The Hawaiian word “aloha” is both a greeting and a goodbye, as well as a profound acknowledgement of the oneness with all living things. Plus, what’s a “lemur ball”? That’s the cute little cuddle formed when several of these ring-tailed primates cozy up to each other. A new book will leave you marveling over the mysteries of lemurs, wombats, and other creatures. And: If you’re exhausted after a long day, and you get tired of saying you’re tired, you can always say you’re “forswunk.” Also, sweating buckets, sudar como un pollo, a game featuring imaginary national anthems, fair to middling, sirop de poteau, Se cree la mamá de Tarzán, dilly-dally, cackermander, jassum, swink, skunked, and a 5-year-old’s hilarious misunderstanding. http://waywordradio.org

Big as a Breadbox (#1667)

This week on "A Way with Words": You walk into a used bookstore, or pull down an old volume at the library, and there it is: The smell of old books. If you detect notes of vanilla in that intoxicating scent, there's a reason. Also, why some people think the word awesome is overused, why comic sans serif is a font almost universally reviled, and the origin of the phrase around Robin Hood's barn. Plus, chuck it vs. chunk it, sharing out, the dummy it, intellectual jokes, and the answers some parents give when a kid asks one too many questions. As in, "Daddy, what's that?" "Why, it's a wiggly-woggler for grinding smoke!"

The Old-Book Smell (full episode)

i'm actually very open to djing this stuff. lemme know if you have an event that might fit..

https://soundcloud.com/habibifunk

Listen to part 2 here:
https://soundcloud.com/jakarta-records/radio-jakarta-007

Thru the "Sawtuha" project and Blitz The Ambassador playing quite some shows in Morocco I've had the pleasure to travel North Africa quite frequently lately and whenever possible I did some record shopping. This is a selection of some of the finds, music from the 60s and 70s from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Some known some not yet. 

This is also a kick off to a new loose series of mixes by us, people we work with or people we are just friends with. Enjoy. 

UPDATE:

So here is the tracklist after the guys at ozart already deciphered a huge part of it. Sorry for the delay, I didn't have my hands on my records in the last days:

01. Assa'd Khoury - Al Gaba
02. Sabah – Dek El Kaff
03. Karim Shourhy & Andrea Rayder – Take Me Back To Cairo
04. Feddoul – (Reprise de Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag)
05. Ziad Rahbani – Intro Instrumental 2
06. Sharifa Fadel – Mawal El Ashak
07. Salah Ragab and The Cairo Jazz Band – Egypt Strut
08. Golden Hands – Take Me Back 
09. Elias Rahbani & His Orchestra - Moonlight Melody
10. Mahmoud Megri - Tefham
11. Elias Rahbani – Dance of Maria 
12. Abdou El Omari - Rajaat Laayoun


"Habibi Funk 001 Mix" by Jannis of Jakarta Records (Mix of Arabic 60s & 70s vinyl)

i'm actually very open to djing this stuff. lemme know if you have an event that might fit..

https://soundcloud.com/habibifunk

check out part one of the mix here:
https://soundcloud.com/jakarta-records/jakarta-radio-001-jannis-of

i got to travel a lot in north africa in the last years thru touring with blitz the ambassador and the studio session with oddisee for sawtuha in tunisia. while being there i did some digging and found some incredible music from the 60s and 70s. some of the music in this mix has zero info on the net, was never sold on ebay and has not been "rediscovered" yet. others are somewhat classics in the field of „arabic groove“. the music in this mix comes from morocco, libya, eggpt, algeria, lebanon and syria. 

photo by robert winter.

"Habibi Funk 002 Mix" by Jannis of Jakarta Records (Mix of Arabic 60s & 70s vinyl)

In some British dialects, the word cackemander means “friend.” http://waywordradio.org

1667-Cackemander

Dale from Huntsville, Alabama, recalls a colleague in Quebec dissing imitation maple syrup as lamppost syrup. Indeed, the phrase sirop de poteau, or “pole syrup,” is a disdainful reference used by French-speaking Canadians referring to the weak, artificial version of the real thing, suggesting that the so-called syrup was obtained by tapping a telephone pole, not a living, growing tree. http://waywordradio.org

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Don from San Mateo, Florida, recalls that when he asked his mother what he was getting for Christmas, she’d reply with: I got you a fastareus. It’s bigger than a breadbox and smaller than an elephant. His father also used fastareus as a placeholder word like doohickey or thingamajig. The word may be related to the Irish words fooster, foostering, and foosterins, all of which have to do with idling about. The expression bigger than a breadbox has a much clearer origin. The idea first popped on national television on January 18, 1953, spoken by panelist Steve Allen on the game show “What’s My Line?” http://waywordradio.org

1667-Caller-Don-Bigger-Than-A-Breadbox

A Havertown, Pennsylvania, listener wonders why her mother used to answer queries about how she was doing with phrase that sounded like either Fair to midland or Fair to middling. Middling has long meant “just OK” or “right in the middle,” and the expression fair to middling is among the categories used to grade agricultural products such as cotton, grain, and livestock depending on their quality. http://waywordradio.org

1667-Caller-Eden-Fair-To-Midland

Jeff in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is looking for a specific word for “exhaustion after extreme physical activity, such as running a marathon.” Synonyms for exhausted include knackered and forswunk, from swink, meaning “to toil” or “to work hard.” In extreme sports, people use the term bonking to mean “being depleted,” or metaphorically hitting the wall. There’s also dog-tired, plum tired, running on fumes, and out of gas. In French, the expression coup de pompe is aviators’ slang for “the sudden drop passengers feel during turbulence” and can refer to such sudden depletion. Speaking of aviation, exhausted flight crews talk about the desire to slam-click once they’re on the ground—that is, to check into a hotel, slam the door behind them, lock it shut, and keep to themselves until checkout time. http://waywordradio.org

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Jiffy from Atlanta, Georgia, relates a story about a smelly road trip cooped up with her dog Moxie, who’s been sprayed the night before by a skunk. In recounting the story, she realized she hadn’t used the word skunked since she played cribbage with her dad years earlier. To be skunked or to get skunked in cribbage and other games and sports refers to “being defeated by a large margin,” and often ending the game prematurely because the victory is already decisive. Similarly, lexicographer Brynan Garner applies the participial adjective skunked to words such as hopefully and decimate with meanings that are so unclear or controversial that they’re best avoided altogether. http://waywordradio.org

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Junior Vasquez @ Sound Factory 1993

It's the Up-Goer Five Challenge! Try to describe something complex using only the thousand most common words in English. It's a useful mental exercise that's harder than you might think. Also, if you want to make a room dark, you might turn off the lights. But you might also cut them off or shut them. You probably know the experience of hearing or seeing a word so long that it ceases to make sense. But did you know linguists have a term for that? Plus, cumshaw artists, the history of Hoosier and beep, and the debate over whether numbers are nouns or adjectives.

Gnarly Foot (full episode)

Today's most popular dog names are Max and Bella. In the Middle Ages, though, dogs would answer to names like Amiable. Or Nosewise. Or even ... Clench. And is the term "redneck" derogatory? Some folks proudly claim that name. They say it's high time they were redneckcognized. Also, the origin of the phrase rule of thumb, whistling Dixie, the eephus pitch, terms for flabby underarms, and craptastic substitutes for swear words, like "sacapuntas!"

Whistling Dixie (full episode)

Have a question about objective pronouns? Whom ya gonna call? Wait--is that right? Or would it be "who ya gonna call"? "Whom" may be technically correct, but insisting on it can get you called an elitist. It's enough to make you nervous as a polecat in a perfume parlor! And if you really want to dig a hole all the way to China, don't start anywhere in the continental United States--you'll come out at the bottom of the ocean! Plus, how to pronounce the name of the Show-Me State, catfishing, gallon smashing, and what it means to conversate.

A Hole to China (full episode)

An essential piece of DJ History here! Starting in the early 1980s, Mills, using the name "The Wizard", was a recurring guest DJ on "The Electrifying Mojo" radio show on WJLB in Detroit. He performed DJ tricks like beat juggling and scratching during his sets (some of which were pre-recorded).

Recorded by a guy called Needlz way back when in 7 parts, more of which will follow.

The Wizard Mixes (Jeff Mills) - WJLB Detroit, 1986 to 1989 Parts 1 & 2

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.

1667-Caller-Jiffy-Skunked

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