A Way with Words Episode: ÊWhat Kids Know and Want to Find Out (#1482, 2017 Fall Pledge Show) Show number: 170722 Air date: Evergreen. This episode has not previously aired. ON-AIR STATION HOST INTRO: This week on A Way with Words, it's a special edition featuring our youngest listeners, with questions about everything from love to one of their favorite foods. Kids ask why we might end a text with the letters xoxo, what the word "canoodle" means, and how pizza got its name. And it turns out that when it comes to words, sometimes kids know even more than their parents! COPY FOR USE BY STATIONS SUMMARY Our youngest listeners have questions about everything from love to one of their favorite foods. Kids ask why we might end a text with the letters xoxo, what the word "canoodle" means, and how pizza got its name. And it turns out that when it comes to words, sometimes kids know even more than their parents! FULL DETAILS Andrea in Haslett, Michigan, and her six-year-old daughter Neevee had a question about the way we show our love in writing. When they were texting back and forth with NeeveeÕs dad, she got to wondering where where we get X and O for kisses and hugs. It may have something to do with the way people used to sign and kiss important documents, and the Christian cross. Seven-year-old Charlie and his mom were playing a word game when his mom mentioned the word canoodle. He wonders: What does canoodle mean and where does it come from? Katie from Tallahassee, Florida, remembers that her late grandfather used to exclaim I swannee! whenever he needed a euphemism for "I swear." She still uses the phrase in his memory, and is curious where it came from. It's a form of the older phrase, I shall warrant, which means "I promise." Eleven-year-old Sophia in Omaha, Nebraska, is having a debate with her dad about the meaning of the words opaque and translucent. Opaque describes something that blocks light, and translucent means that a little bit of light can get through. (She's right, he's wrong!) Lilly, a 14-year-old from San Diego, California, is a fan of vintage clothing, and wonders when vintage, from the Latin word vinum, meaning "wine," began to be used to describe clothing. Originally the word vintage applied to the yield of vineyard during a specific season or a particular place. Over time, vintage came to be applied to automobiles and eventually to clothing. The term vintage clothing suggests more than simply "old clothes" or "hand-me-downs"; it carries an additional connotation of taste and style and flair. Eleven-year-old Eleanor, from San Antonio, Texas, has noticed that when texting, some of her friends respond affirmatively with the expression OK, but Eleanor prefers writing it out as okay. Which is preferable? Either is fine, as long as you're consistent. A great resource on the history of this term is OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word by Allan Metcalf. Sophia, a 13-year-old in San Diego, California, observes that terrible and horrible are synonyms, so how did terrific and horrific come to be antonyms? In the 17th century terrific meant "causing fear." Over time, it went through a process that linguists call amelioration, which turned its meaning into something positive. A similar thing happened with the word tremendous, a relative of the word tremble, which originally described something "frightful," but eventually came to describe something "awe-inspiring" or "remarkable for its size." The word pizza derives from an Italian term at least a thousand years old for a type of savory flat bread. The type of pie we now think of as pizza, with tomato sauce, has been around since the 15th century, when tomatoes were first brought back to Europe from the New World. This episode is hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, and produced by Stefanie Levine. CONTACT INFORMATION Grant Barrett Co-host/co-producer of "A Way with Words" http://waywordradio.org cell/office (646) 286-2260 grantbarrett@gmail.com words@waywordradio.org Backup contact information: Stefanie Levine Senior Producer of "A Way with Words" cell/office (619) 890-4275 slevine@waywordradio.org