Train of Thought (Rebroadcast) - 24 August 2020

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

🗓️ 24 August 2020

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, such as the powers that be and bottomless pit, which both first appeared in scripture. • There’s a term for when the language of a minority is adopted by the majority. When, for example, expressions from drag culture and hip-hop go mainstream, they’re said to have covert prestige. • The language of proxemics: how architects design spaces to bring people together or help them keep their distance. • Segway vs. segue, part and parcel, Land of Nod, hue and cry, on the razzle, train of thought, and a special Swedish word for a special place of refuge. 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.
0:06.2	Cast the first stone.
0:08.0	Do unto others.
0:09.5	Am I my brother's keeper?
0:11.7	So many phrases in English come to us from the Bible,
0:14.6	land of milk and honey, root of all evil, judgment day. Those are some of the obvious
0:19.9	ones, but there are also lots of words and phrases that you might be surprised to learn
0:24.4	apparently originated in early translations of Greek and Hebrew scripture, and one of those is
0:30.1	bottomless pit.
0:31.1	Oh, I did not know that.
0:32.7	How about that?
0:33.8	It means, of course, something that can't ever
0:35.8	be filled or satisfied, a teenage boy in the kitchen.
0:40.6	Right, right, right.
0:41.0	But the first recorded appearance of this phrase in English is apparently William Tindles 1526
0:47.2	translation of the Bible is from the Book of Revelation which includes this apocalyptic vision. And the fifth angel blue and I saw a star fall from heaven
0:56.5	unto the earth and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
1:00.8	Isn't that cool? Yeah, the Greek there that's translated is Abu sauce, which means abyss, but it's apparently the first recorded instance we have of bottomless pit.
1:12.0	Wow, that is amazing. instance we have of bottomless pit. Bottomless pit.
1:13.0	Wow.
	...

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