[This episode originally aired Dec. 1, 2007.]Pass the Gatorade! Martha and Grant work up a sweat this week as they
tackle a sports quiz and lob vocabulary questions back and forth. They
also settle a family dispute about the pronunciation of 'eco-friendly'
and unlock the etymology of 'skeleton key.'Do
you know what a 'rampike' is? Or a 'colobus'? Martha and Grant test
each other's knowledge of ten-dollars words with the online quiz at
FreeRice.com.A reader of Anthony Bourdain's 'Kitchen Confidential' thinks the book is snarky--but what does 'snarky' really mean?A husband and wife ask for wisdom about a long-running dispute: Is it 'last-stitch effort' or 'last-ditch effort'?To great effect, your unaffected radio hosts explain the difference between 'affect' and 'effect.'Greg Pliska's quiz about terms from football, curling, and other sports leaves Martha and Grant winded but wanting more.How
do you pronounce 'eco,' as in 'eco-friendly'? Is it 'EE-koe' or
'EK-koe'? A seller of environmentally friendly products learns whether
she can tell her teenage son to go spread his pronunciation in the
garden.A Wisconsinite hopes to unlock the question, 'Why do we call it a skeleton key?'A
caller in Texas stirs up a spat over whether it's ever grammatically
correct to say 'between you and I'--even though Shakespeare did it.This
week's 'Slang This!' contestant guesses what the terms 'tape bomb' and
'pixie money' mean. Improvised explosive devices made out of cassette
tapes? We don't think so.Finally, if you release a collection
of music on compact disc, can you still call it a 'record' or an
'album'? Or is it just a CD? A musician from Indiana wants an answer.--Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at http://waywordradio.org. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.