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I'm Not Hanging Noodles From Your Ears.

Coinkydinks and Big Boxes


Read the original blog post.

UserPost

6:12AM
May-10-08


Grant Barrett

Brooklyn, New York

Admin

posts 1039

We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say fambly instead of family, perazackly for exactly, or coinkydink for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things wrong on purpose, the response was enormous. Why do many people find such wordplay hard to resist?

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A Pennsylvania minister is curious about a phrase her family uses: by way of Robin Hood's barn or around Robin Hood's barn, meaning a long, circuitous route.

How do you pronounce the architectural term beaux arts? (Yep, Grant accidentally left of the final S when he spelled the term on the air.) Is it pronounced boh-ZART, boh-ART, boh-ZAR, or boh-ZARTS? We settle a dispute between a New Jersey woman and her nephew.

Martha shares the winners of a contest for Best Book Titles of the Year. Or would that be Oddest Book Titles of the Year?

Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents a puzzle in which we remove the first letter of a phrase to yield another with a different meaning. Try one: originally it was a boxing film starring Robert De Niro. Now it describes a head of cattle that's perhaps getting on in years.

A Wisconsin woman is trying to remember a term for paths in the grass created by pedestrians taking shortcuts. Grant has an answer for her, straight from the jargon of urban planning professionals. The caller also wants recommendations for a good thesaurus. The hosts' response may surprise you.

A caller is curious about a slang term she hears from her friends in the military. The word is Jody, and it means someone who steals a soldier's girlfriend. Grant tells the colorful story behind this bit of military slang, as well as the songs it inspired. Here's a sample of Jody calls from the Vietnam war and from the Korean War.

Grant and Martha share more intentional mispronunciations, including tar-ZHAY instead of Target.

This week's Slang This! contestant is not just any word nerd. She's Dorothea Gillim, creator of the animated PBS series WordGirl. Dorothea tries to guess the meaning of the odd terms pelican crossing and zanjero. The new season of WordGirl starts Monday, May 26th, and airs Mondays through Fridays.

What is janky? A Chattanooga caller uses it describe something inferior or bad.

A Wisconsin man wonders about the use of the term big box store to denote the stores of big retail chains like Wal-Mart. Is big box a reference to the size and shape of the stores, or the fact that they sell huge appliances that come in, well, big boxes? Here's a silly song from JibJab about bix box stores.

A Pittsburgh man is bothered by people who would say someone wrote an outraged letter. Can a letter really be angry and indignant or is it really the writer who's upset? Martha answers his question and seizes the opportunity to talk about the four-syllable word, hypallage.



Read the original blog post.

2:13PM
May-10-08


Anne

Guest

Word I mangle on purpose: Walmart. I refer to it as SqualorMart. Needless to say, I don't shop there.

10:51AM
May-11-08


Shannon Lee

Guest

How about, Cheese Whiz (for Gee Whiz)? Or, Hangaburg (hamburger)? Cheese-and-Rice (to replace taking the Lord's name in vain). Sure love you guys!

Shannon

10:53AM
May-11-08


Shannon Lee

Guest

Another thought, regarding Beaux Art… it looks and sounds like a boyfriend's tattoos.

3:34AM
May-13-08


Liz

Guest

Gee — a MATH security question. That's scary !!

How about written "improprieties" — such as the capitalization of words in context where they normally are not capitalized? I often copy the style of old titles in A.A. Milne's children's books, to emphasize something in a sentence I've written. Here's an example (remember that I live in Georgia):

When it gets hot Down Here, everyone goes indoors.

5:39AM
May-13-08


dfilpus

Chapel Hill NC

New Member

posts 1

Our family refers to J. C. Penny with a faux French prounciation. < Zhay Say Pen-ay' >

7:13AM
May-13-08


Wisconsin woman

Guest

Thank you "Wisconsin man" for asking about big-box stores. Exactly what I've been asking every time I hear that term used.

8:23AM
May-13-08


Luke

Guest

Where I work we order supplies from Office Depot, and we all call it "Office Despot."

9:23AM
May-13-08


Albert

Guest

I first encountered 'jody' as a noun and verb to be a synonym with 'cadence' as in the calling cadences that Grant gave examples of. The person jodying would be leading the cadence, though I might be mistaken about that.

In a sentence:
"We jodied from the mess hall back to the barracks."

2:00PM
May-13-08


idiosyncratic idiot

Guest

I couldn't help but be taken aback by Grant's admonition about the use of thesauri – I just love them.

I often find myself 'type-stuttering' (damn, there should be a word for that… I think you get what i mean) as I'm posting in the internet and my fledging English keeps me from saying what I want. Then I resort to the online thesaurus and find that elusive word I was trying to remember. (Well, since we're among nerds here, I fess up: I derive an almost literary pleasure from just browsing randomly through thesaurus.com and enjoying the gamut of the language rainbow).

The very etymology of the word couldn't make any more sense to me – it is a resource I treasure greatly. Nonetheless, I'll give OneLook a try; this is not the first time I see people recommend it.

i.i.

2:16PM
May-13-08


Joie de Vivienne

Nineveh, Indiana

Member

posts 35

dfilpus said:

Our family refers to J. C. Penny with a faux French prounciation. < Zhay Say Pen-ay' >


My family always said "Jacques Pen-ay"

7:50PM
May-14-08


Rick Reid

Guest

In Australia a PELICAN CROSSING is a special type of pedestrian controlled road crossing. When the pedestrians are shown the flashing ‘don't walk' sign, drivers will see a flashing yellow light. If the crossing is clear of pedestrians the drivers can proceed before the green light is shown. This reduces the amount of time drivers have to stop at lightly used pedestrian crossings.

11:52AM
May-16-08


Tricia

San Diego

New Member

posts 2

Sharing two of your topics from the show, long ago a friend came back from boot camp and shared one of the cadences he had learned there, "Don't be sad, don't be blue, my recruiter screwed me too." Another friend there asked "who is Myra Gruder?" So now, all recruiters are named Myra.

And since I am from San Diego, spanish is much more common than french. So instead of saying thanks with "mercy buckets" I often say "Muchachas Garcias."

1:58PM
May-16-08


ken

Guest

Here in Pittsburgh our grocery stores are called Giant Eagle. I like to adopt a humongous Pittsburghese accent and pronounce it "John Ingle."

10:15AM
May-17-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 792

Rick – thanks for the report from Down Under! (Come to think of it, what do you guys call us? "Up Over"?)

10:17AM
May-17-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 792

Triciia – Love that mondegreen of yours! And I think I may have to borrow "muchachas gracias." So, muchachas gracias for that.

10:19AM
May-17-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 792

Ken — That reminds me that when I was in Georgia once, I saw a chain of grocery stores called "Ingles." At the time, Spanish was very much on my mind, and my first thought was, "My gosh, that store makes a big point of English being spoken there." Duh.

4:17PM
May-17-08


Bdette

Zushi, Japan

New Member

posts 1

A word I often mispronounce on purpose is macaroni. In my family, we say it "markonis".

5:48AM
May-18-08


Mariana

Member

posts 17

Hey everybody!

I was thinking about the dispute "Beaux Arts"…I think that if you are going to use a foreign language and not the translation, then you should pronounce it correctly…otherwise, use "fine arts". My first language is Spanish, and I know I cringe when people use "Brava" instead of "Bravo", so, that is my take on it….

Regarding the use of a thesaurus and using a word out of context, specially if you don't speak the language well…I have a good example!!! The word "entre" in Spanish can mean 1) to come in (from the verb entrar) or 2) between

I remember one time when a friend of mine who spoke little English and threw a party…He was inviting people into his house and, he first said "come in, come in" and after a while, he started saying "between, between". I asked him what he meant…He said he got tired of using the same words over and over, so he would use a synonym….

7:07AM
May-18-08


Joie de Vivienne

Nineveh, Indiana

Member

posts 35

Mariana said:

Hey everybody!


I was thinking about the dispute “Beaux Arts”…I think that if you are going to use a foreign language and not the translation, then you should pronounce it correctly…otherwise, use “fine arts”. My first language is Spanish, and I know I cringe when people use “Brava” instead of “Bravo”, so, that is my take on it….


Regarding the use of a thesaurus and using a word out of context, specially if you don't speak the language well…I have a good example!!! The word “entre” in Spanish can mean 1) to come in (from the verb entrar) or 2) between


I remember one time when a friend of mine who spoke little English and threw a party…He was inviting people into his house and, he first said “come in, come in” and after a while, he started saying “between, between”. I asked him what he meant…He said he got tired of using the same words over and over, so he would use a synonym….


If I'm not mistaken, people shout "Brava!" (as opposed to bravo) when congratulating a woman specifically, as is customary in Italian. I'm surprised this interjection is not gendered in Spanish also… Hmm…

I can understand why it bothers you in Spanish, isn't "brava" brave?

Though I accept it as technically correct, I do agree though that it sounds a bit pretentious. Then again, I was nearly a gender studies major in college and taught to reject all gendered words, particularly those that mark females

12:11PM
May-18-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 792

I remember one time when a friend of mine who spoke little English and threw a party…He was inviting people into his house and, he first said “come in, come in” and after a while, he started saying “between, between”. I asked him what he meant…He said he got tired of using the same words over and over, so he would use a synonym….

LOL, Mariana. Good one! And I share Joie's question. If you're cheering for a woman in Spanish, what would you say?

6:59PM
May-18-08


Mariana

Member

posts 17

Hey Martha!

If you are cheering a female in Spanish you would say Bravo! just as if you were cheering a male. In this case is an interjection to express applause, admiration and it does not have gender.
Bravo means brave, . It can also mean fierce, rough and angry. I all these cases it has gender: bravo and brava.

Mariana

10:03PM
May-19-08


divinentd

Los Angeles

New Member

posts 1

Podcast listener chiming in late…

If you'd like to see an amazing collection of desire paths, check out the Desire Paths pool on Flickr.

4:18PM
Aug-06-08


llihak

Guest

"He committed sewer pipe" (suicide)

"Blo-Mart" (Wal-Mart)

10:44PM
Aug-06-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 792

Divinentd, I'm chiming in late myself here, but it's kind of cool to see all of those in one place! Thanks for posting that.

10:46PM
Aug-06-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 792

llihak, I'm not sure I'd have guessed either one of those.

6:50AM
Aug-23-08


Fred Bals

Guest

Hi Martha and Grant,

I liked your show about "Jody calls" so much that I did a podcast of my own on the subject:

Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone

Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for A Way With Words!

6:54AM
Aug-23-08


Grant Barrett

Brooklyn, New York

Admin

posts 1039

Fred, that is tremendous! Great job tracking down those songs, and even the image of the index card for the Lomax fieldwork. I'm going to mention your podcast in the next issue of our newsletter. Thanks!

10:36AM
Dec-28-08


TCJ

Guest

What a "maroon!" = "moron" (thanks to Bugs Bunny).

What an "idot!" = "idiot" (plays better on paper).

I'm being "sarcophagus." = "sarcastic" (real old one from my aunt)

"Groovus" = Latin for "groovy" (thanks to Mel Brooks)

10:46AM
Dec-28-08


TCJ

Guest

Liz said:

Gee — a MATH security question. That’s scary !!

How about written “improprieties” — such as the capitalization of words in context where they normally are not capitalized? I often copy the style of old titles in A.A. Milne’s children’s books, to emphasize something in a sentence I’ve written. Here’s an example (remember that I live in Georgia):

When it gets hot Down Here, everyone goes indoors.


The late, great, Hunter S. Thompson often capitalized the first letter of words, and sometimes the entire word for emphasis that gave some respite from the classics … ellipses, bold, italics, underlines — em dashes — semicolons; etc.

I’ve been a Practitioner of the same since High School.

2:36PM
Nov-30-09


indystan

Indianapolis

New Member

posts 1

I just heard a rerun of this episode, and it actually made it into one of my dreams last night. There was a guy in the dream named "Bo", kind of a rednecky auto mechanic. One of his coworkers called him "Bozart", which I thought was a hilarious play between his name and Beaux Arts, to the point that I was laughing out loud in the dream and maybe even in my bed. But of course Bo didn't get the joke. It then occurred to me that Bozart would make a good name for a clown who happened to be the mascot of an arts organization, though admittedly it seemed like a better idea in my sleep than it does now that I'm awake. Still, if there happen to be any arts organizations out there looking for a name for their new clown mascot, Bozart the Clown is all yours.

3:19PM
Nov-30-09


Ron Draney

Member

posts 152

Unfortunately, HL Mencken beat you to the term by about 89 years. In the article "Sahara of the Bozart", he uses it to describe both "bad art" and the culture of the South at that time.

4:17PM
Nov-30-09


johng423

Member

posts 58

Here are a couple of words that probably do not appear in a dictionary. I've never heard them spoken in a way that indicated the speaker was knowingly or deliberately mispronouncing or combining words. Maybe that's because they seem to be such natural combinations that intensify the meanings so well.

"slickery" = slick + slippery
(for example, used to describe walking conditions on rainy days)

"flustrated" = flustered + frustrated
(for example, used to describe the annoyance of bureaucratic "red tape")

6:48AM
Dec-01-09


dalerhobson

Canton, NY

New Member

posts 1

Pronunciations like "fambly" and "chimbly" for family and chimney are not mispronunciations, but are vernacular anachronisms according to my college linguistics prof. They are in commonest use in Appalachia and other regions where dialects have been preserved from settlement times and earlier. He said that it was accepted pronunciation in Elizabethan times to use an mbl sound combination for both "ml" and "mn". He said that Shakespeare likely pronounced the name of his tragedy "Hamblet."

12:35PM
Dec-01-09


Goheels

Member

posts 9

I response to the Jody discussion about military chants, I wanted to see if anyone had heard the "I used to work in Chicago" song. My grandfather who was in the navy during WWII used to sing it sometimes and its another one of those dirty military songs. I only remember one or two verses so I'll post what I remember:

I used to work in Chicago, I did but I don't anymore
I used to work in Chicago, in a great big butcher store
A lady came in for some meat, I asked her what kind at the door
Sausage she said, and sausage she got, and I don't work there anymore

I used to work in Chicago, I did but I don't anymore
I used to work in Chicago, in a great big department store
A lady came in for a hat, I asked her what kind at the door
Felt she said, and felt I did, and I don't work there anymore

There were all kinds of other verses too, the Jody discussion just reminded me of this song.