What would you serve a plumber who comes over for dinner? How about … leeks? The hosts play a word game called “What Would You Serve?” Also, can you correct someone’s grammar without ruining a new relationship? And is there an easy way to remember the difference between who and whom? This episode first aired January 15, 2011.
Leeks and Carats
What would you serve a plumber for dinner? How about leeks? (We didn’t say it had to be appetizing.) What would you serve a jeweler? Carats! Martha and Grant play the “What Would You Serve?” game.
Correcting Grammar Politely
A Little Rock, Arkansas, caller has been going out with a Chinese woman. Her English is pretty good, but he wonders about the most polite way to correct a minor grammar mistake without ruining a new relationship.
Etymology of “Word Up”
What’s the origin of the expressions “word!” and “word up!”? Grant shares a theory from the book Black Talk by Geneva Smitherman. Here’s that Eighties-era song “Word Up.”
Ketchup and Eggplant
What would you serve a chronic procrastinator? Ketchup. What would you serve a fertility specialist? Eggplant. Martha serves up those and others.
Limericks Quiz
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a limericks news quiz.
Rebeheaded
A woman in Gainesville, Florida, says her father and his partner have an ongoing Scrabble feud over rebeheaded. Is it a word?
The Positive Anymore
“Anymore, I play golf instead of tennis.” Grant explains that this grammatical construction is known as the “positive anymore.”
Six Degrees of Separation
What would you serve to people separated by six degrees? Bacon!
Doldrums
A sign-language interpreter found herself translating the word doldrums. She wonders if it has to do the area of the ocean known by that name.
Serving Up Beets
What would you serve a group of musicians and cardiologists? How about beets?
Collective Plant Names
Martha shares some collective nouns sent in by listeners in response to a recent episode on the topic.
Nonplussed
What does nonplussed mean, exactly? Does it mean “unflappable” or “at a loss.” Martha and Grant disagree about its use.
Who and Whom Jingle
Is there some kind of snappy jingle for knowing when to use who and whom?
Dictionary of American Proverbs
Grant shares some familiar proverbs that supposedly arose from African-American English. The book he mentions is Dictionary of American Proverbs by Wolfgang Mieder.
Infracaninophile
Need a word for “lover of the underdog”? It’s infracaninophile.
This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine.
Photo by Robert Couse-Baker. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Books Mentioned in the Episode
| Black Talk by Geneva Smitherman |
| Dictionary of American Proverbs by Wolfgang Mieder |
Music Used in the Episode
| Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word Up! | Cameo | Word Up! | MCA |
| Where Are We Going? | Donald Byrd | Black Byrd | Blue Note |
| If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It | Ramsey Lewis | Another Voyage | Cadet |
| Letha | Charles Earland | Black Drops | Prestige Records, Inc |
| People Say | The Meters | Rejuvenation | Sundazed |
| Lansana’s Priestess | Donald Byrd | Street Lady | Blue Note |
| My Cherie Amour | Ramsey Lewis | Another Voyage | Cadet |
| Chicken Lickin’ | Funk Inc | Chicken Lickin’ | Prestige Records, Inc |
| Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off | Harry Connick Jr. | When Harry Met Sally: Music From The Motion Picture | Sony |
