Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s brain teaser features two- and three-word expressions that end with an ee sound. For example, what two-word title might apply to a song about a participation dance with a distinctive tune and lyric structure that reflects an unhealthy obsession with body parts? This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Brain Teas-ee”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Martha Barnette.
And I’m Grant Barrett, and we’re joined by our quiz guide, John Chaneski.
Hi, John.
Hi, Grant.
Hi, Martha.
It’s so good to hear you guys again.
How are you doing?
Fantastic.
And you?
Doing great.
Good.
I’m just great.
You know, I was reminded recently of a quiz that we played a few years ago in which the ends of a pair of words had the same sound. There was an sound, like prima donna or mama pajama. Do you remember that?
I don’t know if you remember.
Yeah.
How could we forget?
Of course.
This time we’ll seek out two word phrases that end in E. So you’ll basically be saying E-E, like E-E, like the music from Psycho.
Or a dolphin.
Don’t be scared.
Or a dolphin.
Let’s call it a dolphin quiz.
Right.
I called it E-E Cummings because here come the E-Es.
Okay.
For example, it’s described as a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. And I think it has an unhealthy obsession with body parts. What is it?
It’s the hokey pokey.
Hokey pokey.
Right.
Some places they call it the hokey cokey.
Hokey cokey.
I’ve never heard that.
I didn’t know that.
Yeah.
Now, here are some more. But unlike my example, none of these actually rhyme. They end in EE, but they don’t rhyme. You’ll see what I mean.
Yeah.
Here’s the first one. In the UK or Australia, you might playfully describe an imputed person with this phrase, or you might actually be describing a primate with a fleshy face.
Cheeky monkey.
Cheeky monkey is right.
Very good.
Very good.
Now, I’m not sure why this two-word noun went out of style. It still describes a type of conveyance for young children, whether or not it has rubber bumpers.
Oh, rubber baby buggy bumper.
It’s a baby buggy, right?
Baby buggy.
Baby buggy.
His birth name was Hubert. He was born in 1901, and he was one of the first modern teen idols. In the days when you could not count on a working microphone setup, he would sometimes sing through a megaphone.
Who was he?
Oh.
Blanky, blanky. Rudy Valli.
Yes, Rudy Valli.
There we go, perfect.
Yes, very good. I know we had a couple of listeners shouting Rudy Valli at their computers. That’s fine.
Speaking of nostalgia, though, I can remember when you could use this common toy, based on polymers with unusual properties, to pick up newsprint or comic strip art by pressing it.
Yes, it’s Silly Putty. Yes, Silly Putty.
There were four sequels to this 1971 neo-noir action thriller, including Magnum Force, The Enforcer, The Deadpool, and Sudden Impact.
Is it Dirty Harry?
It is Dirty Harry.
Yeah, I was going to tell you that the last one, Sudden Impact, was directed by star Clint Eastwood himself.
You’ve given me the answer.
You’ve made my day.
Nicely done.
Finally, a triple, a triple E-E-E.
According to a classic Scottish nursery rhyme, this character can be found turling at the window, crying at the lock. Are the wee-ins in their bed?
For now, it’s 10 o’clock.
Wee-willy-winky.
Wee-willy-winky.
Strange man wandering about town, knocking at people’s windows. You don’t see much of that anymore. Perv. You guys worked your way through the quiz. Nicely done. Thank you, John. I don’t know where you keep that clever brain, but put it on ice and we’ll talk to you next week.
Will do. Talk to you next time. All right. Take care of yourself.
And we’d love to talk with you about any aspect of language whatsoever. So give us a call 877-929-9673 or send your stories about language in email to words@waywordradio.org.
