At the same time, words have a fun side to them too. Used under a Creative Commons license.Words are powerful, and a masterful use of words can change the world. This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine. Martha explains the origin of the word coin, as in “to coin a phrase.” The H1N1 virus has a lot of people wondering about pandemics vs. The names Australia and Austria are awfully similar. Martha explains the story behind the expression “richer than Bim Gump.” Find out more about the long-running comic strip that inspired it here. Grant recommends a couple of favorite children’s books by Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben: Baboon and The Night Worker. Is it a scissors or a pair of scissors? Favorite Children’s Books A Pair of ScissorsĪ husband and wife have a long-running dispute over whether the word scissors is singular or plural. How do you pronounce February? Is it FEB-roo-air-ee or FEB-yew-air-ee? A Scissors vs. A former Hoosier calls to discuss boyhood memories of a shivaree and wonders about the source of this term. One definition of a shivaree is “a compliment extended to every married couple made up of beating tin pans, blowing horns, ringing cowbells, playing horse fiddles, caterwauling, and in fine, the use of every disagreeable sound to make the night hideous.” Also spelled charivari, this old-fashioned form of hazing newlyweds often involved interrupting them in the middle of the night with a raucous party. Check out this dialect map featuring these and other names for this device. What do you call the wheeled contraption that you push around the grocery store? Shopping cart? Shopping carriage? Shopping wagon? Buggy? A former Kentuckian wonders if anyone besides her calls them bascarts. Sometimes it is not pleasant, sometimes it is fearful, but nevertheless, it is inevitable.” Hint: The speaker’s first name is the same as one of this show’s hosts. It’s permitting life to use you in a very intense way. In this week’s puzzle, Quiz Guy John Chaneski is looking for phrases in which the only vowel is the letter “A.” Try this clue: “This person said, ‘I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. Martha shares an email from a Wisconsin listener who’s watched plenty of ducks interact with junebugs and offers a vivid description of what that looks like. In an earlier episode, the hosts discussed the phrase “all over it like a duck on a junebug,” which refers to doing something with great eagerness. To Bootĭoes the expression to boot, as in “I’ll sell you this Hummer and throw in a free tank of gas to boot,” have anything to do with booting up a computer? Duck on a Junebug What’s the third?” The hosts explain that the answer’s not as simple as you might think. Words Ending in “-gry”ĭo you know this diabolical riddle? “There are three words in the English language that end in -gry. But what makes some words funnier than others? Martha and Grant consider this question with an assist from Neil Simon’s play (and movie) The Sunshine Boys. Pickle, baboon, cupcake, snorkel, pumpkin, Kalamazoo-let’s face it, some words are just plain funny. Angry and hungry are two of them.” The hosts explain how this aggravating riddle works-and doesn’t work. Also in this episode: “There are three words in the English language that end in -gry.
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