Word Quiz: Dirkens Novels

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Martha Barnette.

And I’m Grant Barrett.

And on the line is John Chaneski, our quiz guy.

Hello, John.

Hi, Grant.

Hi, Martha.

Hi, John.

What’s up, buddy?

Well, I have a little quiz for you.

You know, we’re going to play another change-a-letter game.

You know, we like to do a thing where we take titles and we change a letter in the titles.

Okay.

Yeah.

But, you know, I think we go to William Shakespeare just a little too often.

So we’re going to go with another famous English author, Charles Durkens.

I mean, Charles Dickens.

Sorry, I changed the letter.

It’s neat by accident.

Okay.

Charles Durkins.

I’ll change one letter in the title of a Dickens work and then describe the work that Dickens could have written or Durkins could have written.

Durkins.

For example, a wealthy miser becomes a lot more agreeable when someone gifts him with a substitute for chocolate.

A Christmas carob.

A Christmas carob.

Excellent.

You’re already out of the gate with the example.

You’ve got it.

Very good.

I get it.

I get it.

Well, here are some other clues.

Dickens doesn’t just hold a lock on Christmas stories.

One of his books is about several children and the hopes they have for receiving candy on Halloween.

Treat Expectations.

Treat Expectations is right.

Yes, very good.

And a more upbeat title in his canon is this tale of a domicile where tired orphans could occasionally and briefly take a few minutes off of work.

Breakhouse.

Breakhouse is right.

And what’s that change from?

From Bleak House.

From Bleak House, yes, just for those who don’t know.

His shortest work is just a listing of the garnishes used in cocktails, although he neglected to include pearl onions.

Yeah.

How about Olive’s Twist?

Olive’s Twist, yes, very good.

One novel remains virtually unchanged, except it becomes a dialogue between a pair of characters about their respective hometowns.

Yeah, dialogue?

I was something with A Tale of Two Cities, but what would it be?

Oh, yeah, I don’t even know.

A Tale of… A Talk of Two Cities?

That’s it, A Talk of Two Cities. Very good.

In another serial novel, a small girl helps her father out of debtor’s prison by getting a job putting the dots on the eyes at a printer’s shop.

Tittlenell?

No, Tittlenell.

Tittlenell, that works, a jot and a tittle.

Little Nell is actually a character in another book, but she’s not in the title.

Oh, she’s not in the title.

I thought that was good.

What was that, Grant?

Tiddledorot.

Tiddledorot is correct.

Yes, very good.

Finally, this is the strange story of an ancient piece of footwear that killed the cat.

Curiosity shoe.

Right, the old curiosity shoe.

Oh, yeah, right.

Okay.

All right.

Nice work, guys.

You did fantastic.

Thanks a bunch, John.

Thank you, guys.

Take care.

Talk to you next week.

Thanks, John.

If you’ve got questions about language, this is the place, 877-929-9673, or email words@waywordradio.org.