Comments for A Way with Words

Comment on Podcast: A Collection of Collective Nouns by martha

martha — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:30:51 +0000

Well, calling it “pescado” while it’s still swimming around sounds like what we call in English “counting your chickens before they’re hatched.” (Do you have an equivalent phrase in Portuguese?)

Btw, I’d like to invite those of you participating in this comment thread to move over to the Discussion Forum, where we’d like to move these threads. I’ve picked up the discussion we’re having here in this message thread, so please join in!

Comment on Podcast: Hey, that’s mine! by Jorge Jose Lawand

Jorge Jose Lawand — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:37:25 +0000

grateful to learn in this way

Comment on Podcast: The Love Dimple by martha

martha — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 18:35:57 +0000

Very cool, Tanja! I’ve also heard one rabbi describe that “pressing his finger” as more like a hard thwack! Two rabbis, three opinions, eh?

Comment on Podcast: The Love Dimple by Tanja Cilia

Tanja Cilia — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:23:12 +0000

I know the Rabbinical story differently. Before we are born, the Almighty sends us an angel to be with us in the womb, teaching us all the knowledge in the world, so we know everything. But when we are born, this angel “seals our lips” and we forget eveything, and we have to start learning everything again.

Comment on Podcast: Points on a Compass, the Saga Continues by Sam Watkins

Sam Watkins — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 20:36:59 +0000

Have you tried “Peristalith” ?

Comment on Podcast: A Collection of Collective Nouns by xico

xico — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:19:08 +0000

Hi Martha! You know the way people use the language… and this is the how languages evolve. Though I’m not an expert, I’m sure the “correct” is peixe for live fish, and pescado for caught fish. In the place I live (São Paulo), people tend to say peixe for both, but I know in other regions of Brazil, and Spanish speaking countries in South America, people will say pescado for both.

Comment on Podcast: A Collection of Collective Nouns by martha

martha — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:44:46 +0000

Well, xico, that’s what I thought as well, but I just returned from a couple of weeks in Argentina, and everyone I spoke with was using “pescado” for both live fish and “fished” fish. So I’m wondering if there are regional differences in both languages.

Comment on Podcast: A Collection of Collective Nouns by xico

xico — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:25:12 +0000

May Jorge Faria doesn’t know, but we have different words in Portuguese for live fish (peixe), and caught fish (pescado).

Comment on Podcast: Appalachian Cackleberries by Matt Love

Matt Love — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:41:08 +0000

In “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?: The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music” authors Mark Zwonitzer and Charles Hirshberg recount a anecdote of somebody praying in an Appalachian Church for “a clodbuster, but dear Lord, don’t give us no gullywasher!” suggesting a difference in degree of severity between the two. The words themselves suggest different meanings. One softens the soil, the other sweeps it downstream.

Comment on Podcast: Hey, that’s mine! by Julia

Julia — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:41:41 +0000

Yes, but where does the word “dibs” itself come from???

I’m also interested to hear Grant and Martha’s thoughts on “y’all.” I find it an extremely useful word, and since I am now living in Amsterdam, was interested to see it compared to the Dutch second person plural “jullie” on wikipedia.

Comment on Where to Hear the Program by octopus pie: not your mom's grumpy internet hipster comic

octopus pie: not your mom's grumpy internet hipster comic — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:09:57 +0000

[...] production company, after negotiating the rights with their former radio station. Truly admirable! Tune in or download their podcast and I’m sure you’ll love [...]

Comment on Play the Slang Quiz on the Air by Grant Barrett

Grant Barrett — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:40:04 +0000

Michael Quinion has a reliable explanation at World Wide Words.

Comment on Podcast: This Week or Next? by Brittany

Brittany — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:22:30 +0000

I work for a newspaper, where we use AP style. In print we never use “this” or “this coming,” but we do use “next” under one circumstance only.

If today is Friday, Nov. 23, and we’re referring to an event that will occur one to six days from now, we use only the day: “The play starts Tuesday and runs through Dec. 12.”

If the event is exactly seven days away, we say: “The play starts next Friday and runs through Dec. 12.”

If the event is eight or more days away, we just use the date and forget trying to use days of the week: “The play starts Dec. 1 and runs through Dec. 12.”

As for real-life conversations, I think I’d say “Tuesday” if I meant four days from now and “next Tuesday” as eleven days from now. To further confuse things, saying “Tuesday after next” to me would also mean eleven days from now.

I probably wouldn’t use “this Tuesday” to refer to three days ago because I think “I went to the play Tuesday” sounds more natural than “I went to the play this Tuesday,” but I can see how “I went to the play this Tuesday and plan to attend next Tuesday as well” could indicate that you went three days ago and plan to go four days from now too (or maybe it means eleven days from now, who knows?!)

Looks like I haven’t helped at all, sorry!

Comment on New Season Starts November 24th by Stuart Scharf

Stuart Scharf — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 01:20:05 +0000

Wow, I think you just gave a new definition to the phrase “summer vacation”

Comment on Podcast: Let’s Blow This Joint by Billy Raybar

Billy Raybar — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:29:09 +0000

I always imagined ‘Let’s blow this joint!’ originating from a 1960’s hippie trying to get his buddies to leave a lame party for some J-smoking.

Comment on New Season Starts November 24th by Grant Barrett

Grant Barrett — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:16:35 +0000

Mike, the full-length show won’t appear in the podcast feed until Monday, I’m afraid.

Comment on Podcast: The Blue Bark Mystery by Liz Cooksey

Liz Cooksey — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:24:37 +0000

Hi, Grant –

I thought “URL(optional)” meant a URL for one’s own website (and I don’t have one, so I left it empty). I never thought of its having to do with a citation! Thanks for doing the link.

Liz

(No need to post this)

Comment on Podcast: Points on a Compass, the Saga Continues by Grant Barrett

Grant Barrett — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:23:27 +0000

Michael, Tom already ruled out “boxing the compass.”