I don't relish the frequency with which I leave work after 7 these days, but it has allowed me to catch the radio show Says You on the commute home Tuesday nights. Described as "a game of words and whimsy, bluff and bluster," Says You features wordplay and language trivia that are as hilarious as they are fascinating.
Consider, if you will, the words presented in this week's Balderdash segment: stoush and nick-fidge. What definitions would you come up with for these terms? Can you imagine saying to someone, "They got into a big stoush today," or "Don't be a nick-fidge"? It turns out that stoush is Australian slang for a fight or argument. And a nick-fidge is someone who frequently gets into trouble. The vagaries of the English language never cease to amaze me.
Another portion of this week's show featured seemingly unconnected word pairs that share an etymological origin. For example: January/janitor, bugle/buffalo, porpoise/pork, Canary Island/canine, and musketeer/mosquito. I'll give you the first one. January and janitor both derive from the name of the Roman god Janus. Janus is the god of beginnings, and January is the first month of the year. Janus is also the god of doors, and the word janitor originally meant doorman! Cool, huh? Okay, maybe this only interests word geeks like me, but if you are reading this blog, chances are that you're a word geek, too. ;P Anyway, give the rest a try!
P.S. Says You airs on KCRW Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 8:00.
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3 comments:
Hello to another Says You! fan. I was just listening to this week's show, playing my usual game of seeing if I can google the correct answer to the bluffing round words before the answer is revealed. It was while searching for nick-fidge that I came upon your blog. This show has been a favorite of mine for several years and I, too, often mention it to friends and associates.
Coincidentally, I used to listen to Says You! on KCRW, too, but I recently discovered that the show airs in an hour-format on many NPR stations. I immediately felt cheated, so I went looking for a station that carries the extended version.
As I'm sure you know, most NPR stations offer a live-stream on the internet. I found the show on from 4-5:00pm Central on WYSU from Youngstown, Ohio, but there are several others. Check the station list at http://www.saysyou.net/station_list/. I'm sure you'll find one that suits your listening schedule.
The primary difference between the two versions is the inclusion of an additional round of play and a "Spotlight" segment that replays a memorable highlight from a prior show. It also seems to me that the expanded show is not as tightly edited as the shorter version. Enjoy!
Ah, now I want to know the roots of the rest of the pairs of words. Email me!
Okay, let me see if I remember... ;)
-The original meaning of bugle was an instrument fashioned from a buffalo horn.
-Because of their snouts, porpoises looked like "pigs of the sea." And this is what Merriam-Webster has: Middle English porpoys, from Anglo-French porpeis, from Medieval Latin porcopiscis, from Latin porcus (pig) + piscis (fish).
-The Canary Islands were apparently as well known for their big dogs as their yellow birds.
-Muskets and mosquitoes share a rather obscure connection. It has to do with the whining sound that musket balls make when flying through the air; apparently, it resembles the sound of mosquitoes whizzing by one's ear.
:)
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