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

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

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

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The absolute phlegmatic phlegminess of phlegm
Guest
1
2009/07/30 - 5:41am
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Trudge over the tired treatment of “lol” at the top and skip gleefully down into the gooier gripe.

If Crayola named a crayon “phlegm green” it would probably be the last one in the box. Phlegm is the cold and watery humor, and to the ancient Greeks, indicated a cold, emotionless personality. Phlegm conjures images of its cousin mucus and the poorly chosen mucus spokesman of the Mucenix commercial.

Phlegm

Ron Draney
721 Posts
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2
2009/07/30 - 2:02pm
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For some reason this reminds me of a story about a year ago where Katie Couric went off on a reporter who had given her a story containing the word "sputum".

Guest
3
2009/08/05 - 8:41pm
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I like the word "phlegm." It thoroughly describes the disgusting substance that it names. All words should be so perfect.

Ron Draney, I've not heard the story about Katie Couric. Why on earth would she object to "sputum?" I'm assuming it was the word and not the actual substance that she had a problem with?

Ron Draney
721 Posts
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4
2009/08/06 - 2:56am
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Apparently she has an aversion to the word, similar to the irrational objection some people have to words like "moist" or "panties". When an editor used it in a story about tuberculosis that she was supposed to read, she reportedly went ballistic on the guy.

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