Navel Gazing (Rebroadcast) - 27 September 2021

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 September 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city's youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web. Plus, you may think navel-gazing is a relatively new idea -- but it goes back at least to the 14th century, when meditating monks really did look like they were studying their bellies! Also, why don't actors in movies say goodbye at the end of a phone conversation? For that matter, why don't some people answer their smartphones with "Hello"? Plus, a poetic puzzle, duke's mixture, small as the little end of nothing, Chesapeake Bay crabbing lingo, omphaloskepsis, nightingale, light a shuck, bumpity-scrapples, the big mahoff, and If a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn't bump his butt. 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	You're listening to a way with words to show about language and how we use it. I'm Grant Barrett.
0:04.6	And I'm Martha Barnett. The old English word galon means to call or to sing in
0:10.3	champments. And you don't see that root in very many English words. There's some really,
0:16.2	really old words like galder, which is a charm or incantation. But there is a familiar
0:22.7	word that you'll see it in, and that word is night and gale. It's a bird noted for the
0:28.1	melodious song, which is heard at night as well as during the day. It's literally a night
0:33.1	singer from old English galon, meaning to call or sing in champments. And I was reminded
0:38.9	of this in a tweet by writer Robert Rick Farling, who mentioned the etymology and described
0:45.0	the night and gale as, quote, a tiny bird of exquisite voice, the sound of hope in
0:50.9	the dark. Isn't that lovely? That is lovely. And it's better than I usually expect
0:56.3	on Twitter. Right. Yeah. But I think Twitter gives you back what you cultivate, doesn't
1:03.2	it? Oh, it certainly does. You follow the right people. You get beauty like that. Yeah.
1:08.8	Give us that quote again. A tiny bird of exquisite voice, the sound of hope in the dark.
1:14.1	Oh, that is very good. I like that. And they are the lovely little things. If you've
1:18.5	never seen a picture, look them up on the internet. They're just gorgeous little things.
1:23.2	Yeah. And I just love the idea of them singing through the night.
1:26.9	The show is about language and everything related to it. Boy, you can call us about slaying
1:30.8	new words, grammar, dispute you had about how to write a PowerPoint slide at work. 877-929-677-3.
1:37.9	Email words at waywardvideo.org or share your musings on Twitter with us at way.wod.
1:46.1	Hello, you have a way with words. Hey, this is Sheree calling from Bernie, Texas.
1:51.5	Hi, Sheree. Welcome to the show. Hello, Sheree.
1:53.9	Thank you. Hey, Martha. Thank you. Thank you. Good to be here. I've got a question for you
	...

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