[This episode first aired February 13, 2010.] Whoever wrote "The Book of Love" neglected to include the handy emoticon <3, which looks like a heart if you turn your head sideways. Grant and Martha talk about how that bit of affectionate shorthand can function as a verb, and about the antiquated words for kiss, "osculate" and "exosculate." A Houston woman says her family makes fun of her for saying "waste not, want not." Does this proverb make literal sense? BTDubs, a San Diego caller notices that more of her co-workers are "talking in text," saying things like "BRB" instead of "be right back" or "JK" instead of "just kidding!" Is it a passing fad, or a new way of speaking? Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah... MmmmmWAH! Martha shares the "German verb that means to plant one last kiss" in a series of them. Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a fill-in-the-blank limerick puzzle, including: There was once a coed named Clapper In psychology class quite a napper. But her Freudian dreams Were so classic it seems That now she's a __________________. "I feel more like I do now than I did a while ago." The hosts discuss that and other examples of self-referential humor, like "Before I begin speaking, I'd like to say something." A woman having an affair with a married man is a mistress. So what's the word for an unmarried man who's having an affair with a married woman? Consort? Leman? Martha shares the famous passage from the poem by Catullus http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/e5.htmthat begins, "Give me a thousand kisses..." Grant reads an excerpt from the 1883 volume, "The Love Poems of Louis Barnaval," by Charles de Kay http://bit.ly/aqMZ0G . What's the difference between a second cousin and a cousin once removed? Here's a helpful chart from Genealogy.com http://www.genealogy.com/16_cousn.html. What did the boy volcano say to the girl volcano? A caller from Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, wonders about the origin of "knock on wood." The hosts do, too. More about the unusual language of Ocracoke here http://www.waywordradio.org/how-about-a-game-of-meehonkey/. What's a "scissorbill"? A bird? A hog? And how did its name get transferred to refer to anyone who's lazy or ineffectual? -- A Way with Words is supported by its listeners. Drop a few bucks in the guitar case: http://waywordradio.org/donate Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time: Email: [email protected] Phone: United States and Canada toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673 London +44 20 7193 2113 Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771 Site: http://waywordradio.org/ Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate/ Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/ Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/ Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/ Skype: skype://waywordradio Copyright 2010, Wayword Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices