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

Cherry Bombs - 26 July 2020

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

🗓️ 27 July 2020

⏱️ 51 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

An ornithologist says there’s a growing movement to change the name of a pink-footed bird currently called the flesh-footed shearwater. The movement reflects a growing understanding that using flesh-colored for “pink” fails to acknowledge the full range of human skin color. Plus, is hooligan an anti-Irish slur? Some people might perceive it that way, but originally the word itself simply referred to the name of a particular gang in London. Finally, book recommendations to keep our minds and hearts full: Joan Didion essays and a novel by Affrilachian poet Crystal Wilkinson. Plus, cherry bumps, al fresco, en plein air, frivol, logy, pigeon-toed vs. duck-footed, hankering, unbolted, a socially distanced brain game, and who licked the red off of your candy? 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

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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. And I'm Martha Barnett. We heard from Jean Gerber in

0:08.2

Thetford, Vermont, who wrote to ask about the term Cherry Bumps.

0:12.6

She says it's what my family and friends called it

0:15.1

when we swung hard and high in the swing set

0:17.8

and the whole swing set would lift up off the ground

0:20.8

in the front, and two of its four legs would lift a few inches and then

0:24.9

bump back into the ground and this was in the 1960s in Cleveland and she says

0:30.9

I have no idea why we called it Cherry Bumps but we all knew what it meant.

0:35.0

Oh yeah, the kind of the backyard rusty swing set right that wasn't really bolted down or wasn't set in concrete.

0:42.0

Yeah. And the ones... down or wasn't set in concrete.

0:42.6

Yeah.

0:43.6

And the ones you always tried to do the loop-to-loop

0:46.4

where you went all the way around and never quite made it.

0:48.6

Oh my gosh, that, yeah.

0:51.2

Yeah, I had some bruises to show for that.

0:53.4

So that's Bump B-U-M-B, right?

0:57.7

Right.

0:58.7

But I have seen some people kind of, I'm not 100% sure it's connected,

1:02.1

but connected to Cherry Bomb, like the little

1:05.7

round red firework that you buy near Independence Day, the one that makes that really satisfying

1:10.3

explosion.

...

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