An ambitious effort to install poetry in national parks around the United States features the work of beloved poets in beautiful spots. It’s a reminder that “Nature is not a place to visit. Nature is who we are.” Also, Google Translate has expanded its offerings with 110 more languages. And: what’s an oatsmobile? Hint: it has four legs. Plus, bushwhack, POSSLQ, disappoint, an anagrammatic puzzle, King Kong vs. Godzilla, scudding, ary, eustress, chuck a sickie, toad-in-the-hole, and how to pronounce route. Be there or be square!
This episode first aired August 31, 2024.
Expanding the Limits of Understanding: More Translatable Languages
Google Translate has expanded its offerings with 110 more languages, including major languages such as Cantonese, endangered languages such as Manx, and many less-spoken ones like Kallaalisut, used in Greenland, and Latgalian in Latvia.
Be There or Be Square
John in Omaha, Nebraska, wonders about a phrase that encourages someone to attend an event or risk being left out or feeling uncool: be there or be square. Don’t fall for the fake etymology about people wearing boxes on their heads! Ditto for this untrue blog post, which the author himself concedes is fanciful. The practice of calling a straitlaced person square goes back at least to the 1500s. The use of square meaning “uncool” dates to around the 1930s. The rhyming phrase be there or be square is surprisingly modern, going back to the 1960s.
Bushwacking is Forging New Paths
We spoke with a listener about the German word querfeldein, or literally “diagonally into the field,” which he used to describe an informal route he and his wife had taken while out for a walk. Many other listeners chimed in with proposed equivalents in English. Many of those involved in orienteering suggested bushwhacking. Others offered jaywalking or walking catty-corner.
Puzzling POSSLQ
POSSLQ was devised by a worker at the U.S. Census Bureau as an acronym for Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters or Partner of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters. Pronounced “possle-cue,” this term caught on briefly in the early 1970s and was further popularized by broadcaster Charles Osgood who wrote a clever poem that used it.
Disappointed Instead of Defenestrated
In the 15th century, the word disappoint meant “to remove someone from appointed office.” Only later did the word take on its modern meaning of “fail to fulfill expectations.”
Anagrammatic Book Titles Quiz
Quiz Guy John Chaneski is pondering books with titles that include an anagram. For example, what might you call Stephen Hawking’s heavy coffee-table book about people’s attempts over the centuries to get enough roughage in their diet?
Accent Leveling, When Dialects Push Against Each Other
A Kentuckian named Sheila moved out of state for several years, but now that she’s returned to work at Western Kentucky University, she finds that many students no longer seem to have a stereotypically “Southern” accent. What’s going on? There is indeed what’s called accent leveling happening as many factors come together to influence the dialect there.
Ruelle, Meaning the Space Between the Bed and the Wall
The archaic English word ruelle means “the space between a bed and the wall.” It’s adapted from French ruelle meaning “a small alley or lane.”
Where Does “Kong” in “King Kong” Come From?
The Kong in the name of the 1933 movie King Kong, probably alludes to the Congo in Africa, the home of gorillas. Previous movies used a form of that name as well; Kongorilla, for example. In the 1950s, the English name of the Japanese movie monster Godzilla was adapted from its Japanese name, Gojira (ゴジラ), a combination of gorira (ゴリラ), meaning “gorilla,” and kujira (鯨), meaning “whale.” The combining form -zilla, which now appears in terms such as bridezilla and groomzilla, is sometimes called a cran morpheme, meaning that the -zilla element contains some of the original idea of a large monster or savage beast, but is not really etymologically related.
Go for a Scud
Hannah from Menominee, Wisconsin, says her father used to invite people to go for a drive with Let’s go for a scud. The verb to scud means “to move quickly,” or “to speed,” as in clouds scudding across the sky, and goes back to Old English scudan.
Chuck a Sickie
In Australia to chuck a sickie, means “to call in sick to work, especially when you’re not ill.”
In Praise of Space-Bound Mystery
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s poem “In Praise of Mystery” will travel to the planet Jupiter on the Europa Clipper spacecraft. With the National Park Service and the Poetry Society of America, Limon has also launched a project called “You Are Here” to install public art at seven national parks. She also edited a related anthology called You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World (Bookshop|Amazon).
“Ary a Bit” Means “Ever a Bit”
Andre from Campbellsville, Kentucky, says his mother won’t watch a movie if it’s ary a bit violent. What does the word ary mean? Spelled airy, ara, arey, or ery, this dialectal term a shortening of ever a, and means “any” or “a single,” so the sentence I didn’t say ary a word means “I didn’t say ever a word” or “I didn’t say a single word.” In the same way, nary means “never a.”
Eustress, a Positive Emotional Response to Stress
A young listener once asked if there was a single word for “a combination of being nervous but also excited” about something. Listeners offered several of their own coinages, including nervouscited. Another helpful term along these lines might be eustress, which is defined as “a positive emotional response to a stressor.”
How Do You Pronounce “Route”?
How do you pronounce the word route? Does it rhyme with “boot” or “bout”?
Wishing Well Eggs
Kelsey from Washington, D.C., says her family uses the term wishing well eggs to denote the the result when you cut a hole in the middle of a piece of toast, break an egg over the hole, and then fry up the whole thing. She’s also heard people call it egg in a basket, egg in a hole, toad in a hole, pocket eggs, and kaya. This simple dish goes by dozens of different names, including egg in a nest, egg in a cage, egg in a window, egg in a pocket, pirate’s eye, camel’s eye, bull’s eye, bird’s nest, Popeye, One-eyed Pete, One-eyed Jack, cowboy eggs, hocus-pocus eggs, cartwheels, and knothole eggs.
Your Great-Great-Grandfather’s Oatsmobile
The Oldsmobile car was introduced in 1897, and shortly thereafter people began using the term oatsmobile or hay-burning oatsmobile to mean “horse.” OATS is also an acronym for Older Adult Transportation System.
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Book Mentioned in the Episode
Music Used in the Episode
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Danza del Petrolero | Los Wembler’s De Iquitos | La Danza del Petrolero | Decibel |
| Bola Bola En El Tres | Los Wembler’s De Iquitos | La Danza del Petrolero | Decibel |
| Wall Street | Jackie Mittoo | Wall St 45 | Archive Recordings |
| Driptorch | Parlor Greens | In Green We Dream | Colemine Records |
| In Green We Dream | Parlor Greens | In Green We Dream | Colemine Records |
| West Memphis | Parlor Greens | In Green We Dream | Colemine Records |
| Nana’s Chalk Pipe | Ernest Ranglin | Below The Bassline | Island Jamaican Jazz |
| Regal Crime | Scone Cash Players | The Mind Blower | Mango Hill Records |
| Cold 40’s | Scone Cash Players | Brooklyn To Brooklin | Daptone Records |
| The Other Side | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Step Down | Colemine Records |
