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Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of eco-friendly and unlock the etymology of skeleton key.
This episode originally aired December 1st and 2nd. 2007.
Do you know what a rampike is? Or a colobus? Martha and Grant test each other's knowledge of ten-dollars words with the online quiz at FreeRice.com.
A reader of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential thinks the book is snarky—but what does snarky really mean?
A husband and wife ask for wisdom about a long-running dispute: Is it last-stitch effort or last-ditch effort?
Greg Pliska's quiz about terms from football, curling, and other sports leaves Martha and Grant winded but wanting more.
How do you pronounce eco, as in eco-friendly? Is it EE-koe or EK-koe? A seller of environmentally friendly products learns whether she can tell her teenage son to go spread his pronunciation in the garden.
A Wisconsinite hopes to unlock the question, “Why do we call it a skeleton key?”
A caller in Texas stirs up a spat over whether it's ever grammatically correct to say between you and I—even though Shakespeare did it.
This week's “Slang This!” contestant guesses what the terms tape bomb and pixie money mean. Improvised explosive devices made out of cassette tapes? We don't think so.
If you release a collection of music on compact disc, can you still call it a record or an album? Or is it just a CD? A musician from Indiana wants an answer.
Finally, to great effect, your unaffected radio hosts explain the difference between affect and effect.
As always, love the new season's shows. I was briefly afraid you had decided to no longer podcast full shows, and I am glad you are back in full for those of us who can't get you over the air.
I loved the discussion about album vs. record vs. CD. The only way I am involved in music is by listening to it, but I still use the phrase "record" to mean "series of songs released all at once that you used to be able to buy in many stores as a single unit". For example, "Gee, I'd love to get the Eagles' new record for Christmas."
You are probably right that it does mark you as a fogey. I am quite certain that my newborn nephew's generation will say, "You used to buy music in a STORE? Why?"
I forgot to mention in the original post that the music you hear during the CD/album/record call is John Dehner and the Enthusiasts. Good stuff.
I was hoping to find some scores from freerice. Grant? Martha? Anybody? What do I have to shoot for in order to play with the big boys and girls? I managed to top out at 42 when I started getting words like; sesquipedalian and circumlocutory. I'm guessing that I won't get much farther than that until I have those two firmly added to my vocabulary arsenal.
btw Grant, great discussion on w00t, the other day. I'm sure your comment on boingboing got all those nerds riled up.
Highpockets said:
I was hoping to find some scores from freerice. Grant? Martha? Anybody? What do I have to shoot for in order to play with the big boys and girls? I managed to top out at 42 when I started getting words like; sesquipedalian and circumlocutory. I'm guessing that I won't get much farther than that until I have those two firmly added to my vocabulary arsenal.
OK, I'll bite. I have gotten to level 50 before I screwed up (I heart my Latin classes and knowledge of Greek roots!), but my real goal is to contribute 2500 to 3000 grains of rice before I quit.
Why, yes, I can be obsessive. Why do you ask?
Highpockets said:
I was hoping to find some scores from freerice. Grant? Martha? Anybody? What do I have to shoot for in order to play with the big boys and girls? I managed to top out at 42 when I started getting words like; sesquipedalian and circumlocutory. I'm guessing that I won't get much farther than that until I have those two firmly added to my vocabulary arsenal.
btw Grant, great discussion on w00t, the other day. I'm sure your comment on boingboing got all those nerds riled up.
got up to level 46 - donated 850 grains. never took any Greek or Latin, but I love my reading of Heinlein and those old Russian authors.
OK... blame it on the holidays or the ice storm, but I just now got around to listening to this episode's podcast on my iPod.
The call about the record/album issue seemed pertinent to me until I realized that my iPod uses ALBUM in it's menu. When you choose MUSIC, you can then list songs by ARTIST, ALBUMS, SONGS, etc. -- so maybe the term album isn't as obsolete and might even see a resurgence!
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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