Even though this is a recorded podcast, you can always call us anytime. The number is 8779-9-9-6673.

Leave your questions and stories about language, and you might just end up discussing them on the air with us.

Thanks for listening.

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

And I'm Martha Barnett. I thought I knew a lot of words,

but I've been learning so many from our listeners lately. We asked you to write a favorite word

in big letters on a piece of paper and send us a snapshot of yourself holding it up. And we're posting

those on our word wall at waywardradio.org. And Grant, the fun part is once I start researching those words, I find so much great stuff. There was tons of stuff in there. I didn't know. For example, one guy on our word wall was holding up a sign that said epalpabrit. A palpabrit. I had to look that up. I did too. As in the Mona Lisa is a palpabrit. Right. No Yeah. There's a word for that. And how about Menehune?

I learned that from another fellow holding up a sign that said Menehune in Hawaii. Those are little forest dwellers who come out at night and play tricks on people. Oh, part of the Hawaiian culture. Yes. Very good. Yes. For me, the other fun thing about the word wall at waywardradio.org is the fact that you start

looking at these folks and you just wonder the stories behind them. Why does this particular

person choose that particular word? Why does that mean something to them? So a story about a person

choosing a word that itself has a story. And that in a nutshell is what we do here, right?

It totally is. And we'd love to talk with you about language, 877-929-9673, or you can send your questions and email to Words at waywardradio.org. Hello, you have a way with words. Hi, my name's Allie, and I'm calling from Mancato, Minnesota. Hi, Allie, welcome to the show show. Hi, Ellie. What's up? Thank you. Well, I just had a question. I have been saying to some of my coworkers at work when I ask me a question to say that I don't care. I'll say, it's no skin off my nose. And I have no idea where I picked it up. I know that I've known about this for you since I was really young. So it could have been from a cartoon or whatever, but I have no idea where it came from, and I just started getting so curious about it. You said, it's no skin off my nose to mean I don't care. Yeah, right. Okay. Yeah, what are they asking you? Well, I manage, like, cashiers at a grocery store.

So they'll say, hey, do you care if I get a drink? I say, well, let's no skin off my nose. I was like, I don't care. We're not busy, you know. But then I was like, I don't know what that really means. So maybe I should stop saying it. No, you're good. Yeah. Are you a boxer, Alley?

You know, in a ring with gloves and KOs, one, two, three.

I don't. There's a hint in one of the books, American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Is that what it's called, Martha? Yeah, I think. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, or some title like that. I should have written it down. Okay. But they have an entry there on

no skin off one's nose and they suggest that it comes from boxing, although they have the

curious note that says there's no evidence to prove it. But I'm imagining the idea is if you're

talking to someone or you're boxing with someone and they swing at you and they miss, they don't

even touch the tip of your nose, therefore is no skin off your nose and it doesn't bother you at all. So I was just kind of extending out this tiny little note in this book. Could be boxing, could be fisticuffs. Sure, yeah, it could be any kind of, like, you know, put them up. Come on. Yeah. Yeah. And your coworkers understand what you mean when you say that, right? They do. Some of the younger ones give me a weird look because they don't know exactly what, like, they've never heard it. So I would just... Well, Allie, you sound young to me. How much younger are they? You have 10-year-olds working for you? No, but we do have some that are like 16, 17, high school.

Well, maybe you should go up to them in sort of, you know, shadow box.

Maybe then they'll get the idea.

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