meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over

Can of Worms (Rebroadcast) - 21 April 2014

A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over

A Way with Words

Language Learning, Society & Culture, Education

4.62.3K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2014

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What do you call a guy with a bald pate? A chrome dome? Maybe the lucky fellow is sporting a solar panel for a sex machine. Also, which would you rather open: a can of worms or Pandora’s box? Plus, ordinary vs. ornery, versing vs. versus, dishwater vs. ditchwater, the copyediting term stet, still hunts, and doozies. And if someone’s a phony, is he a four-flusher or a floor-flusher? Maybe he’s also a piece of work.  Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be a part of the show: call or text 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; elsewhere in the world, call or text +1 619 800 4443. Send voice notes or messages via WhatsApp 16198004443. Email words@waywordradio.org. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

British gas have this thing. We call it home care. We'll fix all sorts and its unlimited repairs.

0:06.0

Expert engineers will solve the upset of boilers not boilering or taps that won't wet.

0:12.0

Electrics playing tricks or a pipe that's broke. We're there for everyone. Even blue furry folk.

0:19.0

Your home won't feel booby-tra trapped. It'll feel just like new.

0:23.4

British gas taking care of things and looking after you. T's and C supply, excess options available

0:29.3

per repair. You're listening to Away with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I'm

0:34.1

Martha Barnett. And I'm Grant Barrett. I was reminded again this week that in English

0:38.7

we have a lot of these cute little phrases that we use to exchange words with strangers, things that

0:44.9

we say like hot enough for you or have a nice day. But the thing that they say to me now,

0:51.6

now that I keep my head basically bald, is things about my baldness.

0:56.8

I was at an outdoor concert here in San Diego, beautiful weather, but sunny, so I put some sunscreen on the top of my head, which is basically bald.

1:05.3

Yeah, that's a good idea. Good practice. And a fellow comes up to me and asks to borrow the sunscreen. And then he said to me something like,

1:12.0

what was on top has left and I can't get it back. What's on my back is all that's left.

1:18.6

To which I replied, a busy road grows no grass. And then he replied, it's a solar panel for a sex machine.

1:25.6

And so it turns out, if you Google this, there are a ton of these expressions that bald people become accustomed to saying. Because people can't stop commenting on the state of your head. On your chrome dome. It's the male equivalent of being pregnant. They can't not say anything. They feel compelled. Do they want to help? What I should have said, and this

1:44.8

is one of my favorites, God only made so many perfect heads, the rest he covered in hair. So there's

1:50.2

a ton of this stuff. Well, Grant, are you considering going to the Baldus Beautiful Convention

1:54.1

in Moorhead, North Carolina, Moorhead City? I'm not committed to making it a lifestyle.

2:02.5

It's just my hair.

2:05.4

I don't invest a lot of personality into my hair.

2:10.3

But I wanted to share a quote with you that I found when I was Googling bald expressions and bald funny lines.

2:16.6

And this is from Jorge Luis Borges, who was talking about the 1982 Falklands War between the UK and Argentina.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from A Way with Words, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of A Way with Words and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.