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

The language and melodies of military marching songs connect grown children with their parents who served, as do parents' love letters from World War II. Plus, "running a sandy" describes an awkward love triangle and Northern Spy is a kind of apple and a bit of abolitionist history. And, whitewater-rafting jargon, wooden spoon, Shakespearean knock-knock jokes, Sunday throat, celestial discharge, and mickey mousing, and more.

This episode first aired December 10, 2016.

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[Image Can Not Be Found] Whitewater Rafting Words
Whitewater rafting has a rich tradition of jargon and slang that includes such terms as boulder garden, strainer, and drop pool.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Whistling in the Dark
An Indianapolis, Indiana, teacher and his class wonder about the origin of whistling in the dark, which means "to put on a brave face in a scary situation." As it happens, the teacher's band, The Knollwood Boys, recorded a song by the same name.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Novi, Michigan
A listener reports that the pronunciation of Novi, Michigan, is counterintuitive. It's pronounced noh-VYE.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Northern Spy
The manager of a cider mill in Rochester, Minnesota, is curious about the name of the variety of apple known as Northern Spy. The origins of its name are murky, but it was likely popularized by the 1830 novel Northern Spy, about a wily abolitionist. Other names for this apple are Northern Pie and Northern Spice.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Floogling
An Omaha, Nebraska, listener has a word for using Google Earth to fly around the planet virtually and zoom in on far-flung locations: floogling, a combination of flying and Googling.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Four-Letter Anagrams
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a quiz about four-letter anagrams. For example, what letters can anagram into words meaning either "cruel" or "designation"?

[Image Can Not Be Found] Run a Sandy
A historian in Indianapolis, Indiana, says a World War II-era letter from her father to her mother refers to running a sandy. It's a phrase that derives from poker and the act of sandbagging, a kind of bluffing of an opponent.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Thoreau, New Mexico
Locals pronounce the name of the town of Thoreau, New Mexico, as thuh-ROO.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Wooden Spoon
In Cantabrigian tradition, a wooden spoon was jokingly awarded to low achievers in mathematics. That practice later extended to other types of competitions. It's also key to a heartwarming story about a charitable organization that arose from a friendly spoon-swapping rivalry between English and Irish rugby teams.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Sunday Throat
If you complain that something went down your Sunday throat you mean that it went into your windpipe. Saying that something goes down your Sunday throat may derive from the fact that just as Sunday is a special day of the week in some religions, where you may wear special clothes and go to special places, the bite you swallowed also went into an unaccustomed place.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Park and Play
In kayakers' slang, a park and play is a part of a river where you park your vehicle closer to a river and enter the water to paddle around a particular water feature, then paddle back to your launch spot rather than continue downstream. If you make a wet exit, you end up in the water.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Shakespearan Knock Knock Jokes
As we mentioned earlier, knock-knock jokes were once a fad sweeping the nation. What we didn't mention is that there are quite a few Shakespearean knock-knock jokes. Such as: Knock-Knock. Who's there? Et. Et who? Et who, Brute? (Hey, don't blame us! Blame some guy named Duane.)  

[Image Can Not Be Found] Cadence Calls
A caller from San Antonio, Texas, remembers a song her father, a World War II vet, used to sing: "Around the corner and under a tree / A sergeant major proposed to me / Who would marry you? I would like to know / For every time I look at your face it makes me want to go —" at which point the verse repeats. These marching songs are known as cadence calls or Jody calls. They apparently arose among American troops during World War II, when a soldier named Willie Duckworth began chanting to boost his comrades' spirits. Such songs echo the rhythmic work songs sung by enslaved Africans and prison chain gangs, which helped to make sure they moved in unison and to pass the time. You can learn more about the songs here.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Who Is She From Home?
Who is she from home? meaning "What's her maiden name?" is a construction common in communities with significant Polish heritage. It's what linguists call a calque — a word or phrase from another language translated literally into another. From home is a literal translation of Polish z domu, just as English blueblood is a literal translation of the older Spanish term sangre azul.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Celestial Discharge
Celestial discharge, in medical slang, refers to a patient's death.

[Image Can Not Be Found] Mickey Mouse as a Pejorative
The terms mickey mouse and to mickey mouse can be used as pejoratives.

[Image Can Not Be Found] River Right, River Left
In whitewater rafting, river left and river right refer to the banks of the river on either side when looking downstream.

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

Photo by Craig McCaa for the Bureau of Land Management.

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