A flashlight emits a steady beam of light. So what’s the flash part of that word about? Also, if you’re a nervous Nellie, you’re skittish and indecisive—both characteristics of an American politician who earned that nickname in the 1920s. And, rhinestone: The name of this sparkly fake gem has a history that involves a famous river in Europe. Plus, the many names for toilet paper rolls and the sounds you can make with them, pull a seam, a puzzle all about the word it, a blessing and a curse, hitten vs. hit, idea vs. ideal, shaving yak hair vs. shaving gnat hair, daylo, knocking something galley-west, the evolving meaning of dab, and the role of cultural context in learning languages. All of which you should listen to right smack now!
This episode first aired February 22, 2025.
Hit ’Em With the Cardboard Oh-Ah and Dah-Dah
The cardboard cylinder left after the last sheet of toilet, tissue, or wrapping paper comes off the roll has inspired families to make up a lot of names for the tube or the sounds you can make with it. These include oh-ah, oh-ah, drit-drit, dah-dah, hoo-hoo, and as a Las Vegas, Nevada, listener reports, barcha-barcha.
“Hitten” Every Green Light
A native Texan says his Canadian wife teases him about his use of hitten for a past participle, as in You have hitten every green light instead of You have hit every green light. Charles Mackay’s 1888 work, A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, does include the word hitten, describing it as a preterite and past participle of hit that “survives in the colloquial language of the peasantry.” Mackey also includes hitten in his 1874 book Lost Beauties of the English Language. Hitten follows a pattern similar to those of gotten, written, driven, and bitten. Similarly, some people will use the variant store-boughten rather than store-bought. Other irregular past participle forms used colloquially include squoze for squeezed, catched for caught, and growed for grown.
Smack Dab, Smack Jam, and Smack Bang
Kerry from Omaha, Nebraska, wonders why smack dab means “precisely in the middle.” Long used in Appalachia and the American South to make a term more emphatic, smack also appears in such phrases as right smack now and smack jam and smack bang. In the 14th century, the word dab meant to “strike suddenly” or “peck at.” While this sense of dab has softened, it’s used in expressions with smack to create emphasis.
An Irish Curse and a Blessing
An old Irish curse goes: May the devil make a ladder of your backbones while picking apples in the garden of hell. If you’d rather offer someone a friendlier wish, try May angels bless your sleep with the smell of apple pies.
The “It” Quiz
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has been thinking a lot about it—that is, how the presence or absence of the letters I-T can clue different words. Each of this puzzle’s sentences suggests one word containing the letters I-T, and a second word that’s formed when the it is removed. For example, what two words are clued that way by the following sentence? You could give them a tenth of your earnings, or just give them some doodad.
Pulling a Granite Seam
When Kentrell from West Memphis, Arkansas, worked for a granite company, his co-workers who were about to put two pieces of granite together would say I’m going to pull a seam. But why would they use the word pull for the action of pushing together two pieces of stone?
As Meaningless as Shaving Gnat Hair
Sigrin writes from Albany, New York, that she misheard our earlier conversation about the expression shaving yak hair meaning “performing a monotonous, tedious task.” At first she thought we said shaving gnat hair, which she figures is an equally apt term for doing a thankless, boring task.
Idea Pronounced as “Ideal” — With an L
Rose in Edmonton, Kentucky, notes that many people in her area pronounce the word idea as if it were ideal. That’s a common dialectal feature in the Southern United States, as well as Appalachia and the Mid-Atlantic. In parts of New England, idea may be pronounced as if it has a final R. These alternate pronunciations often become habitual partly because of the sounds made on either side of that final vowel schwa syllable, and also because they’re easier to say.
Emote Control
Following our conversation about words for TV remotes, a listener reports that his three-year-old son dubbed their device the emote control, which sounds like something we could all use from time to time.
Galley-West, Collywest, and Variants
Frederick from Valdosta, Georgia, wonders about the term galley-west. To knock something galley-west means to “knock it into confusion” “send everything in all directions.” In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Aunt Sally angrily throws a basket across the room, which “knocked the cat galley-west.” Galley-west, meaning “crooked,” “awry,” or “wobbly” goes back to an older word meaning the same thing, collywest or collyweston. Although the precise origin of galley-west is unclear, the village of Collyweston in England was once known for having roofs covered with irregular pieces of slate, and their disordered appearance may have influenced this word’s development.
Why Is There “Flash” in the Word “Flashlight”?
A flashlight doesn’t flash. It provides a steady beam of light. So why is it called a flashlight? The earliest versions lit up only briefly before the batteries gave out and required a recharge, so they were literally “flash lights.” Years later, in 1916, Eveready flashlight company held a nationwide contest to coin a new word for the new, improved version. The winning entry? Daylo. Obviously, daylo didn’t catch on. The old word, flashlight, stuck around in the United States, while in the United Kingdom, this illumination aid was called an electric torch or later, simply a torch.
Who Was Nervous Nellie?
Michelle in Thorne Bay, Alaska, wonders why a skittish person may be called a nervous Nellie. That term is associated with the nickname of politician Frank B. Kellogg, who was considered overly emotional and indecisive, but who also won the 1929 Nobel Peace Prize. The phrase Whoa, Nellie, used to calm horses may have reinforced this term’s use.
The Sparkling Waves of Rhinestone River
The English word rhinestone is a loan translation of French caillou du Rhin, or literally “Rhine pebble,” because these sparkly fake gems were first cut from rock crystal found in the Rhine River.
Are There Languages That Aren’t Very Idiomatic?
Joey from Orono, Minnesota, has been learning Italian and its many idioms, which makes him wonder if there are other languages that can simply be learned in a classroom without input from a larger cultural context of new and evolving expressions.
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Books Mentioned in the Episode
| A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch by Charles Mackay |
| Lost Beauties of the English Language by Charles Mackay |
| Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain |
Music Used in the Episode
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | Okonski | Entrance Music | Colemine Records |
| Mystical Brotherhood | Karl Hector & The Malcouns | Sahara Swing | Now-Again Records |
| Dahlia | Okonski | Entrance Music | Colemine Records |
| Biblio | Okonski | Trio Session Demos | Self Release |
| Mellow (Version) | Karl Hector & The Malcouns | Sahara Swing | Now-Again Records |
| Sunday | Okonski | Magnolia | Colemine Records |
| The Other Side | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Step Down | Colemine Records |
