If you're in a book club, how do you decide what books to read? There are lots of different ways, depending on your group's goals. And is it ever wise to correct someone who mispronounces a word? Sometimes you have to decide if it's better to be right--or simply get along. Plus, some research suggests that when presented with photos from nature, humans naturally focus on animals instead of plants. Botanists even have a term for this tendency: plant blindness. Also, tight as a drum, a funny quiz about slightly altered Stephen King titles, sweet spot, lemniscate, kehrätä, mais garde donc, fourth-person pronouns, meronymy, shambles, semantic bleaching, opening lines of  Turkish fairy tales, and the business end. http://waywordradio.org

Sweet Spot (#1630)

Our conversation about the phrase I beg your pardon reminded Patricia in Greenville, North Carolina, of a playground taunt from her childhood. If one kid said I beg your pardon, another would respond I grant your grace, I hope the cat will spit in your face. Another version of this ditty ends with I hope the cat will scratch your face. http://waywordradio.org

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Christine in Denver, Colorado, is pondering the etiquette of correcting someone's pronunciation. How do you approach knowing the actual pronunciation of a word, when it's not the most common one? For example, Christine learned that the name of the Japanese clothing store Uniqlo is pronounced YOO-ni-kloh, but some people she knows call it yoo-NEEK-loh. Is it kinder to offer a gentle correction, or should you adopt what you know is the wrong pronunciation in order to be agreeable? http://waywordradio.org

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Dan from Jacksonville, Florida, grew up in South Louisiana, where speakers of Cajun French say Garde de donc! to mean "Well, would you look at that!" or "Can you believe this?" The phrase is used to point out something foolish or surprising. The same idea may be rendered as Mais garde donc or Garde donc or Garde mais donc, the garde coming from the French word meaning "look at" and the donc meaning "there." It's unrelated to the term gaga, which originates in French hospital slang gâteux, referring to someone who lacks all their faculties. http://waywordradio.org

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Gary in Loris, South Carolina, started listening to this show on the public radio station WHQR, which broadcasts from Wilmington, North Carolina. Then he realized that because of his location, he could also pick up the show through South Carolina Public Broadcasting. That got Gary wondering about the term sweet spot, meaning "the ideal location." Sweet spot is used in many different sports contexts, but the earliest uses are in golf, referring to the spot on the head of a golf club that has the greatest effect on the ball. http://waywordradio.org

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The expression tight as a tick is inspired by the idea of being full-to-bursting, like one of those insects when it's engorged with blood. Tight as a tick can also describe someone who's quite drunk or very miserly. Other phrases that connote extreme tightness are tight as a drum and tight as a duck's butt. http://waywordradio.org

1630-Caller-Laura-Tight-As-A-Tick

A Way with Words is a fun and funny public radio program about language examined through history, culture, and family. Its mission is to change the way you think about language. The program is heard by broadcast and podcast across the United States and around the world by more than a quarter-million listeners each week. It's produced by Wayword, Inc., a nonprofit whose mission is to promote lifelong learning, better human communication, and the value of a thing well-said or well-written. Call or write with your language questions at any time: (877) 929-9673 (toll-free in the US and Canada) or just email us: words@waywordradio.org.