This week, it’s the language of politics. Martha and Grant discuss two handy terms describing politicians: far center and snollygoster. Also, a presidential word puzzle, false friends, spendthrifts, and a long list of 17th-century insults. So listen up, all you flouting milksops, blockish grutnols, and slubberdegullions!

This episode first broadcast February 20, 2010. Listen here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download the MP3 here (23.5 MB).

To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or another podcatching program.

Grant explains the meaning of the new slang term “far center,” and Martha tries to revive an antiquated term meaning “a corrupt politician,” snollygoster.

Careful about how you spend your money? Then you’re said to be “thrifty.” So why is someone who isn’t frugal called a spendthrift?

Pommy is an often derogatory nickname used by Australians for the English. Does it come from an acronym for either “Prisoner of Mother England” or “Prisoner of Her Majesty”? The more likely story has to do with sunburn and pomegranates.

An older woman with a knack for finding older men to date? That’s what you call someone with excellent graydar.

Speaking of politics, Quiz Guy Greg Pliska presents a puzzle featuring the names of U.S. presidents.

Beware of false friends, those words that don’t translate the way you’d expect. For example, the word “gift” in German means “poison,” and the Spanish word “tuna” means “the fruit of the prickly pear cactus.” These tricky lookalikes are also called faux amis.

A North Carolina woman says when she told her friend she had a TL for her, the friend had no idea what she was talking about. She learns that the term is a shortened form of a secondhand compliment also known as a trade-last or last-go-trade.

Is the term “refer back” redundant?

Martha reports that listeners have been trying to help a caller remember a word for “someone who’s exceptionally good at packing things in a confined space.” She thinks she’s found a winner: stevedore.

To keep something at bay means to maintain a safe distance from it. But does this expression derive from an old practice of using bay leaves to ward off pestilence?

A Tallahassee caller wonders about the name for terms that are capitalized in the middle, like MasterCard and FedEx. Grant explains that they’re commonly called CamelCase, not to be confused with Studly Caps.

Grant shares some slang he’s found while exploring the game of Skee-Ball, including to hit the hundo.

The hosts and a listener in Grand Rapids, Michigan, trade some 17th-century insults. For more, check out these references: Gargantua and George Albert Nicholson’s English Words With Native Roots And With Greek, Latin, Or Romance Suffixes.

A Way with Words is supported by you. Chip in!