Whippoorwills, bob whites, and chickadees. How do we decide the names of birds and what to call their calls? Plus, the last syllables of Arkansas and Kansas are pronounced differently, but they come from the same etymological root. And: What’s the best word to describe your relationship with someone who’s less than a friend but closer than an acquaintance. Is that person one of your friendlies? Also, knobbly monster, cuate, to have one’s bum in the butter, the meaning of confirming, Kelly days, a quiz about common bonds, to have a goat’s mouth, antidisestablishmentarianism, and a Tex-Mex casserole dish. Make no bones about it! http://waywordradio.org

No Bones (#1669)

Adam in Abilene, Texas, has fond memories of his mother’s Tex-Mex recipe in a casserole dish. Is it properly called a casserole? A tamale pie? http://waywordradio.org

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Annie from Omaha, Nebraska, and her partner have been using the Merlin Bird ID app to study and identify birds. This makes them wonder how birds get their names and about the shorthand used to describe their calls. Bird-call mnemonics often use an initial stop consonant like P, T, or K, creating a sharp or abrupt sound rather than using softer, flowing continuants, such N, L, or R. Onomatopoetic names like pee-wee began to be codified with early versions of field guides, such as those by Roger Tory Peterson and David Alan Sibley, as well as the National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of the United States and Canada (Bookshop|Amazon). In the 1970 children’s classic The Trumpet of the Swan (Bookshop|Amazon), writer E.B. White describes a white-throated sparrow singing Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada!, but an earlier, widely used version was Oh Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody! Incidentally, the North American pee-wee, peewit, or pee-a-wee is different from the European pee-wee, also known as a lapwing. The North American pee-wee, on the other hand, is a tyrant flycatcher. How their calls are represented also depends on the phonetic inventory of the speaker’s language. For example, the pee-wee is known in German as a Kiebitz, in Dutch a kievit, and in Afrikaans as a kiewiet. http://waywordradio.org

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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 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.