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. We got a voicemail from Denise Nylen from Panama City, Florida,

and she was asking about a term that she grew up with for moths.

Moths, like the little fluttery things.

Yeah, the little fluttery things.

Nighttime butterflies, some people call them.

Oh, really? That's nice. So what's her word for moths?

Miller.

Oh, this is familiar.

Why is this familiar?

M I L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L.

Uh-A- H-U-H-U. Okay, yeah, they called Moths Millers where she grew up and she wondered if anybody else did.

And indeed, plenty of people refer to Moths as Millers. But here's the really cool thing.

Why? Why? Why do they do that? I bet you know. I do know and it's so great.

You're bouncing in your chair. It's so great. I mean I'm picturing you know being on the on the front porch down there in Florida and you got the light bulb

You know the one light bulb hanging down and there are all these moths there, but think about it the moths have these soft wings and they're kind of dusty, right?

They're kind of powdery?

Moths have been called millers since the 17th century.

And that's because if you were a miller in the 17th century you had a mill and you were grinding wheat

You're gonna get dusty and powdery and it's the same idea

Oh, it's the dustiness of the moths.

Isn't that cool?

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