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Regarding the colors discussion, Randall Munroe, the writer of the XKCD comic strip, recently did a color survey asking people to invent names for about 1000 colors, and tied the names to computer display color codes. He also asked for a few bits of personal (anonymous) information (sex, color blindness, native language) from the people who took the survey so that he could, for example, sort out how many different shades of "Pink" women chose vs. men. Here's the link to the survey results:
I work in the cosmetics department for a major US retailer, and we've recently gotten in a bunch of new nail polish (OPI brand) with particularly punny names..
Their site is flash-based and not linkable to interior bits, so try going to OPI.com, click on Nail Color in the top left, and from the drop-down menu, "All Nail Colors" and a grid will pop up on the fair right (may require side-scrolling) with mouseovers that list their clever names. A few favorites –
Teal the Cows Come Home, Aphorodite's Pink Nightie, Blushingham Palace, Argenteeny Pinkini, Ladies & Magenta-men, Bastille My Heart, Bling Dynasty, Here Today Aragon Tomorrow, Blue My Mind, Ogre-The-Top Blue, Yuctatan If You Want, Paint My Moji-toes Red, Conquistadorable Color, Silent Mauvie, Tickle My France-y, Over the Taupe, Melon of Troy, Pink Before You Leap, Red My Fortune Cookie..
There are also several from Sally Hansen that are nearly as nitwitted in nomenclature.. (visit http://www.sallyhansen.com/product.cfm?product=385 and hover your mouse over the color grid so the "alt text" will appear near your cursor:
Back To The Fuchsia, Shell We Dance, Plum's the Word, Commander In Chic, Yellow Kitty, Grass Slipper, Shrimply Divine, Pat on the Black..
In addition to these, the "Herbal Essences" brand of shampoo and conditioner also has some cleverly-called creations I thought were rather remarkable: No Flakin' Way, None Of Your Frizzness, Drama Clean, and Tousle Me Softly (from HerbalEssences.com, and hover the mouse over the "products" menu item)..
Regarding the "first annual" question and answers: I think I remember from my journalism classes that nothing can be annual until at least the second time it has happened, as your caller said. We were taught that an initial happening could be deemed "the to be annual event" but better to call it "the event." The second occurrence of that event (obviously a year or so later) would then be accurately called the "second annual event."
Now, if "annual" was part of the name, there'd be no confusion.
TStegall said:
When I was in high school 20 years ago we all wore bobos and they were shoes. They were the plain white shoes (similar to Keds) but were not marked, and very inexpensive, usually only worn a few times then replaced. Being the 80s we of course wore them with wildly colored socks too!
I went to school in Tampa Florida
My daughter is 17 in Atlanta and she uses bobo to describe something that is cheap or poorly made – a rickety chair would be “all boboâ€, or a sloppy project board (like a science project) is “bobo†which is why they got a bad grade.
Just thought I'd share.
Love your show!!
Tracy Stegall
I haven't heard bobo used in quite that way. When I was a kid, your bobo was your butt. Currently on the kid's show, Dora the Explorer, the mischevious monkeys are the Bobos. Could this be a reference from Spanish? Wasn't there also Bobo the Clown? All of these have the same implication of bobo being something bad, or at least, inferior.
carolsj said:
Wasn't there also Bobo the Clown?
You may be thinking of this inflatable toy: http://classictoymuseum.blogspot.com/2010/01/bobo.html.
When I heard "bobo" I immediately made the connection to the slang word "bogus" which means bad, terrible or nasty. It was a given as far as I was concerned.
I do love your show and am so happy to be able to listen online. I wonder what it is that creates a fascination with language? Fun, isn't it?
I was taught that the first of an event that one hopes will repeat at a given time each year (or month or decade) is called the inaugural event. Also, think about well-established annual events such as the Superbowl. We never refer to Superbowl I as the "first annual Superbowl," but instead we just say the "first Superbowl."
When I was in the military, we used the word "Bobo" to refer to someone who screwed something up. We'd walk into a room of men and shout, "Who's the goddamned Bobo who did ...?" This came and went in the mid '70s, but I've continued to use it in civilian life, although less and less over the years. I've never used it to refer to a thing, just to a person.
I've been on jobs in Mexico (over 200 miles from the border) where no one around me has known English. I was generically called "Gringo" as a quick way to get my attention, especially by those who did not know my name. It wasn't used as a term of denigration, just as a term of convenience.
sita108 said:
I was raised using the word bobo to mean someone that is stupid. Someone could be a bobo, or a bobo-head. We also use the word stupid to refer to something that is cheap. Like if I got a toy that was just a cheaply made item, or a little trinket, we would have said it was a stupid little toy.
It would just make sense then, if bobo=stupid=cheap.
LOL… In the movie, "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter" starring Jayne Mansfield and Tony Randal, Jayne Mansfield's real-life husband, Mickey Hargitay played a bit part, "Bo-Bo Braniganski, "The Jungle Man", a TV personality! The character was very dumb!
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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