Sun Word Game

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette.

And joining us on the line from New York City is our quiz guy, John Chaneski.

Hello, John.

Hey, John.

Hi, Martha.

Hello, Grant.

What’s up, bud?

You know, when it gets cold out, I turn to the sun.

That is, words and phrases that contain the letters S-U-N together and in order.

Okay?

For example, a person perceived to be an inexperienced and unskillful motorist, especially one who lacks speed, is known by what sunny phrase?

Sunday driver.

Yeah, Sunday driver, indeed.

So all of these words, all of the answers to this quiz will contain the letters S-U-N.

Again, they’ll be together and in order.

The beginning, the middle, and the end.

Here we go.

As definitions go, this is as nonspecific as you can get.

It’s a word for various miscellaneous items.

I think of it as things you purchase in a drugstore.

Sundry.

Sundrys, yes.

Very good.

While there’s no real medical reason to say anything when anyone sneezes,

Many people prefer to wish you good health with this word derived from a foreign language.

Gesundheit.

Gesundheit, indeed.

For those of you who are of a spiritual bent,

There is an adjective that refers to seven weeks after Easter,

When the Holy Spirit is reported to have descended upon Jesus’ disciples.

Something Sunday?

Whitsuntide?

It is Whitsun, yes. Whitsun or Whitsuntide. Nicely done.

Now, if you’re writing to the officer in charge of a ship’s rigging, anchors, cables, and deck crew,

You can use the ungainly nine-letter word which landlubbers mispronounce as boatswain

Or what rather economical five-letter word that is pronounced the correct way.

I usually get it wrong.

I’m going to say it wrong.

Is it bosun or bosun?

It’s bosun.

Yeah, bosun is fine.

But you don’t want to say boatswain.

That really sets you apart as wrong.

Or as a reader because you don’t actually go with, let’s see, you don’t know.

The nine-letter word, yes.

Originally, it was a 1964 blues ballad written for Nina Simone.

But in 1965, an up-tempo cover version by The Animals became a top 40 hit.

Finish this lyric, which ends with the song’s title.

I’m just a soul whose intentions are good.

Oh, Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.

Misunderstood. Yes, there’s our son in the middle.

The words origins are unclear.

Perhaps because it was sold on Mondays and consisted of leftover product, or it was sold on another day to circumvent blue laws, it doesn’t matter to me.

It’s cold and creamy and delicious, and it’s called…

Oh, Sunday.

Sunday, yes.

Now, there are many sunny places in South America, and Paraguay’s climate ranges from tropical to subtropical, so it makes sense that what city is its capital?

Asuncion.

Asuncion, yes.

Finally, watch out.

English has borrowed this word from Japanese,

Where it’s a combination of the words for harbor and wave.

Tsunami.

Tsunami, exactly.

Yes, T-S-U-N-A-M-I.

Very good.

Those are my sunny words for a cool day.

Thank you, John.

Thanks, John.

We’ll talk to you next week.

Talk to you then.

Really appreciate it.

Give our best to the family.

Will do.

You too.

All right, bye-bye.

Hey, we’re talking about language today, and we want your calls.

877-929-9673.

Email us too, and we’ll talk about that.

Words@waywordradio.org.