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I just wanted to chime in with another story about the phrase "break a leg". I know of at least one Middle Eastern language which uses the phrase "break the devil's leg" to wish good luck, usually when somebody is about to give some kind of public performance, a concert or maybe a presentation. Actually, until I listened to your last show, I've never thought of this as a case of saying the opposite of what is really being wished. I have always presumed the leg in question was the devil's, as the phrase is "break a leg", not "break your leg." I thought, maybe the devil is not named, because the well wisher is not supposed to wake "the one who shall not be named" to the plan. 🙂
I had sent this to the show's E-Mail box, and Grant suggested I post it here, so here's my contribution for family language:
My family's favorite one was "bacciagalloop."
Throughout my childhood my grandparents always used to refer to anyone they didn't know the name of as "Mr. Bacciagaloop," and it also became the common name for any fictitious person. ("You didn't knock over the lamp? I guess Mr. Bacciagaloop did it?")
For the longest time, I thought that it was a word my family had created, until I heard it used on an episode of "The Golden Girls" when I was in high school. That sent me off to do some research on the name, and I discovered it was actually a very common slang term in Italy, used to refer (in a derogatory sense) to anyone from the hill areas of Northern Italy. Apparently, it became popular in America because of a Louis Prima song called "Bacciagallop (Makes Love On The Stoop)."
So now, with the mingling of Jewish and Italian slang in my household, we have Mr. Bacciagaloop carrying his whoseythingy in his comesechiama when he takes a trip to wheresitz. It makes for a very musical, if not easily understood, private argot.
My father used a word as a place name when nosy neighbors would ask us where we were going. He would use it as an oblique way of saying, “None of your business.” Once when pressed for an explanation he said, “It's where they sharpen the oats.” I never saw the word written down, but I always assumed it was Hungarian since that was his father's native language. Imagine my surprise when I Googled the word as I assume it would be spelled – 'kukacim'. I never found any likely candidate in Hungarian but this is interesting. Cuckoo in Hungarian is kakukk. It actually makes sense that it is Czech rather than Hungarian.
http://www.pic.cover-d-base.com/dvd/zahranicne/P/Prelet%20Nad%20Kukaccim%20Hnizdem%20CZ.jpg
It would be pronounced ku-ka-tyim.
“Prelet Nad Kukacim Hnizdem” translates to “one flew over the cuckoo's nest.”
MarcParis said:
Martha,
Maybe “disgifting” is too strong. But there could also be “ungifting”.
I'm still sticking with “degifting”. And I thought about the noun “degift”, and an expression, “the degift of love”. That would be when your partner breaks up with you, saying s/he never loved you in the first place.
For a real-life use of "ungifting", see Dear Prudence on Slate.com.
Dear Prudence,
I spend a good amount of money on things (clothes, books, toys) for my niece and nephew. My intention was that they use them until they grow out of them, and then I would get them back for my future kids. Every time I give new items, I politely remind my sister-in-law that I would "please like this back." Since my niece was born three years ago, I have been given only one item back. I have since discovered that she sells most of the things her kids outgrow. I understand they need to sell them to afford new clothes, but I am not made of money, either. How do I remind her that I want things returned, other than writing "Aunty wants this" on each piece?—Not Made of Money
Dear Not,
There's nothing more gracious than giving a gift with "Aunty wants this" scrawled across it. Re-gifting is a useful and economical practice, but you've taken it to a new level: ungifting. Since your sister-in-law is busy raising two children, she doesn't have time to keep track of what outgrown toys or clothes to return to you for your yet-unconceived children. If you resent the amount you spend on gifts for the kids, then give them less. But when you give, consider it gone.—Prudie
My dad often employed funny names which I think he made up, e.g., "Billy McSquaddlebuster" or "Herman Ginkwhistle." The way he used them always brought a laugh. My aunt tells me that he had a special name for me (the firstborn); he called me his "little skaboochie." What I wonder is whether that's another of his made-up names or whether it has some meaning in some language or other. Can you help?
P.S. This is the first time I've tried posting anything on a site; I hope I've done it correctly! If not, I hope you can respond in some way or other. Take pity on me; I'm an old lady and struggling to deal with technology!
Instant vs. Instantaneous:
I realize that lexicographers can't be expected to follow all the latest in cognitive science, but there are times when a little interdisciplinary wandering is useful, as books like Stephen Pinker's "The Stuff of Thought" show us (or even Lakoff, if taken with a grain of salt). The peculiarities of how we use words can often reveal how our brain deals with certain ideas, and vice versa.
In this case, it's pretty clear: we think of events in two ways: as a _change of state_, or as a _process_. If I could put graphics in a forum post, I'd draw a picture of a horizontal line dropping and continuing on at a low level for the first, and a line dropping for a distance and then rising back up for the second.
"Instant" and "instantly" are used with state-changes, to describe a transition that is sharp and bright, rather than smooth. "Instantaneous" and "instantaneously" are used for events that take place over a duration, but for which the duration is very short. Thus can one instantly recognize or regret, because those are a change of state; but an auto crash or a game-winning play might be instantaneous, but not instant. Of course there's some interplay in that any state-change event can also be described as a _transition_ over a duration, so you could lose your headache either instantly (change sharply from headache to no-headache state) or instantaneously (having the pain subside quickly). And if you drank a shot instantaneously, the glass would be instantly empty. 🙂
Thanks, Lee. You do raise two good points. My answers were informed by looking at a deep corpus that includes subject and object relationships and I did not look directly into the words as indicating states or processes—I might have, but we do try to keep the on-air stuff as non-wonky as we can and still get our points across. Whether we will ever have the time to keep even lightly abreast of cognitive linguistics depends upon whether we will ever have more than 24 hours in a day.
By the way, although Pinker's work is familiar to me and I appreciate very much his efforts to bridge the academic-lay gap, I don't hold his work in very high regard. His work is generally sound but he falls down on the details. Some of the errors that fall within my areas of expertise in The Language Instinct and the The Stuff of Thought are evidence of slapdash scholarship and call into question the parts of his books that do not fall within my areas of expertise.
You both have such bright smiles in your voices, and a refreshing depth of intelligence in your answers!
The other day I was talking to my son about a garage door opener that I was replacing. I said that the mechanism had been ramikacked. He laughed and asked what that meant. I grew up in rural Indiana, north of Indianapolis. My father was a toolmaker and often applied that term to a broken mechanical device that would require an enormous amount of effort to repair, often exceeding the value of the device. For example, putting a manual transmission into reverse when travelling forward would ramikack the transmission. I always thought it was a commonly used word. Any idea as to the origin? Another word my father used that he treated as uncommon and humorous was "smearcase", referring to cottage cheese. Is it possible that ramikack shares a common background with smearcase?
Thanks,
Paul
I've been using "de-gifting" ever since that Seinfeld episode. They also used the word "re-gifting" (giving away something that has been given to you as a gift), and I find both words extremely useful.
Grant - I'd like to comment on the "Dancing in two weddings" phrase you talked about. It's a phrase widely used in Hebrew, and it means "Having your cake and eating it too", or trying to do two incompatible things at once.
Kelly said:
The woman on this episode wanted an equivalent less offensive phrase than Indian Giver
Based on The Synonym Finder, I wonder if the following would work…
Don't be a….
Welsher
back-pedaler
weasel
worm - from worm out of
Or perhaps the child could be called a…
Barmecide
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Resources/essays/superiorwords.html
Or perhaps … Euro-giver
http://funnyguyontheprowl.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
Lastly, the politically correct….
Native American Conferrer
K
I always thought that the phrase "Indian giver" had to do with the way the white people treated the Indians. We gave them land and then took it back when we decided we needed it (or it was better land than someplace else we could send them), therefore I did not consider the phrase as a slur against the Native Americans. Am I the only one who took it this way?
Some of my fondest memories from childhood revolve around family reunions. We always played games way into the night and a favorite was "Password" from a TV game where one of a set of partners would give a one word clue and the other tried to guess what word he/she was trying to convey. Points were awarded based on how many clues had been given. The adults would usually pair up with the children until we kids figured out that, being on the same wavelink, we did better playing with each other. On one such occasion the word was "derby". The expected definition might be "hat", "sombrero" and the like or even "Kentucky." At that time there was a TV personality named Durwood Kirby. My cousin and I had the first shot at it. Without any other clues being given, I said "Kurwood". Never missing a beat, my cousin said "derby" leaving our parents wondering in amazement at their child prodigies. Now, 50 years later, never does a family gathering come and go without someone saying "Kurwood" and getting the immediate response of "derby."
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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