
- Playing
- Burrito Baby (#1307)
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- A Way with Words
Remember the classic children's story "Where the Wild Thongs Are"? (We didn't think so.) That's just one of the autocorrect horror stories that can happen when smartphones mistakenly correct a text message. Martha and Grant discuss several more.
http://damnyouautocorrect.com/
If someone is gobsmacked, they're totally surprised. The term may come from the same Gaelic root that gave us the Everlasting Gobstopper.
http://taoism.about.com/b/2008/12/29/everlasting-gobstopper.htm
Should the sign on the boys' bathroom at a school read Boy's Room or Boys' Room? The hosts clarify where to put the apostrophe.
"A fifth-year senior"? That term is so 2007. These days, college students just refer to that extra year of school as taking a victory lap. Grant shares this and other examples of campus slang collected by University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill professor Connie Eble.
Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game of demonyms. What do you call someone from a certain place? If you're from Cambridge, for example, you're a Cantabrigian.
If someone has overegged the pudding, they've overstated the case. This may explain why a lawyer from Lawrence, Kansas, found the phrase in a judicial opinion.
A motivational Chinese idiom translates as "ride the cow, look for the horse."
Are the names Aaron and Erin pronounced the same? A bicoastal listener insists they should sound different. A longer discussion about Erin vs. Aaron is on the Straight Dope message board.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-133780.html
The word sic, meaning "thus" in Latin, is placed in the text when an author knowingly quotes a misspelled word or otherwise incorrect statement.
A native of Southern Pennsylvania has always used the term macadam in place of asphalt. Martha traces the word from an old gravel road to the modern day tarmac.
A Japanese idiom, referring to someone who takes credit for another's work, translates as "doing sumo in someone else's underwear."
If you say, "The worm has turned," it means you've lost patience. Grant and Martha explain that this expression goes back to the old proverb "Tread on a worm and it will turn."
More and more college students are getting pregnant with burrito babies. Grant explains that that this slang term simply means that someone's stomach is full from a hefty meal.
What is the proper use of the French term coup de grace? Grant and Martha explain how the term has been twisted, both in pronunciation and meaning.
How can you tell the difference between who and whom? A listener shares a chant learned in grade school to remember the proper usage.
Grant shares a bit of military humor related to cumshaw, the art of procuring what you need in ingenious ways: "There is only one thief in the army. Everyone else is just trying to get their stuff back."
You know the feeling when something hurts so good? A massage therapist looks for a term that describes this mix of pleasure and anguish. Sensanguish? Hedonalgia, maybe?
Grant shares Tom Swifties sent in by listeners: "Aw, shucks, I dropped the toothpaste," Tom said crestfallenly, and "I've located the experts," Tom said profoundly.
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Piece Description
Remember the classic children's story "Where the Wild Thongs Are"? (We didn't think so.) That's just one of the autocorrect horror stories that can happen when smartphones mistakenly correct a text message. Martha and Grant discuss several more.
http://damnyouautocorrect.com/
If someone is gobsmacked, they're totally surprised. The term may come from the same Gaelic root that gave us the Everlasting Gobstopper.
http://taoism.about.com/b/2008/12/29/everlasting-gobstopper.htm
Should the sign on the boys' bathroom at a school read Boy's Room or Boys' Room? The hosts clarify where to put the apostrophe.
"A fifth-year senior"? That term is so 2007. These days, college students just refer to that extra year of school as taking a victory lap. Grant shares this and other examples of campus slang collected by University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill professor Connie Eble.
Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game of demonyms. What do you call someone from a certain place? If you're from Cambridge, for example, you're a Cantabrigian.
If someone has overegged the pudding, they've overstated the case. This may explain why a lawyer from Lawrence, Kansas, found the phrase in a judicial opinion.
A motivational Chinese idiom translates as "ride the cow, look for the horse."
Are the names Aaron and Erin pronounced the same? A bicoastal listener insists they should sound different. A longer discussion about Erin vs. Aaron is on the Straight Dope message board.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-133780.html
The word sic, meaning "thus" in Latin, is placed in the text when an author knowingly quotes a misspelled word or otherwise incorrect statement.
A native of Southern Pennsylvania has always used the term macadam in place of asphalt. Martha traces the word from an old gravel road to the modern day tarmac.
A Japanese idiom, referring to someone who takes credit for another's work, translates as "doing sumo in someone else's underwear."
If you say, "The worm has turned," it means you've lost patience. Grant and Martha explain that this expression goes back to the old proverb "Tread on a worm and it will turn."
More and more college students are getting pregnant with burrito babies. Grant explains that that this slang term simply means that someone's stomach is full from a hefty meal.
What is the proper use of the French term coup de grace? Grant and Martha explain how the term has been twisted, both in pronunciation and meaning.
How can you tell the difference between who and whom? A listener shares a chant learned in grade school to remember the proper usage.
Grant shares a bit of military humor related to cumshaw, the art of procuring what you need in ingenious ways: "There is only one thief in the army. Everyone else is just trying to get their stuff back."
You know the feeling when something hurts so good? A massage therapist looks for a term that describes this mix of pleasure and anguish. Sensanguish? Hedonalgia, maybe?
Grant shares Tom Swifties sent in by listeners: "Aw, shucks, I dropped the toothpaste," Tom said crestfallenly, and "I've located the experts," Tom said profoundly.
Broadcast History
For broadcast starting Friday, September 9, 2011. This episode first aired February 18, 2011.
Transcript
Remember the classic children's story "Where the Wild Thongs Are"? (We didn't think so.) That's just one of the autocorrect horror stories that can happen when smartphones mistakenly correct a text message. Martha and Grant discuss several more.
http://damnyouautocorrect.com/
If someone is gobsmacked, they're totally surprised. The term may come from the same Gaelic root that gave us the Everlasting Gobstopper.
http://taoism.about.com/b/2008/12/29/everlasting-gobstopper.htm
Should the sign on the boys' bathroom at a school read Boy's Room or Boys' Room? The hosts clarify where to put the apostrophe.
"A fifth-year senior"? That term is so 2007. These days, college students just refer to that extra year of school as taking a victory lap. Grant shares this and other examples of campus slang collected by University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill professor Connie Eble.
Our Quiz Guy John...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
The show clock:
Billboard: 1:00
Segment 1: 13:00
Music Bed: 1:00
Segment 2: 19:00
Music Bed: 1:00
Segment 3: 19:00
TRT: 54:00
Stations typically take NPR news at the top of the hour and start our show at :06 with Breaks at :19 and :39 and out at :59.
Here's a typical episode rundown:
--Billboard
--Seg 1
----Intro: 2-3 minutes
----Caller questions: 10-11 minutes
--Break 1:00
--Seg 2
----Word Challenge 4-6 minutes
----Caller questions 13-15 minutes
--Break 1:00
--Seg 3
----Slang Quiz 5-7 minutes
----Caller questions 11-13 minutes
----Credits: 1:00
Intro and Outro
INTRO:This week on "A Way with Words": College students are getting pregnant--with "burrito babies." Grant talks about new terms for "a full stomach" and other campus slang. Also, what happens when smartphones mistakenly autocorrect text messages? Sometimes the results are embarrassing.
OUTRO:Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marvin's Groove | B. W. Souls | Marvin's Groove 45rpm. | Round Records | 00:16 | |
| B. A. | Jive Turkeys | B. A. 45rpm. | Colemine Records | 00:14 | |
| Nyx | Karl Hector and The Malcouns | Sahara Swing. | Now-Again | 01:00 | |
| Mercy, Mercy, Mercy | Dick Hyman | Mirrors. | ABC Records | 00:11 | |
| Cassette Era Jam | R&T | Future B-Sides. | Timeless Takeover | 00:16 | |
| Hold On I'm Coming | Reuben Wilson | Love Bug. | Blue Note | 00:11 | |
| Followed Path | Karl Hector and The Malcouns | Sahara Swing. | Now-Again | 01:00 | |
| Groovin' | Dick Hyman | Mirrors. | ABC Records | 00:17 | |
| Respect | Dick Hyman | Mirrors. | ABC Records | 00:16 | |
| House of Mirrors | Dick Hyman | Mirrors. | ABC Records | 00:10 | |
| Let's Call The Whole Thing Off | Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong | The Best of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. | Polygram Records | 00:56 |
Additional Files
- Copy for use by stations on their websites or by their on-air hosts (110910-1307-web-and-audio-promo-copy.txt)
Additional Credits
Hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett. Produced by Stefanie Levine. Engineered and edited by Tim Felten. Production assistance by Jennifer Powell and Josette Herdell. Recorded at Studio West in Rancho Bernardo, California. Independently produced and distributed by Wayword Inc., a California company, to public radio stations across North America.
