Have you lived in your home so long that you don’t notice its flaws? In Sweden, they have a name for this condition: It’s hemmablind—literally, “home blind.” A popular Swedish TV program shows what you can do about it. Plus, unlocking the mysterious word conclave. And: How did the expression “throw in the towel” come to mean “give up”? Also, pully, visiting firemen, the origin of conclave, how to pronounce grimace, the reason to substitute a different word for substitute, a word challenge involving the letter Y, shiver me timbers!, kiss the dealer! and more.
This episode first aired June 28, 2025.
A Linguist Plants Lots of Parsely for Its Roots and Stems
Listeners keep sending us wince-worthy puns about what various people might have in their gardens. For example, a baseball player’s backyard might be full of pitcher plants. People thinking about adopting a pet might consider orchids. (Say that one aloud.) Linguists? They’d probably plant root vegetables or parse-ly, and etymologists would prefer plants with lots of stems.
“Shiver Me Timbers” Isn’t About Being Cold
The exclamation shiver me timbers! has nothing to do with being cold. A different verb shiver means “to shatter into small pieces,” and timbers refers to the wooden beams that make up the structure of a ship’s hull and ribs. Sailors once used phrases like may God smite my timbers! or may God split my timbers! or simply my timbers! as a kind of mild oath, invoking one of the worst things that can happen to someone at sea. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (Bookshop|Amazon), Long John Silver also says things like shiver my sides! and shiver my soul!
“Pully” as a Food Descriptor
Jerome in Fort Worth, Texas, was surprised to order pully bacon for breakfast at a restaurant, only to find that the restaurant workers had no idea what he meant. He’s long used that term for bacon that’s not crispy and brittle but has a somewhat rubbery texture that invites a little tug with the teeth. Pully is often used to describe food, such as monkey bread and pizza. Bill Neal’s cookbook Biscuits, Spoonbread & Sweet Potato Pie (Bookshop|Amazon) includes a mention of pully biscuits and rolls.
Word Challenge: Non-Rhyming Y-Ending Words
This week’s challenge from Quiz Guy John Chaneski involves non-rhyming pairs of words that both end in the letter Y. Try this clue: John and his wife Jennifer recently spent a whole day there last week participating in their civic obligation. What’s the two-word answer?
One Kind of Visiting Fireman Paints the Town Red, Not Douses It
Visiting firemen doesn’t necessarily refer to firefighters. The terms visiting fireman and visiting firemen may refer to any of several types of visitors from out of town, including non-firefighting celebrities, tourists, and rowdy conventioneers.
Where to Put the Stress on the Word “Grimace”?
After hearing our conversation about how dictionaries decide on a preferred pronunciation, and specifically about how to pronounce aioli, Vern from San Diego, California, wrote to say that a friend once made fun of him for pronouncing grimace with a stress on the second syllable. But when they finally looked it up in a dictionary, they found that indeed grimace can be pronounced either of two ways.
Beheadment and Decapitation—of Words
Ian in Cincinnati, Ohio, has noticed that some words can lose one letter at a time and a meaningful word remains. For example, drama can become dram, then ram, then am, then a. The National Puzzlers’ League has several specific names for this: If the letters are removed from the beginning, it’s beheadment, and if the letter is taken from the end, it’s curtailment. If they’re taken from either end, that’s transdeletion. Synonyms for beheadment include beheading, decapitation, or apheresis. Curtailment is also known as apocope. If you can remove both the first and last letters, that’s terminal deletion. Another kind of beheadment is jokingly called T-totaling, where the beginning word starts with the letter T.
Ace, Two, Three, Four, Kiss the Dealer
Chrissie in Arlington, Virginia, has fond memories of her family playing bridge together. Whenever a trick with four cards that included an ace, a two card, a three card, and a four card was played, her grandmother would chuckle and say, Ace, two, three, four, kiss the dealer! or just Kiss the dealer! This expression and its many variations goes back to card games from the 1800s.
Hemmablind, Home Blind
The Swedish term hemmablind literally means “home blind,” and refers to that state when you’ve lived in your home so long you no longer notice its flaws or your own clutter. This handy Swedish term is one of several introduced in the reality TV series The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, narrated by comedian Amy Poehler. The show is uplifting and heartfelt, and isn’t so much about death as it is about organizing your life now in order to enjoy the rest of it to the very fullest.
Substitute For, Substitute With, and the Variable Understanding of What is Replacing What
The verb substitute has very different understandings depending on the prepositional company it keeps. For example, ask a barista, Can I substitute regular milk for lactose-free milk? and you’re usually asking for regular milk, not lactose-free. However, if you change the for to with and ask, Can I substitute regular milk with lactose-free milk, then you’re usually specifying that you want lactose-free milk. There’s an important difference between those two, and not everyone understands what is replacing what, so it’s best to choose a different word besides substitute. In an essay included in the book One Language, Two Grammars?: Differences between British and American English (Bookshop|Amazon), linguist David Denison reveals the twisted history of the verb substitute and the strikingly similar path taken by its French cognate.
Conclave, Enclave, Clavicle, and Clef
The word conclave comes from Latin con- meaning “together” and clavis meaning “key.” A gathering known as a conclave occurs in “a room that can be locked.” From the same root comes enclave, from the idea of “enclosing,” as well as clavier, a keyboard instrument. The shoulder bone called the clavicle, which resembles a type of ancient key, takes its name from Latin for “little key.” Latin clavis also gave us, via French, the word clef, which is key to the notes to be played, as well as roman à clef, a work of fiction featuring thinly veiled depictions of real people or events—literally, a novel with a “key.”
I’ll Eat My Hat!
For at least three centuries, declaring I’ll eat my hat! has indicated that the speaker is so certain they’re right, that if they’re not, they’re willing to swallow their chapeau. Variations of this phrase include I’ll eat my boots, I’ll eat my cap, I’ll eat my bonnet, and I’ll eat my hat and then swallow my boots. The phrase I’ll eat my hat! has parallel expressions in a variety of languages, including French, Dutch, Italian, Russian, and Scandinavian languages. In German, a similar expression means “I’ll devour a broom,” while in Traditional Chinese, you can assert the same idea with a phrase that translates as “If I’m wrong, I’ll give you my head.”
Throw in the Towel
The phrase throw in the towel meaning “give up,” stems from boxing competitions in the late 19th. If a boxer’s team wanted to stop the fight—usually because their fighter was taking too much punishment—they would literally throw a towel into the air as a signal of surrender. An even earlier phrase signaled the same thing. If the boxer’s team chose to throw up the sponge, chuck up the sponge, fling up the sponge, or toss in the sponge, they were literally hurling a sweaty, bloody sponge into the ring as a way to admit defeat.
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Meatball knitted hat used above is by Laura Beiser Goodsell. Photo taken at the 2025 San Diego County Fair.
Books Mentioned in the Episode
| Biscuits, Spoonbread & Sweet Potato Pie by Bill Neal (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| One Language, Two Grammars?: Differences between British and American English by David Denison (Bookshop|Amazon) |
Music Used in the Episode
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jelly Belly | Medeski, Martin, Wood | Shack-man | Gramavision |
| Shere’s Theme | Leroi Conroy | A Tiger’s Tale | Colemine Records |
| Snowcat | Leroi Conroy | A Tiger’s Tale | Colemine Records |
| Henduck | Medeski, Martin, Wood | Shack-man | Gramavision |
| Chinese New Year | Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics | Inspiration Information | Strut |
| The Other Side | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Step Down | Colemine Records |
