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)

You pick up what you think a glass of water and take a sip, but it turns out to be Sprite. What's the word for that sensation when you're expecting one thing and taste something else? Also, slang from college campuses, like ratchet and dime piece. And the story of a writer who published her first novel at age 73, then went on to win a National Book Award. Plus, the origins of bluebloods, Melungeons, Calcutta bets, Vermont Cree-mees, and the phrase used to buck someone up, "can't died in a cornfield."

Mr. Can't Died (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)

Martha Barnette, journalist and author, and Grant Barrett, lexicographer and dictionary editor specializing in slang and new words -- both co-hosts and co-producers of the “A Way with Words” show on WFYI and WISU -- speak with Phil Glende about  their show, the Schick Lecture Series, and the largest and most important dictionary collection in the world, the Cordell Collection.

Martha Barnette And Grant Barrett

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.

Mr. Can't Died (full episode)

A Way with Words

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