Shiver Me Timbers

Careful what you criticize! Not long ago, some words that sound perfectly normal today were considered gauche and grating on the ear. If the complainers had had their way, we couldn’t say a word like pessimism or use contact as a verb! Also, we’ll settle another debate once and for all: is it “a historic” or “an historic”? Plus, what are you doing for Inside-Out Day? Also, bed lunch, sweven, hinky, johnny gowns, the real meaning of “shiver me timbers,” and more. This episode first aired April 17, 2015.

Etymology of Pessimism

 We get lots of calls and emails that take a pessimistic look at the way language changes– which reminded us that the word pessimism itself, just 100 or so years ago, was derided by the curmudgeons of old. People thought the word pessimism was a lazy, inaccurate replacement for despondency.

Inside Out Day

 If you’re looking for yet another reason to buy an infant a present, there’s always Inside Out Day, which some people celebrate as the day when a baby has been out of the womb as long as they were in it.

Singultus

 Singultus, which comes from a Latin word for “sobbing” or “dying breath,” is a fancy way of describing a not-so-fancy affliction: the hiccups.

Origin of Shiver Me Timbers

 Did pirates ever actually say “shiver me timbers”? And why would they be shivering in the Caribbean, anyway? Actually, this saying has nothing to do with being cold, and pirates probably didn’t say it. The phrase goes back to the 1700’s and was popularized in books such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Shiver, in this sense, means “to split in two.” Shiver me timbers, in the imagined pirate lingo, refers to a storm or siege splitting the wooden beams of a ship.

Bed Lunch

 A bed lunch is one way to refer to a late night meal, right before bedtime.

The Ties That Bind Quiz

 Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a quiz about the ties that bind various sets of three words. For example, what do essay, excess, and decay have in common?

A Historian vs. An Historian

 The a historian vs. an historian debate has a pretty straightforward answer: a historian is the correct way to write and say it.

Sweven

 Lyricists take note: sweven is another term for a dream, which should come in handy when looking for words that rhyme with heaven, eleven, Devin, or leaven.

Hinky

 Hinky, or hincty, is a term going back to the 1920’s that has meant both “snobbish” and “haughty,” or, more commonly, suspicious. A police officer from Grove City, Pennsylvania, calls to say his older colleagues often use the word to describe someone who arouses suspicion.

Have Fever vs. Have a Fever

 Fever is often diagnosed with an indefinite article attached—as in, you have a fever—but it was some time between the 1940s and 1960s that we added the article. And in the Southern United States, it’s still not uncommon to hear someone say they have fever.

Contact as a Verb

 Contact, when used as a verb, is another word that once prompted peeving. In fact, in the 1930s, an official at Western Union lobbied for a company-wide ban on the word, which he deemed a hideous vulgarism compared to the phrases “get in touch with” or “make the acquaintance of.”

Phonetically Balanced Sentences

 “These days, a chicken leg is a rare dish” might sound like an odd thing to observe, but during World War II, it was among dozens of phonetically balanced sentences devised by researchers for testing cockpit transmissions and headphones in planes. The sentences use a wide variety of sounds, which is why they’re still useful for testing audio today.

Materteral

 We have the word avuncular to mean like an uncle, but is there one word for describing someone or something aunt-like? Materteral is one option, though it’s rarely used.

Terry Pratchett Quote

 As author Terry Pratchett once said, “It’s still magic if you know how it’s done.”

Slang Abbreviation “Nation”

 The slang term nation pops up several times in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a reduced form of a mild swear word. The word damnation was euphemized as tarnation, which was later shortened to nation. Nation in this sense goes back to the mid-1700’s at least, and can also mean “large,” “great,” or “excellent.”

Poem on Insensible Losses

 We spoke on an earlier show about insensible losses, a medical term for things like water vapor that your body loses but you don’t sense it. That inspired a Sacramento, California, listener to write a poem with that title about great artists who go underappreciated.

Johnny Gown

 Johnny or johnny gown, meaning hospital gown, is a term most associated with New England.

This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.

Photo by David Wright. Used under a Creative Commons license.

Books Mentioned in the Episode

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Music Used in the Episode

Title	Artist	Album	Label
Honey (Instrumental)	Erykah Badu	New Amerykah Part One	Motown
El Fuego	Polyrhythmics	El Fuego 45rpm	KEPT
Mendo Mulcher	Polyrhythmics	Mendo Mulcher 45rpm	KEPT
Bold and Black	Ramsey Lewis	Another Voyage	Cadet
Groove City	Chocolate Milk	The Best of Chocolate Milk	RCA Victor
Black Hills	Budos Band	Burnt Offering	Daptone
Uhuru	Ramsey Lewis	Another Voyage	Cadet
I Just Want To Make Love To You	Muddy Waters	Electric Mud	Cadet
How About Love	Chocolate Milk	The Best of Chocolate Milk	RCA Victor
Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off	Ella Fitzgerald	Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Book	Verve