A baby’s first word is often a cherished milestone, but some cultures pay more attention to other firsts, like a baby’s first laugh. A fascinating new book by a linguist examines language at the beginning and the end of life. Plus, the expression Murphy’s Law reflects the idea that “anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” But is the term a slur against the Irish? And an old word for new life: the verb to whicken involves daylight hours growing longer in springtime. Also, breard, honor bright and honour bright, the long history of groceries, a brain teaser about pig Latin, sea painter, give someone down the road, give someone down the banks, a different way to write AI, plurale tantem, how to pronounce rhetoric, and lots more.
This episode first aired May 3, 2025.
Whicken, Quicken, the Breard from the Earth
A Winter Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon) by Paul Anthony Jones includes some words to lift your spirits. The verb whicken involves the lengthening of days in springtime, a variant of quicken, meaning “come to life.” Another word, breard, is an old term that means “the first shoots of a plant visible above the earth.” Jones is also a big fan of the uplifting word respair.
Starnated Fool
Rosalind from Montgomery, Alabama, says her mother used to scold her for acting like a starnadle fool. The more common version of this term is starnated fool, a term that appears particular to Black English, and appears in the work of such writers as Kiese Laymon, who includes it in his memoir about growing up Black in Mississippi, Heavy (Bookshop|Amazon). The word’s origin is unclear, although it might have evolved from stark naked.
Give Someone Down the Road or Down the Banks
In parts of Appalachia, the expression give someone down the road means “to reprimand” someone or “tell someone to get lost.” In Ireland, to give someone down the banks has a somewhat similar meaning, apparently referring to pushing that person into a peat bog.
Igpay Atinlay Ordway Izquay
Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s puzzle this week involves pig Latin, a.k.a. Ig-pay Atin-lay. One of two answers to each clue is a regular English word, and the other is its pig Latin version. For example, what regular English word and its pig Latin version are suggested by the definitions “having started and in progress” and “a feeling of surprise mixed with admiration”?
Is “Murphy’s Law” A Slur Against the Irish?
Is Murphy’s Law, or the idea that “anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” a slur against the Irish?
And Betty, When You Call Me, You Can Call Me Ai
British broadcaster, comedian, and logophile Stephen Fry offers a helpful if tongue-in-cheek suggestion in his newsletter The Fry Corner: Let’s all write AI, the shortened form of artificial intelligence, as Ai. Fry reasons that the upper-case I is too easily confused with L. “How,” he asks, “does the great Pacino feel when he reads that Al is a threat to humanity?”
Nords in Other Words
Ashley from Berea, Kentucky, wonders about her father’s use of nords, apparently to mean “in other words.”
Keeps Honor Bright
Yvonne from Rock Hill, South Carolina, learned the phrase honor bright as a way of assuring that one was telling the truth, much like cross my heart or I swear to God. It’s common in the UK, and Shakespeare used honour bright in Troilus and Cressida — “perseverance, dear my lord, / Keeps honour bright” (Bookshop|Amazon). In the United States, the question Have I kept my honor bright? is sung as part of Scouting vespers.
Our First and Last Words Considered
The new book Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words (Bookshop|Amazon) by linguist Michael Erard is a deeply researched, often intensely personal exploration of the ways people communicate at both the beginning and end of life.
Why Isn’t “Grocery” Ordinarily a Singular Food Item?
Emily in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is married to a native Dutch speaker, who points out that they buy groceries in a store, so why doesn’t grocery denote just one of those items and not the store where they’re sold? Originally, the French word grosserie referred to “wholesale goods”; it’s a relative of English gross, meaning “large” or “a large quantity.” French grosserie eventually led to English grocer, “the seller of those goods.” Later, grocery was applied the profession of selling such items. Three centuries later, grocery came to refer to the store itself, and in the early 20th century, people began using the word groceries to refer to the items being sold from a grocery. The word groceries is what’s called a plurale tantem, which refers to words that exist mainly in the plural form, such as scissors, pants, and eyeglasses.
A Sea Painter is a Rope, Not a Naval Picasso
Mark in Bismarck, North Dakota, spent years as a sailor, and wonders about the term sea painter, meaning “a rope attached to a lifeboat.” Why painter? The word may derive from Middle French pendeur meaning “a kind of rope that hangs,” literally, something that suspends, from pendre, meaning “to hang,” a relative of such “hanging” words as pendant, pendulum, pending, and pendulous. The word painter took on the meaning of “a rope for hanging a boat onto the side of a ship.” Metaphorically, by extension to slip the painter or to cut the painter means “to break free.”
Is Rhetoric Pronunciation Stressed on the First Syllable?
Carrie Ann and her cousin Danielle from Minneapolis, Minnesota, wonder about the pronunciation of the word rhetoric. Is the stress on the first syllable or the second?
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Books Mentioned in the Episode
| A Winter Dictionary by Paul Anthony Jones (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| Heavy by Kiese Laymon (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare (Bookshop|Amazon). |
| Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words by Michael Erard (Bookshop|Amazon) |
Music Used in the Episode
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Return | Leroi Conroy | No Return 45 | Colemine Records |
| Dig On It | Jimmy McGriff | Soul Sugar | Capitol Records |
| In My House | Kendra Morris | In My House (Single) | Karma Chief Records |
| Keep On Calling | Thee Sinseers | Sinseerly Yours | Colemine Records |
| N.T | Kool and The Gang | N.T. 45 | De-Lite Records |
| The Other Side | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Step Down | Colemine Records |
