The new movie Dream Horse tells a true story that takes place in a tiny Welsh village. A bartender tries to breed a championship racehorse and persuades her neighbors to chip in. They agree, they say, because they want to do it for the hwyl. The Oxford English Dictionary defines hwyl this way: “an emotional quality which inspires and sustains impassioned eloquence; also, the fervour of emotion characteristic of gatherings of Welsh people.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Do it for The Hwyl”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. The new movie Dream Horse tells a true story that takes place in a tiny
Welsh village. On a whim, the local bartender, played by Toni Collette, dreams of breeding a
Championship racehorse. So she buys a mare and she persuades her neighbors to chip in with a
Little money each week to support her efforts. Now, a horse like that is a long shot to win
Anything, but you can imagine why there’s a movie about this true story. Because they lose, right?
Well, Grant, you’ll just have to see it. It’s pretty predictable, but if you do see this movie,
You may wonder about a word that turns up when the local townsfolk meet for the first time to
Decide whether to go for this seemingly impossible goal. Eventually, they all agree that they’re not
Doing this for any prize money. They’re doing it for the Hoyle. And if you go to look up the word
Hoyle in the dictionary, you may have trouble finding it. But here’s the key. Here’s what you
Have to remember. This story takes place in Wales, and the word they’re using is spelled H-W-Y-L,
Hoyle. Nice. W as a vowel. W as a vowel, as you see in Welsh. The term is hard to define,
But I looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary, and the definition there was
An emotional quality which inspires and sustains impassioned eloquence. Also,
The fervor of emotion characteristic of gatherings of Welsh people.
Grant, I can’t wait to go to Wales. I want to experience Hoyle.
Oh, that’s lovely.
I want to watch that movie.
I saw a trailer for it.
I’m like, yeah, it looks predictable, but I like a bunch of the actors in it.
The scenery looked great.
I like horses.
I love Toni Collette.
Sure.
Right?
Damien Lewis.
Damien Lewis is easy on the eyes.
Well, one more bit of good news about this word is that I checked, you can use it in Scrabble.
H-W-Y-L.
Hoyle in Welsh.
And a great word when people say, well, what about W?
Is it a vowel?
And you’re like, yes, it is.
I’ve got the oil to prove it.
We’re not the only ones that find words everywhere we go,
Everywhere we look, everywhere we read, everywhere we listen.
What have you found?
Share it with us on Twitter @wayword,
Or, of course, toll-free in the U.S. And Canada, 877-929-9673.
