Alligator Mouth - 24 July 2023

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A Way with Words

Language Learning, Society & Culture, Education

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kinbank is a new database that illustrates the global diversity of family terms. English, for example, specifies sibling relationships with just one of two terms: sister or brother. But most other languages have even more specific terms. In Japanese, for instance, there’s a single word for “older brother” and another for “younger sister.” Plus, confused by all the names in Russian novels? Characters often go by more than one name, but there are strategies for keeping them all straight. And: why someone who’s pepper-nosed isn’t going to welcome that new pickleball court next door. Also, slide out on one’s ear, a game about life in alternate universes, Konglish, uce, how one’s accent develops, Du gehst mir auf den Keks, why someone who is heavily drugged is said to be snowed, and kangaroo words. Read full show notes, hear hundreds of free episodes, send your thoughts and questions, and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org/contact. Be a part of the show: call 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; worldwide, call or text/SMS +1 (619) 800-4443. Email words@waywordradio.org. Twitter @wayword. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Away With Words, the show about language and how we use it.
0:03.7	I'm Grant Barrett.
0:05.2	And I'm Martha Barnett.
0:06.6	And I want to share a phrase that was new to me when I heard it this week.
0:10.5	Do you know what it means if somebody shows up with their arm swinging?
0:14.0	It means they didn't bring anything to the house.
0:16.4	That's it!
0:17.0	They brought no food, no drinks, nothing but themselves.
0:20.0	And probably an empty stomach.
0:22.9	Exactly.
0:23.9	You know, a mother might say to her adult child,
0:27.0	don't show up with your arm swinging.
0:28.9	And it doesn't mean, you know, don't come prepared for a fight,
0:31.6	which is what I thought it would make me.
0:35.7	Yeah, you're supposed to come with your arms croaked.
0:38.0	That's right.
0:38.9	Your arms bent.
0:39.6	You're hearing something.
0:40.4	Yeah.
0:40.9	And there are several phrases like that,
0:42.8	like don't be standing there with your two arms at the same length
0:46.3	or don't go visiting with one arm as long as the other.
	...

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