Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a “takeoff” quiz, in which the letter C is removed from a word to yield a rhyming two-word phrase. For example, if someone wanted to find out how old an animal enclosure is, what would they be trying to find? This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Take Off A Letter Word Game”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
And joining us now on the line from New York City is our quiz guy, Mr. John Chaneski.
Hi.
Hi, Grant.
Hi, Martha.
Welcome.
You know, we sometimes go into some sort of puzzle types.
We’ve done this thing before.
It’s called takeoffs.
That’s where we take off the first letter of a word to get another word.
But this time we have a little bit of a theme going.
We’re going to make two-word rhyming phrases by taking the letter C from the start of a word.
So we’re only taking off the letter C from the first word and then getting the second word.
We’re getting a rhyming phrase.
Okay.
For example, if I said that I needed to know how old an animal enclosure was, you’d say that I needed to find the cage age.
Okay, gotcha.
Cage age.
Okay, remember, the words will always rhyme.
We’re not doing any canon, anon, or anything like that.
It’s always chair hair like that.
Gotcha.
Good.
Here we go.
What do you call a device used to keep a timepiece secure?
Timepiece secure.
Chain pain.
When I say timepiece.
A clock lock.
That’s exactly right.
Okay, there we go.
I see.
I was thinking a little too hard on that one.
That’s right.
What would you call a gorilla who lives on a promontory that extends into a body of water?
A cape ape?
Cape ape, yeah.
Yes, a cape ape.
Nice, Martha.
Now, if I insisted that my caddy paint a beautiful design on the side of our transport at the country club, what would that be?
Cart art.
Cart art, yes.
I’m doing it.
She’s on a roll.
Since I’m rich enough to join a country club, I might just take some money and toss it in the fireplace.
What would I be left with then?
Cash ash.
Cash ash.
Of course, I’m not rich at all.
Have you seen my car?
I call it the inexpensive pile.
What would you call it?
A cheap heap.
It is a cheap heap, yes.
Perfect.
Very good.
Did you know that on the set of the TV series Friends, they hired a special person to keep Matthew Perry out of trouble?
The Chandler Handler.
Yeah, he’s the Chandler Handler.
That was his title.
Yeah.
Also, he was such a pain that David Schwimmer was quite put out.
What did they call him behind his back?
Cross Ross.
Cross Ross, yes.
A little something for you 90s folks out there.
If you were MacGyver and you needed to lift something heavy, you might fashion a simple machine in a cunning fashion.
What would you call that?
Clever lever.
Clever lever.
Artist who was famous for mobiles and stabiles had a tree of the Birch family in his yard.
What did people call it?
Calder’s alder.
The Calder Alder, yeah.
The Calder Alder.
What would you call a piece of timber that’s destined to be made into traditional Dutch footwear?
A clog log.
A clog log, yes.
Finally, you know, not all witches use a cauldron.
I know a very modern group that puts their eye of newt in a microwave.
Do you know what they call it?
Eye of newt in a microwave?
Yeah.
Oh, coven oven.
Coven oven.
Yes, the coven oven.
There we go.
Very good.
Those are our sea takeoffs for today.
You guys did fantastic.
Congratulations.
All right.
Bye, John.
Bye.
The show is about words and language and everything having to do with that.
Give us a call, 877-929-9673.
And send an email to words@waywordradio.org.
