Steamed Bun (Rebroadcast) - 15 April 2019

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

A Way with Words

Education, Language Learning, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2019

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week: Do you ever find yourself less-than-specific about your age? Listeners share some of their favorite phrases for fudging that number, like: “Oh, I’m 29, plus shipping and handling.” Also in this episode: • Since ancient times, people have hidden messages in clever ways. Nowadays, coded messages are sometimes concealed in pixels. • Uber-silly German jokes: Did you hear the one about the two skyscrapers knitting in the basement? It’s silly, all right. • The origin of hello, the creative class, all wool and a yard wide, get some kip, a handful of minutes, and jeep. 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 [email protected]. 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 Away with Words, a show about language and how we use it.
0:03.0	I'm Grant Barrett.
0:04.0	And I'm Martha Barnett.
0:05.5	On our Facebook group, Fred Rosen of Boynton Beach, Florida, raised an interesting question
0:11.0	about the language that people use to talk about their age.
0:15.4	His cousin calls himself 50 plus.
0:18.4	He says, I was 50 years old for one day and now I'm 50 plus. Just one day I was 50. But he's going to think he's 59.
0:27.3	Really? If he's under 51 then he's cheating himself out of some really good years there.
0:32.3	When you're a kid, those individual numbers mean a whole lot, right?
0:37.0	Yeah, and even the numbers in between, you know, I'm four and a half, I'm five and a half.
0:40.0	Yeah, my son counts the month, partly because the birthday's at the end of it. He knows that gifts are coming, but yes.
0:46.0	Oh, does he? Okay. But then you know you get to a certain age and you just say your regular age or at least I have and then you get a little bit older and you
0:56.0	sometimes start to fudge it or you forget.
0:59.2	Do you literally forget your own birth?
1:00.6	I have to stop and think, well how old am I? And a lot of people chimed in on this
1:04.9	discussion. Bruce Lundax said, when I turned 50, my friend welcomed me to the 600 month club.
1:11.5	Oh, that sounds depressing.
1:14.0	Julie Todd said, I'm 42, but I say I'm 29 plus shipping and handling.
1:19.0	I like that one a lot.
1:20.0	That's great.
1:22.0	And Randy Barber said, a friend of mine is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary
1:26.8	of her 30th birthday.
	...

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