Whippoorwills, bob whites, and chickadees. How do we decide the names of birds and what to call their calls? Plus, the last syllables of Arkansas and Kansas are pronounced differently, but they come from the same etymological root. And: What’s the best word to describe your relationship with someone who’s less than a friend but closer than an acquaintance. Is that person one of your friendlies? Also, knobbly monster, cuate, to have one’s bum in the butter, the meaning of confirming, Kelly days, a quiz about common bonds, to have a goat’s mouth, antidisestablishmentarianism, a Tex-Mex casserole dish, and more. Make no bones about it!
This episode first aired November 15, 2025.
Avoiding Repetition with Knobbly Monsters
When a British tabloid reporter writing about a crocodile attack needed a synonym for crocodile, he went with knobbly monster, now a joking term for similarly creative ways of avoiding repetition. Juliet and Matthew Maguire, described by The Guardian newspaper as a pair of married monographers, present delightful real-life examples of this type of elegant variation in their new book The Little Book of Second Mentions: The Art of Avoiding Repetition (Amazon). Among them: the horizontal sleeping surface, a substitute for bed, and unfortunate ungulate, from a news story about a sheep trapped inside a car.
Words for Someone More than an Acquaintance, Not Quite a Friend
Sara in Camden, New Jersey, wants a word for those people who are more than acquaintances, but not quite friends. She calls them friendlies, but wonders if there’s a better term. Fracquaintance, maybe? The Danish band Mew has an album called Frengers: Not Quite Friends, But Not Quite Strangers. An anatopism is something that’s out of place—seeing someone you know from one part of your life in an entirely different context, but the playful invention anatope doesn’t quite work. Maybe Mexican Spanish, cuate, which means “buddy” or “pal”?
Land With Your Bum in the Butter
At a South African boarding school, Rob picked up a phrase from Afrikaans that translates to land with your bum in the butter, meaning “to be lucky.” There are several variations in English — often with other words for “bum”, like “ass” or “arse” — and similar expressions in other languages linking butter with positive outcomes. A similar German expression translates as “fall on your face in the butter” and a Dutch phrase suggests falling “with your face in the butter.” A Danish phrase that translates as “to come back with butter on your horns,” means “to reap rewards from an investment,” while another involving falling into water refers to a negative result.
Confirming Completion: Is It Done or Not?
Donna in Redwood City, California, reports confusion in her workplace over the term confirming. If she gets an email that says Confirming the supplies will be delivered on Tuesday, she assumes that this means the sender is still in the process of obtaining confirmation. But some colleagues read that the email itself is actually confirming that the process has already been completed.
Common Bonds, a Favorite Word Game Format
Quiz Guy John Chaneski is back with another Common Bonds game, in which the object is to figure out what one word links a trio of ideas. For example, what one word unites the following three things? A report card, USDA inspected beef, and an incline.
Naming Birds: Calls, Color, Behavior, and More
Annie from Omaha, Nebraska, and her partner have been using the Merlin Bird ID app to study and identify birds. This makes them wonder how birds get their names and about the shorthand used to describe their calls. Bird-call mnemonics often use an initial stop consonant like P, T, or K, creating a sharp or abrupt sound rather than using softer, flowing continuants, such N, L, or R. Onomatopoetic names like pee-wee began to be codified with early versions of field guides, such as those by Roger Tory Peterson and David Alan Sibley, as well as the National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of the United States and Canada by Ted Floyd (Bookshop|Amazon). In the 1970 children’s classic The Trumpet of the Swan (Bookshop|Amazon), writer E.B. White describes a white-throated sparrow singing Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada!, but an earlier, widely used version was Oh Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody! Incidentally, the North American pee-wee, peewit, or pee-a-wee is different from the European pee-wee, also known as a lapwing. The North American pee-wee, on the other hand, is a tyrant flycatcher. How their calls are represented also depends on the phonetic inventory of the speaker’s language. For example, the pee-wee is known in German as a Kiebitz, in Dutch a kievit, and in Afrikaans as a kiewiet.
Pink-Fleshed Crowd Pleaser? An Acrobatic Mole Rat?
According to The Little Book of Second Mentions: The Art of Avoiding Repetition (Bookshop|Amazon), a journalist once referred to a watermelon as the pink-fleshed crowd pleaser.
Kelly Days for Cops and Firefighters
A firefighter named Steve in Newport News, Virginia, wonders why in his line of work, and for some police, certain additional kinds of days off after long unbroken shifts are called Kelly days, Kelly shifts, or Kelly time. The term most likely comes from Chicago mayor Edward Joseph Kelly, who in 1936 secured an extra day off for local firefighters who worked long hours.
Maybe She Isn’t Pretty
Holly from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, is curious about her mother’s use of the phrase Maybe she isn’t pretty to indicate that someone was very pretty indeed. It may be a form of litotes, or ironic negation, as in the case of not bad, which actually means “good.”
When the Word “Antidisestablishmentarianism” Became Popular in the US
The word antidisestablishmentarianism first appeared in the 1890s, denoting “opposition to ending the Church of England’s status as the official state church”—the disestablishment of the church, in other words. This word didn’t take off in the U.S. until the 1950s, thanks to a 12-year-old’s appearance on a TV game show. Young Gloria Lockerman successfully spelled antidisestablismentarianism and other challenging words, including the sentence The belligerent astigmatic anthropologist annihilated innumerable chrysanthemums, to win $8000. Lockerman’s story is told in the new book Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds (Bookshop|Amazon) by Jess Zafarris, cohost of the Words Unravelled podcast.
Why the -kansas Part of Arkansas Is Pronounced Differently Than the State of Kansas
The last syllables of Arkansas and Kansas don’t rhyme, but both come from the language of the same Sioux tribe. The name of Kansas was adopted by English-speaking people who came to that area, while the name of Arkansas came from those who were French, who are likely to drop word-final syllable soujnds. Thus, the different pronunciations for the names of those two states.
Impish Verve and Provocative Guilelessness
A profile in The New Yorker of writer Patricia Lockwood, author of Will There Ever Be Another You (Bookshop|Amazon) opens by saying she has “the impish verve and provocative guilelessness of a peeing cupid,” a description the quirky author herself would surely embrace.
What Differentiates a Casserole From Other Dishes?
Adam in Abilene, Texas, has fond memories of his mother’s Tex-Mex recipe in a casserole dish. Is it properly called a casserole? A tamale pie? It has to do with whether the dish is baked or not.
You Have a Goat’s Mouth
A North Carolina listener remembers that when she happened to predict things that later came true, her mother would say she had a goat’s mouth. Among other places, oi most of the islands in the Caribbean and also on the island of Mauritius, sayings about foretelling the future or discussing someone who then appears often involve references to the mouths of goats. The Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage (Bookshop|Amazon) by Richard Allsopp makes a strong case that this expression comes from African languages, such as Yoruba.
Make No Bones About It
Colin from Los Angeles, California, is pondering the expression make no bones about it, which suggests the speaker is talking or acting with no hesitation whatsoever. The saying is inspired by the idea of literally finding bones in one’s food, since having to pick them out could ruin the whole meal.
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Books Mentioned in the Episode
| Field Guide to Birds of the United States and Canada by Ted Floyd (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds by Jess Zaffaris (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage edited by Richard Allsopp (Bookshop|Amazon) |
Music Used in the Episode
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lady Day and John Coltrane | Gil Scott-Heron | Pieces of a Man | Flying Dutchman |
| Layin Low | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Colemine Records |
| Like A Memory | Rudy De Anda featuring The Jack Moves | Digital Single | Karma Chief |
| IB Struttin | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Colemine Records |
| Funky In Here | Willard Burton and The Funky Four | Funky In Here 45 | Capitol Records |
| The Other Side | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Step Down | Colemine Records |
