Temperature blankets are a visual and tactile mirror of the day’s weather. Knitters use specific shades of yarn to match daily temperatures, creating a colorful, cozy record of weather across time. Plus, a new book chronicles the history and uncertain future of modern dictionaries. And: try replacing the term bucket list with bliss list. It’s a great strategy to help you focus on finding joy in small, meaningful moments every single day. Also, your epidermis is showing, a puzzle about funny pronunciations, efficacy vs. effectiveness, voiceless labial-velar approximants, gig economy, the meaning of 73 among ham radio operators, go gunnybags, to Elmer someone, the historical present, and better than snuff, but not near as dusty.
This episode first aired December 20, 2025.
Temperature Blankets, A Record of Naps Past?
Knitters are creating temperature blankets, also known as weather blankets, by assigning colors to daily temperatures and stitching them into finished pieces. Makers involved in The Tempestry Project extend the practice by representing the weather from very distant the past in their fiber art, crafting blankets, scarves, and other items that preserve climate records from previous decades or even further back.
You Dropped Your Pocket
Nikki in Charlotte, North Carolina, shares the story of a man who casually told passersby You dropped your pocket, prompting them to check for something that wasn’t there in the first place. That silly saying reminds her of playing pool and trying to distract an opponent about to shoot with Hey, do you breathe in or out when you take your shot? Other “made-you-look” sayings include your sock is untied and your epidermis is showing. The folklorists Iona and Peter Opie collect many similar kinds of sayings in their classic volume The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren (Bookshop|Amazon).
Efficacy vs. Effectiveness
While studying psychology in West Lafayette, Indiana, Sarah wondered whether it’s correct to speak of a treatment’s efficacy or its effectiveness. Usually, in research and professional settings, efficacy describes how well a treatment works under controlled conditions, such as clinical trials, while effectiveness addresses how well it performs outside of that context, where circumstances can vary. In everyday conversation, though, this distinction is less important.
Say It Like Stewie Word Quiz
In a nod to The Family Guy’s character Stewie Griffin, the A Way with Words family’s Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents a puzzle about voiceless labial-velar approximants. Inspired by Stewie’s habit of pronouncing Cool Whip as “Cool Hwip,” John has come up with several two-word phrases containing one word that begins with W and second word beginning with WH. For example, if the clue is I was in a contest, and I made a very high -pitched sound with my lips, and that earned me first place, what’s the two-word answer?
Go Gunny Bags
Miley in The Dalles, Oregon, asks about going gunny bags meaning to “break down” or “go haywire.” Her mother uses this expression, but has no idea where she picked it up. The term gunny sack, referring to a bag made of coarse material such as jute, comes from an East Indian term meaning “sack,” so gunny sack is a pleonasm that means “sack sack.” The Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles includes an entry for gunny-bag meaning to “beat out a fire with gunny sacks,” suggesting frantic improvisation. The mystery writer Judith Jance uses the term go gunnybags (another spelling — no space in the word) quite frequently in her work, and since Miley’s mother is a big fan of Jance’s novels, it’s quite possible that’s where she picked up the phrase.
Bliss List, the Everyday Joys You Look Forward To
In her newsletter Bloom Anywhere, writer and editor Gwen Moran relates a conversation with her oncologist, who discouraged her from using the term bucket list. As a result, Moran began replacing the expression bucket list with bliss list. She suggests that this little change in vocabulary is a helpful way to focus on finding joy in smaller, meaningful moments each day, rather than big-ticket (or big-bucket) items.
Gig, as in a Short-Term Job
Chris in San Antonio, Texas, a professional musician, asks where the word gig comes from. While gig is now the standard term for a musical engagement and has broadened to any short-term job, its early origins are murky. It may be related to the term jig, meaning “a dance,” or a similar-sounding French word. Gig economy is a much newer coinage that repurposed the older musician’s gig into a wider labor metaphor.
Safe as Houses (Except One of Straw or Sticks?)
In the thriller Down Cemetery Road starring Emma Thompson, a character uses the Briticism safe as houses, meaning “quite safe,” an expression thought to derive either from the sturdiness of a house or the sense of real estate as a secure investment.
He Took on the Burkini Dictionary Entry Just for Fun
Stefan Fatsis has made a career out of participatory journalism. For his book Word Freak (Bookshop|Amazon) about the world of competitive Scrabble, he became an expert player. For A Few Seconds of Panic: A Sportswriter Plays in the NFL (Bookshop|Amazon), he trained for a season as a placekicker for the Denver Broncos. So it’s perhaps not surprising that, given his passion for dictionaries, he embedded himself as a lexicographer-in-training at Merriam-Webster, writing or revising definitions for such words as microaggression, alt-right, and burkini. He writes about this in Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) The Modern Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon).
Elmer Among Hams
Among ham radio enthusiasts, the word Elmer has become an affectionate term for an experienced ham radio operator who mentors a novice. It’s also used as a verb: Elmering someone means helping a new ham. The term was coined in a 1971 magazine article by Rod Newkirk, who wrote about his own mentor, Elmer P. Frohardt Jr. of Madison, Wisconsin. An older slang use of Elmer denotes a “rube” or “gullible person.” In ham radio lingo, 73 is a way of signing off with “best regards.”
Anime About Dictionaries
The Great Passage is an anime about a young man who steps up to take over a project to edit a new dictionary, eventually becoming a full-fledged lexicographer.
A Historian Uses Historical Present Even Though It’s All Past
Heather in Fairbanks, Alaska, asks why historians and documentary narrators sometimes describe past events in the present tense. This use of the historical present is a storytelling convention that creates immediacy. The historical present can be vivid and compelling, but inconsistency of its use when speaking can render it confusing.
Better ’n Snuff, and Not Near as Dusty
Melissa in Charlotte, North Carolina, remembers her grandfather would describe something excellent as better than snuff, but not near as dusty. The snuff in this case refers to finely ground smokeless tobacco. It arose at a time when snuff was regarded as a healthy, fashionable stimulant, an idea echoed in phrases like up to snuff. Variants include finer than snuff, not near as dusty and better than snuff, gooder than taters, as well as the inverse, and gooder than snuff, sweeter than a Sunday hymn.
Sweating Ink
A listener named Lita who grew up in Cuba shares her favorite Spanish idiom for “working hard”: sudando tinta, or literally, “sweating ink.”
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Books Mentioned in the Episode
| The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren by Iona and Peter Opie (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles edited by Stefan Dollinger and Margery Fee (online) |
| Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL by Stefan Fatsis (Bookshop|Amazon) |
| Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) The Modern Dictionary by Stefan Fatsis (Bookshop|Amazon) |
Music Used in the Episode
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Dreaming Mind Pt I | Quantic and his Combo Barbaro | Tradition In Transition | Tru Thoughts |
| Spear for Moondog | Jimmy McGriff | Electric Funk | Blue Note |
| Fried Pies | Wes Montgomery | Boss Guitar | Riverside Records |
| Undelivered Letter | Quantic and his Combo Barbaro | Tradition In Transition | Tru Thoughts |
| Deeper and Deeper | Jackie Mittoo | Studio One Soul | Soul Jazz Records |
| Blind Alley | The Emotions | Blind Alley 45 | Volt |
| I Just Fell In Love Again | Quantic and his Combo Barbaro | Tradition In Transition | Tru Thoughts |
| The Other Side | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Step Down | Colemine Records |
