate out of 40 applicate but how strong? By saying stronger, Johny is better than average or the top half and better than No. 20, which also works with one and one relative comparison. If Johny is a very strong candidate, yet one is unsure whether he is No. 1, but sure of being in the top third, 'one of the strongest' works just fine. Random two other plus Johny relative comparison would be just fine as well.
This concludes my little nuggets of reasoning, hope you all enjoyed it.
Andrew H.
Glenn said:
I can attest to the wide use of the term "black ice" in Concord N.H. in the winter of 1974-1975. It was great to skate all over the lakes and ponds.
There and then it refered to the water freezing to a safe thickness without having snow to ruin the smooth surface, making all the lakes and ponds open for recreation. This newspaper article (The Day, New London CT, Nov. 23, 1977) puts it well.
Black IceNow I more often hear it refer to the road hazard of hard-to-spot frozen patches.
Which did it mean in the Pacific Northwest?
In the Northwest, it referred to the road hazard. In the valleys west of the Cascades, you often had wet mornings after nights just below freezing, which left thin ice on the roads looking just like wet asphalt, hence black ice.
Fun with comparatives: what is the opposite of "more"? Is it "less" or "fewer"?
It's interesting that English has the same comparative and superlative for "much" and "many", but not on the opposite end of the scale for "little" and "few".
The ambiguity allows people to argue endlessly about which is correct:
"More than six eggs per day is bad for you."
"More than six eggs per day are bad for you."
...or:
"Most of the senior class is out sick today."
"Most of the senior class are out sick today."
Regarding the word 'slatch':
Back in the mid-70s there was a Saturday morning live-action science-fiction/fantasy TV show called Land of the Lost (which was INFINITELY better than the stupid movie starring what's-his-name). It featured a family of three (dad and two kids) who fell into an alternate dimension where dinosaurs live and some of the bad guys were 7'-tall insectoid/reptiloid creatures called Sleestak.
One of the Sleestak characters was named S'latch or Slatch. He was a very advanced Sleestak who'd been born with all the knowledge in the universe. Except how to escape the Land of the Lost, of course. 🙂
I wonder if Wina Sturgeon (who wrote the episode (The Hole)) knew the word 'slatch' when she named him. 🙂
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