Colin from Los Angeles, California, is pondering the expression make no bones about it, which suggests the speaker is talking or acting with no hesitation whatsoever. The saying is inspired by the idea of literally finding bones in one’s food, since having to pick them out could ruin the whole meal. http://waywordradio.org

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Donna in Redwood City, California, reports confusion in her workplace over the term confirming. If she gets an email that says Confirming the supplies will be delivered on Tuesday, she assumes that this means the sender is still in the process of obtaining confirmation. But some colleagues read that as actually confirming that the process has been completed. http://waywordradio.org

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Holly from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, is curious about her mother’s use of the phrase Maybe she isn’t pretty to indicate that someone was very pretty indeed. It may be a form of litotes, or ironic negation, as in the case of not bad, which actually means “good.” http://waywordradio.org

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A North Carolina listener remembers that when she happened to predict things that later came true, her mother would say she had a goat’s mouth. In most of the islands in the Caribbean and also on the island of Mauritius, sayings about foretelling the future often involve references to the mouths of goats. The Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage (Bookshop|Amazon) by Richard Allsopp makes a strong case that this expression comes from African languages, such as Yoruba. http://waywordradio.org

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The last syllables of Arkansas and Kansas don’t rhyme, but both come from the language of the same Sioux tribe. The name of Kansas was adopted by English-speaking people who came to that area, while the name of Arkansas came from those who were French. Thus the different pronunciations for the names of those two states.. http://waywordradio.org

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At a South African boarding school, Rob picked up a phrase from Afrikaans that translates to land with your bum in the butter, meaning “to be lucky.” There are several expressions in various languages linking butter with positive outcomes. A similar German expression translates as “fall on your face in the butter” and a Dutch phrase suggests falling “with your face in the butter.” A Danish phrase that translates as “to come back with butter on your horns,” means “to reap rewards from an investment,” while another involving falling into water refers to a negative result. http://waywordradio.org

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A firefighter named Steve in Newport News, Virginia, wonders why in his line of work, days off are called Kelly days. The term most likely comes from Chicago mayor Edward Joseph Kelly, who in 1936 secured an extra day off for local firefighters who worked long hours. http://waywordradio.org

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According to The Little Book of Second Mentions: The Art of Avoiding Repetition (Bookshop|Amazon), a journalist once referred to a watermelon as the pink-fleshed crowd pleaser. http://waywordradio.org

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Quiz Guy John Chaneski is back with another Common Bonds game, in which the object is to figure out what one word links a trio of ideas. For example, what one word unites the following three things? A report card, USDA inspected beef, and an incline. http://waywordradio.org

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In today's sojourn into the world of therapy we explore why complaining is bad for you, how anxiety is hard wired into the brain and look at yet more worrying potential side effects of vaping.

The anxiety research:
Laufer O, Israeli D and Paz R (2016) Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms of Overgeneralization in Anxiety Current Biology In Press

The e-cigarette research:
Allen JG, Flanigan SS, LeBlanc M, Vallarino J, MacNaughton P, Stewart J H Christiani DC (2016) Flavoring Chemicals in E-Cigarettes: Diacetyl, 2, 3-Pentanedione, and Acetoin in a Sample of 51 Products, Including Fruit-, Candy-, and Cocktail-Flavored E-Cigarettes Environmental Health Perspectives In Press

LCCH Podcast 40

LCCH International was created to provide intending practitioners of hypnosis and hypnotherapy, as well as those with an interest in hypnosis / hypnotherapy, with the disciplines, skills and tuition necessary to practise hypnosis both soundly and ethically. The LCCH trains throughout the UK, Southeast Asia and Portugal.