[This episode first aired May 1, 2010.]

SUMMARY

Digital timepieces may be changing the way we talk, at least a little. There's Bob o'clock (8:08), Big o'clock (8:19), and even Pi o'clock. Also this week, what do you call that gesture with your fingers when you want to make an image larger on an iPhone? Does anyone use the expression fat chance any more? And do the expressions graveyard shift, saved by the bell, and dead ringer has anything to do with weird Victorian burial practices?

FULL DESCRIPTION

As members of the Bob o'clock Facebook group know, the expression "It's Bob O'clock!" means, "It's 8:08!" The hosts discuss this and other silly ways to tell time inspired by the boxy numbers on a digital clock.

http://bit.ly/cufbDx

What's the word for that gesture you make with your fingers when you want to make an image larger on an iPhone? Unpinch? Fwoop?

A Wisconsin man says he learned an expression that sounds like quixibar from his father to describe something confusing or befuddling. But he's never heard anyone else use it. Is it unique to his family?

Does anyone use the expression fat chance any more?

Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a puzzle about heteronyms, words that have the same spelling, but different meanings, like "moped" as in "acted glum" and "moped" as in a motorized bike.

A San Diego caller wonders about the expression a-gogo, as in the name of a local restaurant, Hash House A-Gogo. Where'd it come from?

You look like death eatin' a cracker walkin' backwards. In Appalachia, this phrase means, "you look terrible." A caller wants to know its origin.

A Dallas listener is struck by the fact that Texans talk about East Texas, North Texas, South Texas, and West Texas. So why, she wonders, do people in other states say things like Southern Indiana and Northern California?

Grant talks about his daily work as a lexicographer.

A Wellesley College student has been reading about the Victorian fear of being buried alive -- also known as taphophobia -- and the bizarre 19th-century burial practices associated with it. She's heard that they gave rise to such expressions as dead ringer, graveyard shift, and saved by the bell. Martha and Grant debunk those linguistic myths. By the way, here's a cool article about those weird Victorian "escape coffins."

http://obit-mag.com/articles/escape-coffins-the-fear-of-being-buried-alive

A listener in Buford, Ga., says his mother's maiden name was Barnett, and reports that he was told that the addition of an "e" to a last name was once an indication that the person was descended from slave families.

Why do physicians speak of turfing an undesirable patient?


--

A Way with Words is funded by its listeners: 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

Donate: http://waywordradio.org/donate
Site: http://waywordradio.org/
Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/
Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/
Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/
Skype: skype://waywordrad

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices