Catbird Seat - 18 November 2013

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

A Way with Words

Language Learning, Society & Culture, Education

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2013

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Online recaps of Mad Men or Breaking Bad can be as much fun as the shows themselves. So why not recap classic literature — like, say, Dante’s Inferno? A literary website is doing just that. And, you’ve heard about the First World and the Third World — so where in the world is the Second World? Plus, animal stories, including how the aardvark got three “A’s” in its name, and why the catbird seat is the place to be. Also, the origins of crackerjack, mall, mad money, and the admonition “you might want horns, but you’re gonna die butt-headed!” 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	Spark your creativity with the Sims. Sometimes you might feel like you're not creative
0:06.7	and you have to go in search of your creative spark again. Maybe this is catching up with
0:11.3	creative friends, experimenting with a new look or trying out a new recipe.
0:15.7	And thanks to The Sims, inspiration is just one game and one spark away.
0:21.1	Ready to spark something? Download the Sims 4 and play for free.
0:25.0	You're listening to Away with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
0:31.0	I'm Grant Barrett.
0:32.0	And I'm Martha Burnett.
0:33.0	A listener named Danielle tweeted us a question the other day.
0:36.0	She wanted to know if it's true that they call it the mall
0:40.0	because you don't go to one store you go to the mall.
0:43.0	Ah, funny joke.
0:45.0	Funny joke.
0:46.0	Yeah, funny joke and not an entirely unreasonable question because there are some words in English that come to us by mis-changes of ways?
0:54.4	Yeah, yeah, by misdivision like Apron used to be Naperin and Naperin became Apron.
0:59.6	But the mall did not come from them all. No, there's a park in London, right? Yeah, yeah an alley an alley right so this is St. James Park where they used to play a game called Paul Mall that involves a mallet so
1:14.4	mall here is related to the word mallet and the Paul part referred to the ball
1:19.8	yeah it's from Italian Paula Malio so there was this place in this park that was a long lane or a row of trees I guess or open space where you would play this game Paul Mall.
1:30.3	Yeah, it was a long alley actually. And so the name of the game was transferred to the park. It was a long alley actually. And so the name of the game was transferred to the park.
1:34.0	It was abbreviated to the mall.
1:37.0	And when people started building these places intentionally
1:39.0	where people might promenade or walk to be seen,
	...

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