Had the Radish (Rebroadcast) - 14 December 2020

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A Way with Words

Language Learning, Society & Culture, Education

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2020

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Your first name is very personal, but what if you don't like it? For some people, changing their name works out great but for others it may create more problems than it solves. And: at least three towns in the U.S. were christened with names formed by spelling a word backward. There's a name for such names: they're called ananyms. Plus, the Iowa town with a curious name: What Cheer. And: a brain game involving kangaroo words, had the radish, landed up vs. ended up, who struck John, English on a ball, whoop it up, affirming the Appalachian dialect, Sunday driver, and lots more. 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/. Email words@waywordradio.org. Twitter @wayword. Our listener phone line 1 (877) 929-9673 is toll-free in the United States and Canada. Elsewhere in the world, call +1 (619) 800-4443; charges may apply. From anywhere, text/SMS +1 (619) 567-9673. 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 a way with words, the show about language and how we use it.
0:03.6	I'm Grant Barrett.
0:04.6	And I'm Martha Barnett.
0:06.4	I want to tell you the tale of two towns.
0:08.9	They're in the deep south, and they both have something unusual in common.
0:15.0	One of them is Remlap, which is in Alabama,
0:18.0	it's just north of Birmingham.
0:20.0	And the other is Treblock, and is in Mississippi just south of Tupelo.
0:25.0	And the reason that they have something in common is the fact that these names are formed by spelling other words backwards.
0:36.0	So Palmer and Colbert are COBART.
0:38.0	Yes, yes.
0:39.0	There's something about that word Remlap that immediately makes you think that it's a word backwards.
0:43.6	Right? Or something out of a science fiction novel or something. But yeah, these terms are called
0:49.3	an anonyms, an an an an an anemes, an an an, anonyms, and that's a special kind of anagram that forms a name because you're taking
0:59.2	a word and spelling it backwards.
1:01.3	So, Remlap and Treblock. Remlap and Treblock and they're where?
1:06.4	Remlap is in Alabama and Treblock is in Mississippi and in fact in Kentucky my home state the town of Combs coams coam B used to be called
1:17.4	Lennet L E N N U T. T. It was near a tunnel. Oh. Okay sure. And then they changed the name.
1:28.0	That's outstanding. You know for a while my siblings and I had four siblings we would say our names backward and mine actually kind of works.
1:35.2	Tenarg.
1:36.2	Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah I'm Athram Ed and Rab.
1:38.8	That's not bad.
	...

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