Category Archives: TV

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A Glossary of ‘Veep’: Our 10 Favorite Words

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There’s so much to love about Veep: the biting humor, the swearing, the hilarious actors, and of course the words. Enjoy 10 of our favorites as this latest season comes to a close.

AIDS-nami

Amy: “Hey, Egan, is somebody gonna get fired over this AIDS-nami?”

“Data,” April 26, 2015

AIDS-nami, a blend of AIDS and tsunami, refers to the disaster of a massive White House data breach which results in the Reddit-outing of an 8-year old girl with HIV mentioned in the President’s speech.

The word tsunami is Japanese for “seismic wave.”

backup booty

Gary [to Selina]: “Listen, you are Beyoncé, and his is backup booty.”

“Storms and Pancakes,” May 17, 2015

The backup booty in reference here is that of Tom James, Selina’s running mate and potential out-shiner. Gary might mean that James is merely a backup (booty) dancer to Selina’s Queen Bey, or a backup booty call, i.e., not the voters’ first choice.

cock-thumb

Ben: “Yeah, we just got to do a cock-thumb.”

“Joint Session,” April 12, 2015

A cock-thumb is when someone makes a radical suggestion in order to prompt the other person to make a more reasonable suggestion, which is actually what the first person wanted. In Veep’s case, the President’s office plans to propose “a radical cut to the military, cutting off the cock,” hoping that “the Joint Chiefs in turn propose their own more reasonable cut, cutting off the thumb.”

Colonel Kurtz

Amy [of Selina]: “She’s gone full Colonel Kurtz. Is she giving orders from under the desk?”

“B/ill,” May 31, 2015

The isolated, cruel, and possibly insane Colonel Kurtz is the main antagonist in the film Apocalypse Now, and is based on the character Kurtz in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

friendered

Leon: “Are you seriously detaining me again? Am I being rendered?”
Ben: “No. You’re being friendered, so just please accept our compulsory hospitality.”

“Tehran,” May 3, 2015

Leon is an American journalist who has been detained in Iran, only to be further detained by the President to accommodate her schedule for a photo op.

Those who are usually rendered — or sent to countries outside the U.S. for interrogation, imprisonment, and sometimes torture — are untried criminal suspects. Both the U.S. and the United Kingdom are known to engage in this practice of extraordinary rendition.

Friendered means being rendered by friends.

half-ecuted

Sue: “He’s half-dead.”
Ben: “Half-ecuted.”

“Convention,” May 10, 2015

Half-ecuted, a shortening of “half-executed,” refers to the recent botched executions of several death row inmates. Since pharmaceutical companies don’t want to be associated with, well, killing people, death penalty states are having more and more difficulty obtaining the right drugs, and end up using new formulas in “untested doses.”

the Jonad files

Ms. Bennett: “Do you recall a document shared on the J-drive titled the Jonad Files?”

“Testimony,” June 7, 2015

The Jonad files — where Jonad is a blend of Jonah and gonad — is a “glossary of abuse” containing insulting nicknames for the hated (and very tall) Jonah Ryan. Such nicknames include Jizzy Gillespie, Jack and the Giant Jackoff, Wadzilla, One Erection, The Pointless Giant, The 60-Foot Virgin, Gimpanzee, Jonah Ono, Hagrid’s Nutsack, and Spewbacca.

Latina-geddon

Selina: “She’s a woman! She’s fucking ethnic!”
Amy: “This is Latina-geddon.”

“Convention,” May 10, 2015

The Latina-geddon referenced here is New Mexico Senator Laura Montez, the running mate of Selina’s opponent. Not only is Montez Latina-American, she’s brilliant, pretty, and charming, according to Selina. She also has the very un-PC moniker of “Sexy Mexy.”

The word Latina-geddon is a blend of Latina and armageddon, or the end of the world.

sale-bait

Dan: “Ladies, you are going to be our sale-bait.”

“Mommy Meyer,” May 24, 2015

Sale-bait is, as Amy puts it, “independent, well-educated young women. . .who also happen to be very hot to lure congressmen into the room in a way that is deeply feminist.” The word sale-bait is a play on jailbait.

Tangerine Dream

Mike [regarding his dyed mustache]: “I call it Tangerine Dream.”

“East Wing,” April 19, 2015

In his newfound fame as the President’s press secretary, Mike dyes his mustache bright orange. Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in the late 1960s.

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One for the Road: The Words of ‘Mad Men,’ A Final Roundup

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Mad Men has always shown, perhaps this last half-season more than ever, that everything must come to an end — jobs, relationships, life, and yes, even our logophilic round-ups of the show.

So pour yourself a cocktail, light a smoke (actually, don’t), and enjoy these drinking terms, hobo words, and of course an anachronism or two.

battle royale

Peggy: “They all have their own toy. If we want enthusiasm, we should just have one toy.”
Stan: “Like a battle royale, just throw one in there, last kid standing gets the gig?”

“Time & Life,” April 26, 2015

Anachronism alert! While the term battle royal — that’s royal without an “e” — has been around since the 1670s, battle royale (with an “e”) didn’t come about until 1999 with the publication of the novel by Japanese writer Koushun Takami.

Both meanings, however, are the same — a fight involving many combatants —  with the added implication of a fight to the death for battle royale.

According to the Grammarist, the original battles royal were common as “huge boxing matches” in 17th and 18th century England. When they lost popularity, the big brawls migrated to the southern United States, and today exist “in the domain of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.”

beer belt

Bill Phillips: “He lives in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio. Some call it the heartland. Some call it the beer belt.”

“Lost Horizon,” May 3, 2015

A beer belt (not to be confused with this snazzy accessory) is a swathe of countries or states where beer is the beverage of choice, or where it’s produced.

However, while certain countries in the UK and Europe have been referred to as the beer belt since at least the early 20th century, we couldn’t a reference to the beer belt of the U.S. earlier than 2014.

Other regional “belts” include the bible belt, parts of the U.S. dominated by Southern Baptist Convention or Protestant fundamentalism; the rust belt, an industrialized area with older factories, often no longer in use; the borscht belt, “the predominantly Jewish resort hotels of the Catskill Mountains”; and many more.

catch

Mathis [to Peggy]: “You’re a catch.”

“Severance,” April 5, 2015

While to be a catch, someone desirable for marriage or a relationship, might sound modern, the idiom has been around since about 1722, and comes from an early meaning of fish as someone desirable to catch or hook for matrimony.

catchphrase

Peggy [to Don]: “Have a big idea. Create a catchphrase.”

“The Forecast,” April 19, 2015

A catchphrase is widely-used phrase originally created as a slogan for a group, movement, fictional character, advertisement, etc. The term originated around 1837 with the idea of a group of words that “catch” attention.

Another catch- word is, well, catchword, a well-known word or phrase that encompasses some idea; a catchy name or slogan; or in printing, “the first word of a page printed in the bottom right-hand corner of the preceding page.”

Draw-a-Man test

Mr. McDonald: “Your little girl scored very low on her Draw-a-Man test.”

“Time & Life,” April 26, 2015

The Draw-a-Man test — now known as the Draw-a-Person test — was developed by American psychologist Florence Goodenough in 1926. In the current evaluation, the child is asked to draw a man, woman, and herself. The drawings are then assessed for absence or presence of features, amount of detail, and correct proportion.

The test’s validity has been questioned as there is low correlation between Draw-a-Person scores and other intelligence tests. In addition, since at least the 1960s, the exam has also been used as an indicator of schizophrenia.

go cry in church

Marie [to Megan]: “Let her go cry in church.”

“New Business,” April 12, 2015

Go cry in church is a dismissal of someone’s self-righteous complaints. In a cursory search, we couldn’t find the origin of the phrase. If you have any information, let us know in the comments!

Mildred Pierce

Roger [to Diana]: “Hey, Mildred Pierce, can I get the check?”

“Severance,” April 5, 2015

Mildred Pierce is a 1940s novel and movie about a Depression-era woman who supports her family by working as a waitress.

The Milk and Honey Route

“‘The Milk and Honey Route’ derives its title from a 1931 book subtitled ‘a handbook for hobos.’ It’s an apt point of reference for Don’s aimless wandering.”

Scott Meslow, “Mad Men Recap: ‘The Milk and Honey Route,’” The Week, May 11, 2015

The Milk and Honey Route: A Handbook for Hobos was written in 1930 by American sociologist Nels Anderson under the pseudonym, Dean Stiff. Anderson’s earlier study, “The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man,” was based in part on his own experiences as a migratory worker.

As for the milk and honey route, according to Anderson, it’s how “hobos” referred to the railroad. The original milk and honey route referred to the train that traveled from “Salt Lake City southward through the valleys of Utah,” an area which became “the greatest feeding ground” — or a land of milk and honey — for itinerant workers.

The phrase milk and honey meaning prosperity and abundance comes from biblical description of the Promised Land.

one for the road

Peggy [to Roger]: “This is the one for the road, okay?”

“Lost Horizon,” May 3, 2015

It’s popularly thought that the phrase one for the road, a final drink before departure, comes from “the supposed practice of offering condemned felons a final drink at pubs on the way to the the place of public execution in London.” However, no historical record supports this, says The Phrase Finder, and more likely it’s simply a colloquial reference to “a departing drink in English pubs.”

The earliest citation according to both The Phrase Finder and the OED is from 1939: “Propaganda should be employed to train and fortify public opinion in the condemnation of persons who drink before driving—above all to discourage the practice of ‘one for the road’.” The phrase was popularized by the 1943 Johnny Mercer song, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road).”

person-to-person

Operator: “I have a person-to-person call for Betty Francis from Donald Draper.”

“Person to Person,” May 17, 2015

Person-to-person refers to a long distance phone call booked through an operator and “chargeable only when the caller speaks to an indicated person at the number reached.” The term, and presumably the practice, originated around 1919, says the OED.

Person-to-person calls still exist today, but, as a poster on Straight Dope says, “no one in their right mind” would actually place one. This type of call was useful in the past when long distance prices were exorbitant, but now with mobile phones and other technology, person-to-person calls are probably unnecessary.

Person-to-person also means direct communication between two people.

Want more Mad Men? Check out all of our Don Draper-esque posts.

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‘Community’ Soup: 12 Best Words So Far

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Community is back next week (at least via Yahoo Screen)! And while we’ll miss Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley, we’re glad school is back in session for the rest of the Greendale gang — so glad we’re rounding up our favorite class Community-isms from Word Soups past.

accusational opposition disorder

Britta: “For our midterm, we actually get to diagnose a fellow student with something.”
Annie: “Don’t you do way too much of that already?”
Britta: “Accusational opposition disorder.”

“Contemporary Impressionists,” March 22, 2012

Accusational opposition disorder is a pseudo-psychology term for disagreeing with someone in an accusatory tone.

analogy

Jeff: “Somebody tell Britta what an analogy is.”

Britta: “I know what it is! It’s like a thought. . .with another thought’s hat on.”

“Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts,” March 15, 2012

The traditional definition of analogy is “similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar,” and “a comparison based on such similarity.” So “a thought with another thought’s hat on” is actually pretty close.

Britta

Jeff: “You probably just Britta’d the test results.”
Britta: “Wait, are people using my name to mean ‘make a small mistake’?”
Jeff: “Yes.”

“Horror,” October 27, 2011

An eponym is “a word or name derived from the name of a person.” Another example is bowdlerize, “to expurgate in editing by expunging words or passages considered offensive or indelicate,” named for Thomas Bowdler, “who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818.”

For even more eponyms, check out this list.

Changnesia

Dr. Kedan: “Changnesia is a fascinating and extremely rare disease on the forefront in psychological landscape.”

“Advanced Documentary Filmmaking,” March 14, 2013

Changnesia is “the complete loss of memory caused by sudden trauma that was, itself, also forgotten.” It’s named for, and perhaps only affects, one Benjamin Chang, Greendale’s erstwhile Spanish teacher.

Also known as “Kevin’s Disease” (Kevin being Chang’s amnesic name slash pseudonym), Changnesia is a blend of Chang and the Greek amnēsiā, “forgetfulness.”

It was also our selection for most ridiculous portmanteau-eponym of 2013.

copera

Cop: “Love is not admissible evidence! I’m working on a cop opera.”
Everyone: “Copera!”
Pierce: “Policial!”

“First Chang Dynasty,” May 17, 2012

Copera is a blend of cop and opera. Cop originated in 1704 as a northern British dialectecal meaning “to seize, to catch,” and may have ultimately come from the Latin capere, “to take.” Opera comes from the Italian word for “work.” Policial is a blend of police and musical.

Cop Rock was a musical police TV drama that aired in 1990 for a staggering 11 episodes.

deanelganger

Cop: “Of course. The head of security of Greendale Community College has kidnapped the real dean and replaced him with a deanelganger.”
Jeff: “Well, when you say it that way, it sounds ridiculous.”
Troy: “The word we used was doppeldeaner.”

“First Chang Dynasty,” May 17, 2012

Deanelganger is a blend of dean and doppelganger, a double or apparition of a living person. Doppelganger translates from the German as “double-goer.” Sometimes doubleganger.

A deanelchanger, a blend of dean, doppelganger, and Chang, is a bell that Chang rings to summon the fake dean. Changer may be a play on clang, “a loud, sharp, resonant, and metallic sound,” and clanger, a British English word meaning “a blunder.”

deutschbag

Jeff [practicing foosball]: “I just thought the next time those deutschbags try to show off, I could catch them by surprise.”

“Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism,” December 1, 2011

Deutschbag — a blend of deutsch, German for the word German, and douchebag — is a douchebag from Germany.

dewhimsify

Troy: “We dewhimsified ourselves.”

“Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts,” March 15, 2012

To dewhimsify means to make less whimsical, “having odd fancies or peculiar notions.”

Whimsical probably comes from whim-wham, “fanciful object.”

Ferris Buellerian

Narrator: “Winger’s critics suggest he merely improvised hot-button patriotic dogma in a Ferris Buellerian attempt to delay school work.”

“Pillows and Blankets,” April 5, 2012

Ferris Buellerian refers to the titular character in the film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, who plays hooky and encourages his reluctant best friend to follow suit.

Hawthornes

Singer: “I’ve got a pocketful of Hawthornes.”

“Advanced Gay,” November 3, 2011

Hawthorne refers to the character, Pierce Hawthorne, who owns Hawthorne Wipes, a company that manufactures cleaning and disinfecting towelettes. It also refers to the wipes themselves.

A brand name that has become genericized is a metonym. Other trademarks that are often seen in semi-generic use are kleenex for tissues, xerox for photocopy, and saran wrap for plastic wrap.

hypernarcissosis

Britta [to Jeff]: “Without anxiety to keep your vanity in check, you are vulnerable to a syndrome called hypernarcissosis.”

“Contemporary Impressionists,” March 22, 2012

Hypernarcissosis, another pseudo-psychology term, is excessive narcissism or love and admiration for oneself. It contains the Greek hyper, “over, above, beyond, exceedingly, to excess,” and narcissism, which comes from Narkissos, the “name of a beautiful youth in mythology. . .who fell in love with his own reflection in a spring and was turned to the flower narcissus.”

reverse bully-ism

Jeff: “Oh please, not liking glee club doesn’t make us bullies, and implying that is reverse bully-ism!”

“Regional Holiday Music,” December 8, 2011

Reverse bully-ism, like reverse discrimination, places the normally dominant group, in this case the bullies, in the position of the victim (the bullied).

[Image via Collider]

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Like billy-o! Our Favorite Words of Downton Abbey, Season 5

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Another season of Downton Abbey is ending, which means another batch of our favorite Downton Abbey words.

The fifth season (or series, the British way) takes place in 1924. Vladimir Lenin has died, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was performed for the first time, and Calvin Coolidge was elected President of the U.S.

Meanwhile, over in Yorkshire, meaningful glances were exchanged, acerbic quips quipped, and anachronisms dropped (we noticed three and a half). Pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy.

brownshirts

Edith: “Apparently, there’s a trial going on in Munich of the leader of a group of thugs there.”
Lord Grantham: “I read about this. They wear brown shirts and go around bullying people. They even tried to start a revolution last year.”

Episode 4, January 25, 2015

The brownshirts refer to members of the Nazi SA, or Sturmabteilung, who wore brown uniforms.

The Sturmabteilung, also known as Storm Detachment or Assault Division, was the “original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party,” and “played a key role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s.”

cocktail party

Mary: “It’s very daring of the Lord Lieutenant to give a cocktail party. What do you think, Carson?”

Episode 5, February 1, 2015

Anachronism alert! While this episode takes place in 1924, the term cocktail party, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), originated in 1928. The earliest recorded citation from is D.H. Lawrence: “She almost wished she had..made her life one long cocktail party and jazz evening.”

However, it’s possible that the term was in use a few years before Lawrence used it in Lady Chatterley’s Lover since the word cocktail referring to a mixed alcoholic drink was coined in the early 1800s.

crofter

Mary: “What is your main objection to Mr. MacDonald? That the Prime Minister is the son of a crofter?”

Episode 1, January 4, 2015

A crofter is a tenant farmer, and a croft, as you might have guessed, a tenant farm. According to the OED, the word crofter is from the 18th century while croft is much older, originating in the 10th century. They both come from the Dutch kroft, “prominent rocky height, high and dry land, field on the downs.”

The “Mr. MacDonald” Mary refers to is James Ramsay MacDonald, Britain’s first ever Labour Party Prime Minister. His working class background — MacDonald “studied and worked his way from a village to London and from manual labor to a political career” — was at the time unusual for a politician.

electrotherapy

Thomas: “I went to London for what they call electrotherapy, and the pills and injections were supposed to continue the process.”

Episode 6, February 8, 2015

Electrotherapy is medical treatment using “electric currents.” The practice, used for everything from neurological disease to wound healing, was first developed in 1855 by French neurologist Guillaume Duchenne.

While electric shocks were used starting in the 1960s in homosexual conversion therapy, we couldn’t find, in at least a cursory search, the use of electrotherapy in the kind of conversion therapy Thomas is attempting in 1924.

In 1920, Sigmund Freud wrote in a paper that “changing homosexuality” would be difficult as it “was not an illness or neurotic conflict.” In 1935, Freud called homosexuality merely a “variation of the sexual function.”

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Ellen Terry

Lady Grantham [to Isobel]: “Ellen Terry has nothing on you when it comes to stringing out a moment.”

Episode 5, February 1, 2015

Ellen Terry was an English stage actress known for her Shakespearean roles. Above is a painting by John Singer Sargent of Terry in perhaps her most famous role, Lady Macbeth.

fit as a flea

Rosamunde: “She’s just very tired. She’ll be fit as a flea tomorrow.”

Episode 5, February 1, 2015

Fit as a flea is an idiom meaning “in good health,” and originated around the 1880s, says the OED.

While the phrase probably plays off as fit as a fiddle, which came about in the 17th century, we don’t know why fleas would be considered hale, except perhaps because of their energetic jumping abilities.

So what does a fiddle have to do with being fit? Fit hasn’t always just meant healthy. In the 16th century, the word meant “possessing the necessary qualifications” and “in suitable condition,” according to the OED. So, presumably, a fiddle that was fit meant that it was fit for playing. It was around 1869 that fit came to mean being in good physical condition.

like billy-o

Lord Grantham: “But darling, you don’t want to rush into anything.”
Rose: “But I do. I want to rush in like billy-o.”

Episode 7, February 15, 2015

Like billy-o is an intensive phrase similar to like the devil, says the OED, and originated around 1885.

But where it comes from is less clear. While the town of Maldon in Essex attributes the saying to Joseph Billio, a minister who arrived in 1696 to build a chapel there, World Wide Words says the phrase billy-o arrived too long after the minister Billio, and that a connection is unlikely.

Other possible origins include “Lieutenant Nino Bixio, an Italian soldier at the time of Garibaldi (whose name was said a little like billy-o)”; Puffy Billy, industrial engineer William Hedley’s early steam engine; or Good King Billy, William III of England.

Marie Stopes

Mary [to Anna]: “I have a copy of Marie Stopes’s book. Tells you everything.”

Episode 2, January 11, 2015

Marie Stopes was a campaigner for women’s rights and “pioneer in the field of birth control.” While her most well-known publication is Married Love: Or, Love in Marriage, the book Mary is referring to is probably Wise Parenthood: A Book for Married People, which describes the diaphragm Mary asks poor Anna to purchase for her:

The best appliance at present available for [closing the minute entrance of the womb] is a small rubber cap, made on a firm rubber ring, which is accurately fixed round the dome-like end of the womb…and should be procurable from any first class chemist.

mumsy

Rose [modeling a dress]: “You don’t think it’s a bit mumsy?”

Episode 8, February 22, 2015

Another anachronism! While mumsy has been in use since the 1870s as a childish imitation of mum or mummy, says the OED, the word meaning motherly, homely, or conventional didn’t originate until 1961.

(one’s) thing

Edith: “I thought you’d gone with them.”
Tom: “No, I have a lot to do. And to be honest, it’s not really my thing.”

Episode 6, February 8, 2015

While it may seem quite modern to use a possessive pronoun with thing to mean something one is interested in, the construction has been around since at least the 1930s, according to the OED: “If pottery’s your thing. Mountains are not my thing. The sea is my thing.”

But of course since this episode takes place in 1924, the phrase is still an anachronism.

shell shock

Mrs. Hughes: “Mr. Carson, surely by now we know enough about shell shock to be more understanding than we were at the start of the war.”

Episode 3, January 18, 2015

Shell shock is also known as combat fatigue, or “posttraumatic stress disorder resulting from wartime combat or similar experiences.” According to the OED, the term combat fatigue originated in the early 1940s.

The OED describes shell shock as a disorder identified specifically in soldiers from World War I, with the earliest recorded citation from 1915:

Only one case of shell shock has come under my observation. A Belgian officer was the victim. A shell burst near him without inflicting any physical injury. He presented practically complete loss of sensation in the lower extremities and much loss of sensation.

While the usage of shell shock spiked in 1920, both shell shock and combat fatigue leveled off after World War II, and the term PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, rose sharply after the early 1980s.

small beer

Carson: “This is very small beer.”
Mrs. Patmore: “Mr. Carson, it’s my kind of beer and I know how to drink it.”

Episode 5, February 1, 2015

The phrase small beer originated in the 15th century, says the OED, and referred to beer that was weak or of inferior quality. About two hundred years later, the phrase came to mean something unimportant or trivial, as first used by Shakespeare in Othello: “To suckle fooles, and chronicle small Beere.”

To think small beer of means “ to have a poor or low opinion of (oneself or others),” while a small-beer chronicle is “a narrative of trivial, usually domestic, events.”

sympathy butters no parsnips

Mr. Carson: “I don’t want you think I’m unsympathetic.”
Mrs. Patmore: “Yes, well, sympathy butters no parsnips.”

Episode 3, January 18, 2015

Sympathy butters no parsnips is a variation on the saying, fine words butter no parsnips, which means fine words achieve nothing.

The phrase comes from the historically British practice of generously applying butter to most foods, including parsnips, apparently “much to the disgust of the French” as well as to the Japanese, who referred to Westerners as bata kusai, or butter-stinkers.

tin-pot

Lord Grantham: “So every time we entertain, we must invite this tin-pot Rosa Luxemburg?”

Episode 2, January 11, 2015

Something or someone tin-pot is unimportant, inferior, or shoddy, the way tin is considered an inferior or shoddy metal. Rosa Luxemburg was a revolutionary socialist who co-founded the Communist Party of Germany.

yummy

Mary: “He looks after the pigs.” [Focuses on a dress.] “Oh, yummy.”

Episode 4, January 25, 2015

Yummy meaning delicious or delectable might be a bit of an anachronism. While in 1899 Rudyard Kipling uses the word — “Kissy! come, come!.. Yummy-yum-yum!” — it might just be a play on the word yum meaning “an exclamation of pleasurable anticipation,” as per the OED.

The OED’s first post-1899 citation of yummy is in 1934 as a listing in Webster’s New International Dictionary of English Language, and then in 1950: “Lora’s attractive face or Dorothea’s yummy figure.”

[Image via PBS]

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The Best of Jon Stewart Words

We didn’t want to believe it but it’s true: Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show.

While it’s been a while since we’ve covered the most trusted man in America for our Word Soup column, we still have vivid memories of our favorite Stewart-isms, from words in the news, to original portmanteaus, to guest-coined neologisms.

Let’s revisit 12 of our favorites.

anaphor

Jon Stewart: “By using the phrase ‘you didn’t build that,’ you create confusion by using the demonstrative singular pronoun, ‘that’ instead of the plural anaphor, ‘those,’ which of course would be referring to the antecedent, ‘roads and bridges’. . . .My butt is giving myself a grammar wedgie!”

July 25, 2012

An anaphor is a word, such as a pronoun, “used to avoid repetition,” where “the referent of an anaphor is determined by its antecedent.” The word anaphor ultimately comes from the Greek anapherein, “to carry back, to bring up.”

Anaphor was our 2012 choice for Best Use of a Grammar Term on the Comedy Channel.

assassitunity

Jon Stewart: “Remember when you oversaw the killing of Osama bin Laden? You must have known this photo would go viral. You had to think of it as an assassitunity.”

June 13, 2012

Assassitunity, a blend of assassinate and opportunity, refers to using the assassination of Osama bin Laden as a PR opportunity. Other opportunity portmanteaus include disadvertunity, hobbyturnity, and talk-portunity.

The blend assassitunity is one of the reasons we picked The Daily Show for Best Use of Portmanteaus (tied with The Colbert Report) in 2012.

Benghazi flu

Jon Stewart: “Secretary Clinton was supposed to have testified back in December but kept postponing it for ‘health issues’ which came to be referred to by ‘medical professionals’ as [the Benghazi flu]. . . .The Benghazi flu turned out to be a cerebral blood clot.”

January 24, 2013

The term Benghazi flu was coined by Rep. Allen West, a Republican from Florida, who claimed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was faking illness in order to avoid testifying about the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

It was later revealed that Clinton had been suffering from a “blood clot near her brain.”

cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust

Jon Stewart: “Ladies and gentlemen, the fiscal cliff! It’s the subject of tonight’s cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust, our nation’s totally solvable budget problem.”

November 29, 2012

Cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust is blend of cliff of fiscal cliff, apocalypse, armageddon, and holocaust. For more end-of-the-world words, check out Arnold Zwicky’s apocalypse posts.

This ridiculous portmanteau was our pick for Most Ridiculous Portmanteau of 2013.

DWB

Larry Wilmore: “Racism works best in person. Distrust but verified.”
Jon Stewart: “Like a cop pulling you over for a DWB.”
Larry: “I’m sorry, what’s that, Jon?”
Jon: “A DWB, you know. . .Driving While Black.”

October 2, 2012

DWB, or driving while black, “refers to the racial profiling of black drivers.” The phrase is a play on DWI, “driving while intoxicated,” and originated in 1990 in a New York Times article, says the Oxford English Dictionary.

gaffestronomist

Jon Stewart: “All that remains is the bloody gaffe carcass to be picked over by our nation’s most esteemed gaffestronomists, who will measure the gaffe using the exact science of gaffestronomy.”

June 11, 2012

Gaffestronomist is a blend of gaffe and gastronomist. A gastronomist, also known as gastronomer, is “one versed in gastronomy,” or “the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food.”

Gaffe, “a foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public,” may come from the French gaffe, “clumsy remark” which originally meant “boat hook.” The sense connection may be, says World Wide Words, “because the emotional effect [of a blunder] is like being gaffed,” or pulled by a hook.

Mexiknish

Jon Stewart: “Note to self: A Jewish potato treat with the flavor of the southwest. I call it the Mexiknish.”

June 25, 2012

Mexikinish, or “somewhat Mexican,” combines the word Mexican with the suffix –ish meaning “approximately,” and refers Romney’s claim that his father’s being born in Mexico ties him somehow to the Latino community.

The term is also a pun on knish, a hearty eastern European potato snack.

moochacracy

Jon Stewart: “Or the incredible tax breaks the government gives the investor class, whose money is taxed at a capital gains rate of 15% as opposed to ordinary having-a-job income which can be taxed up to 35%. Boy I wish we had a poster boy for that element of moochacracy. Oh right.” [Cuts to picture of Mitt Romney]

September 19, 2012

Moochacracy is a blend of mooch, “to get or try to get something free of charge,” and the suffix –cracy, “rule or government by.” Mooch probably comes from the Old French muchier, “to hide, skulk,” while –cracy comes from the Greek kratos, “strength.” Stewart continues:

In 2010, Governor Romney had an adjusted gross income of $21.6 million yet paid only $3 million in federal income tax, or 13.9%. Without the preferential investor tax code, Romney would have paid $7.56 million – a government subsidy of $4.56 million, or. . . .enough food stamps to feed Mr. Romney through the year 4870.

nerd glaze

Jon Stewart: “I have people who work here, in this office, who disappear for days on Game of Thrones jags, and they just come back with that sort of, ‘Can’t wait – ‘”
Peter Dinklage: “Nerd glaze.”
Jon Stewart: “You just coined something, sir. If somebody doesn’t have nerdglaze dot com right now, you have to register that.”

March 25, 2013

The term nerd glaze, created by Games of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage, refers to an expression of daze and awe as a result of binge-watching a favorite TV show; or awe-struck fandom in general.

We’re glad to see Nerdglaze.com is still up.

Rominee

Jon Stewart: “We’re talking about Mitt Romney who will be the Republican Presidential nominee, or as I now call it, the Rominee. That’s trademarked.”

May 2, 2012

Rominee is a blend of Romney and nominee, a word that won’t be used in the election next year.

Tuiasosopo

Jon Stewart: “Al, I think you’ve been had by Hawaiian uber-prankster Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.” Al Madrigal: “What? No. I got Tuiasosopoed? No!” January 21, 2013

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is the suspect behind the Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax, and so to be Tuiasosopoed means to be fooled by such a hoax. The word is both an eponym, a word derived from a person’s name, and anthimeria, using a word from one part of speech as another part, such as a noun as a verb. A synonym is catfish. Tuiasosopo was also a word that Stewart really enjoyed saying, as evinced in this clip.

More words that are fun to say.

under-tained

Jon Stewart: “Are you not under-tained? There goes my whole night. Sorry, kids, Daddy can’t read you a bedtime story because he’s got to spend the next five hours watching Blitzer and John King fingerbang Ohio on a magic touchscreen to find out how differently 35-42 year old Catholics voted in Adams County versus this time in 2008.”

March 7, 2012

Under-tained is blend of under and entertained, and means to be entertained in an underwhleming way. It plays on the phrase from the film Gladiator, “Are you not entertained?”

In regards to Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, we were never under-tained.

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Boardwalk Empire: Our Favorite Words from the Final Season

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Our favorite Prohibition era gangster show has ended, and what better way to pay homage than with a last round-up of our favorite words?

While you’re at it, check out our Boardwalk Empire glossary from last year.

agony aunt

Psychiatric patient [to Gillian]: “I do love a bit of the agony aunt, don’t you?”

“The Good Listener,” September 14, 2014

Agony aunt is such a great term — too bad it’s from the 1970s. While advice columns have been around since at least 1690, this particular phrase referring to a presumably female newspaper advice columnist wasn’t coined until 1972, according to Oxford English Dictionary (OED). This episode takes place in 1931.

Agony uncle, a male advice columnist, was coined in 1981.

Big Boy

Eli: “We came to rob the joint? . . .We knew the Big Boy would be out.”

“Devil You Know,” October 12, 2014

Big Boy was just one of many nicknames of gangster Al Capone. Among others were the Beast, the Behemoth, Big Al, the Big Fellow, the Big Guy, Al Brown, Tony Scarface, and Snorky.

This Vanity Fair article from 1931 also refers to Capone as Big Boy:

[Capone] is acknowledged to be an enlightened employer. His are the happiest, best-fed and most contented machinegun-chuggers in Chicago. . . .The Big Boy pays them well and does everything to make them comfortable.

Where this nickname comes from is unclear.

hock

Charlie Luciano: “I told you to be careful.”
Bugsy Siegel: “I got a bullet in my leg. You gonna hock me now?”

“Friendless Child,” October 19, 2014

Hock is a Yiddish word meaning to bother, pester, or annoy incessantly. It comes from the expression hak mir nisht ken tshaynik, or “don’t hock a teakettle at me.”

A variant seems to be hack, says the OED, meaning “to embarrass, annoy; to disconcert, confuse.”

UPDATE: Wordsmith Nancy Friedman, aka Fritinancy, just let us know that hock actually translates from Yiddish as “hit” or “knock,” and the Yiddish expression above means “don’t hit a teakettle,” or make noise. The figurative meaning seems to be to bother or annoy. Thanks, Nancy!

Jersey devil

Nucky: “Next time it’ll be the Jersey devil.”
Sheriff: “She is the Jersey devil.”

“King of Norway,” October 5, 2014

While we couldn’t find a first citation for this creepy creature of the Pine Barrens, the name seems to have originated in the early 18th century — not, however, as “a monster of the woods,” says historian Brian Regal, “but of politics.”

Originally known as the Leeds Devil, the cloven-hoofed one was named for the family Leeds, whose patriarch, Daniel, arrived in America in 1677. Daniel was dubbed “evil” and “Satan’s Harbinger” by Quakers offended by the inclusion of astrology in an almanac Leeds published in 1687 and for satirizing them in later books.

In the mid-18th century, the Leeds were targeted for having “sided with the empire” (Daniel had been a fan of Lord Cornbury, the first royal governor of New Jersey) and for “somehow being in the occult,” says Regal. By the time Revolutionary War rolled around, “the ‘Leeds Devil’ stood as a symbol of political ridicule and scorn.”

In the early 1900s, the Philadelphia Dime Museum claimed to have the legendary monster on display (in reality, a kangaroo with wings attached).

Somewhere along the way, the Leeds Devil became the Jersey devil, although it’s not clear when. The earliest citation we could find was from 1910: “For fully a month the ‘Jersey Devil’ had the world agog, leaving fur, feathers, and footprints, sometimes, in half a dozen places at once.”

let go

Margaret: “Am I being let go?”

“Golden Days for Boys and Girls,” September 7, 2014

We were surprised to learn that to be let go, or fired, is not an anachronism. This euphemism dates back to 1817, says the Word Detective.

Liberty bond

Marie: “Liberty bonds! From the war! They’re nothing to you.”

“What Jesus Said,” September 21, 2014

Liberty bonds were war bonds sold in the U.S. “to support the allied cause in World War I.” The point of war bonds was not only to finance military operations but also to “remove money from circulation” and help control inflation.

mamzer

Bugsy Siegel [moments before being knocked out]: “If any of you mamzers rats me out about being at that apartment, I’ll pop a slug so far up your ass, I swear to God your back teeth — ”

“Friendless Child,” October 19, 2014

Mamzer is a Yiddish term that literally means “bastard,” or a child born out of wedlock, incest, or parents of different faiths. More commonly it refers to any contemptible person.

posing for animal crackers

Bugsy Siegel [to prostitute]: “Posing for animal crackers?”

“The Good Listener,” September 14, 2014

While we couldn’t pinpoint an exact origin of this phrase meaning “standing around doing nothing” presumably like the animal-shaped cookies, we did find this citation from 1917: “Pee-wee, you look as if you were posing for animal crackers.”

public enemy number one

Announcer: “Chicago, the windy city, long home to colorful citizens but perhaps none so blustery as the man called public enemy number one.”

“Cuanto,” September 28, 2014

Al Capone was declared public enemy number one by the Chicago Crime Commission in 1930. The public enemies list was brought about by the Commission that same year.

The term public enemy is much older, originating around 1548, says the OED, and refers to “an enemy common to a number of nations, a general enemy,” or “a person considered as a threat to the community.”

wets and dries

Senator: “It doesn’t matter what the wets are saying — ”
Joe Kennedy: “It’s the wets and dries alike.”

“Eldorado,” October 26, 2014

The wets and dries refer to those who were against and for, respectively, Prohibition in the United States.

Since at least 1719, wet has meant an alcoholic drink, according to the OED, and came to mean “permitting the sale of alcohol” around the 1870s.

While dry referring to a prohibitionist originated in the 1880s, dry meaning someone “abstaining from drink, esp. after becoming a addicted,” originated later, around 1941.

The phrase wets and dries gained another meaning in the 1980s. Opponents of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party were deemed the wets, apparently coined by Thatcher herself, meaning “feeble, lacking hardness, or willing to compromise with Labour.”

Thatcher’s opponents began “referring to her supporters as the ‘dries,” those who were for “reducing public spending, cutting taxes, lowering interest rates, tightly controlling the money supply, and reducing the regulatory power of the state.”

[Image via Vibe]

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The Words of ‘Game of Thrones,’ Season 4

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HERE BE LOTS OF SPOILERS.

Another season of Game of Thrones has ended, and with it many lives — and many shits — were lost. But we kept our heads all season (see what we did there) and have compiled for you this handy glossary. Enjoy!

Book of Brothers

Joffrey [to Jaime]: “So this is the famous Book of Brothers. All the great deeds of all the great Kingsguard, huh?

“Two Swords,” April 6, 2014

The Book of Brothers, also called the White Book (after the white cloaks of the Kingsguard), “is the tome that records the deeds of every knight who has ever served in the three hundred year history of the Kingsguard.” In the Book of Brothers, Jaime has only half a page, as Joffrey helpfully points out.

Children of the Forest

Child of the Forest: “The first men called us the Children, but we were born long before them.”

“The Children,” June 15, 2014

The Children of the Forest are a mysterious race of creatures “that were reportedly the original inhabitants of the continent of Westeros.” and have been written off by most as mythic or extinct.

UPDATE: Jennifer Vineyard at Slate has a lot more on the Children of the Forest. The Children of the Forest are the ones who planted the weirwood heart trees and carved the faces in them, so they could keep watch,” who “helped fight back the White Walkers during the Long Night,” and “gave the Night’s Watch the dragonglass to keep [the White Walkers] at bay.”

The Citadel

Prince Oberyn: “The King was poisoned.”
Lord Tywin: “I hear you studied poisons at the Citadel.”
Prince Oberyn: “I did. This is why I know.”

“Breaker of Chains,” April 20, 2014

The Citadel is the seat of the Order of Maesters, “‘an order of scholars, healers, and learned men’ who focus on scientific knowledge and have only a ‘disdaining belief in magic.’”

The common citadel refers to “a fortress in a commanding position in or near a city,” or “a stronghold or fortified place; a bulwark.” The word comes from the Italian cittadella, diminutive of città, “city.”

Craster’s Keep

Jon Snow: “Brothers, I’m going beyond the Wall to Craster’s Keep. I’m going to capture the mutineers holed up there. Or kill them.”

“Oathkeeper,” April 27, 2014

Craster’s Keep is the “small, fortified homestead of” Craster, a wildling who has the habit of taking his own daughters as his wives and sacrificing his sons to the White Walkers.

Dornishmen

Bronn: “How many Dornishmen does it take to fuck a goat?”

“Two Swords,” April 6, 2014

Dorne is a “constituent region” of the Seven Kingdoms, with “a unique culture, law, and ethnic background.” The Dornish “have more ‘relaxed’ views towards sexuality and love than the rest of Westeros,” including holding paramours, or the unmarried lovers of noble men and women, in the same regard as spouses; having no particular stigma against homosexuality; and raising bastards without stigma and alongside “their trueborn siblings and cousins.”

These “relaxed” views are probably what perpetuates jokes about Dornishmen having sexual relations with livestock.

Drowned God

Theon Greyjoy: “I am your prince. I swear it by the Drowned God. What is dead may never die.”

“The Mountain and the Viper,” June 1, 2014

The Drowned God is worshiped by the inhabitants of the Iron Islands, “one of the few regions in Westeros not abiding by the main religion of the Seven Kingdoms, the Faith of the Seven.” The North is another such region, “where the worship of the Old Gods of the Forest remains strong.”

What is dead may never die is the start of a common prayer that has the responding line, “But rises again, harder and stronger.”

giants

Janos Slynt [as Giants approach the gate of the Wall]: “No such thing as Giants. Stories for the children.”

“The Watchers on the Wall,” June 8, 2014

Giants are thought by many to be the stuff of myth. However, as evinced by this episode, they exist “in the furthest north Beyond the Wall.” It’s said that Hodor, a “simpleminded” yet gargantuan servant from House Stark, is part giant.

Apparently, Giants “are very shy” but “their shyness can quickly turn into rage.” Moreover, the Free Folk, or wildlings, “believe giants were enslaved with magic to get them to build the Wall.”

The characteristics of giants differ across various mythologies. While in Norse and Welsh myths, giants are, well, gigantic, in ancient Greek tales, they “were a race of great strength and aggression, though not necessarily of great size.”

Gigantomachy, which comes from a Greek phrase meaning “giant battle,”  is “the mythological war of the giants against Zeus, symbolizing the antagonism between terrestrial and oceanic and celestial forces.”

Iron Bank of Braavos

Ser Davos: “I suppose if you work for the Iron Bank of Braavos, and each one of your gold bars is worth half a kingdom, you tend not to be overly concerned with the kind of distinction. . . .I need you to write a message.”

“Breaker of Chains,” April 20, 2014

The Iron Bank of Braavos is “the most powerful financial institution in the Known World,” and says of clients who fail to pay back their loans, “the Iron Bank will have its due.”

Find out how the Iron Bank stacks up against powerful real-life financial institutions.

King-Beyond-the-Wall

Stannis Baratheon: “You’re the King-Beyond-the-Wall? Do you know who I am?”

“The Children,” June 15, 2014

The King-Beyond-the-Wall is Mance Rayder, the leader of the Free Folk or wildlings. He has managed “to unite a significant number of the northern tribes under his command, enough to pose a threat to the Seven Kingdoms south of the Wall.”

Moon Door

Robin: “It was already ruined because it didn’t have a Moon Door! I was fixing it!”

“Mockingbird,” May 18, 2014

The Moon Door is located in the floor of The Eyrie, the “principal stronghold of House Arryn,” which sits atop a mountain. The Moon Door opens to reveal a very long drop and is the execution of choice for Lady Arryn, ironically enough.

Lady Arryn has said that those dropped through the Moon Door “break apart.” However, according to Time, if the distance from the Moon Door to the ground below is “more than 2,000 feet,” the faller “would reach 125 miles per hour, which means broken bones and near-certain death — but not necessarily breaking into pieces.”

In addition, “such a fall wouldn’t be a 100% guarantee of death”:

During World War II, for example, there were lots of people falling out of burning airplanes — and, though many of them died, a lucky few survived, often thanks to a combination of factors that slowed their falls.

However, we doubt that Lady Arryn will be making a comeback.

Purple Wedding

“Aside from the bridegroom’s customary torture-tainment, everyone was on their best behavior … until the wine started flowing, and we realized why fans have dubbed this the Purple Wedding.”

Drusilla Moorhouse, “‘Game of Thrones’ kicks off a murder mystery with the Purple Wedding,” Today, April 13, 2014

The Purple Wedding refers to the wedding between King Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell, which takes place during the episode, “The Lion and the Rose.” The wedding is so-called by fans of the A Song of Fire and Ice novels due to the poisoned wine that is used to kill Joffrey and the association of the color purple with royalty. The televised version plays this up: Joffrey’s face turns a grotesque shade of purple as he dies.

Why is purple associated with royalty? Back in the day, purple dye was expensive and difficult to make. According to Live Science, the dye initially used to make the color purple was obtained “from a small mollusk that was only found in the Tyre region of the Mediterranean Sea.”

Like the Red Wedding, the Purple Wedding was inspired by a historical event. A Song of Fire and Ice author George R.R. Martin explained to Entertainment Weekly that he based Joffrey’s death “on the death of Eustace, the son of King Stephen of England.” Eustace “choked to death at a feast,” which people are still debating about a thousand of years later: “Did he choke to death or was he poisoned?”

Sand

Cersei Lannister: “Can’t say I’ve ever met a Sand before. I’m not quite sure what to call you.”
Ellaria Sand: “‘Ellaria’ works for everyone else.”

“Two Swords,” April 6, 2014

Each House in Westeros has a special name for their noble-born bastards, children born out of wedlock between a noble and non-noble. The monikers each have to do with geographic characteristics of each house or region: Snow for the North; Waters for The Crownlands; and Sand for Dorne.

In England during Anglo-Saxon times, “the descendants of kings were called aethelings, whether legitimate or not.” Those born “illegitimately,” also known as royal bastards, often had the surname Fitzroy, which ultimately comes from the Latin fils, son, and regalis (by way of the French roial), “of a king, kingly, royal, regal.”

Slaver’s Bay

Daenerys: “How can I rule seven kingdoms if I can’t control Slaver’s Bay?”

“First of His Name,” May 4, 2014

Slaver’s Bay is “the hub of the international slave trade” and may be based on the slave coast of Africa.

Thenn

Tormund Giantsbane: “Thenns. I fucking hate Thenns.”

“Two Swords,” April 6, 2014

The Thenns are an advanced and disciplined wildling tribe, who engage in “self-scarification as well as cannibalism, feasting on the flesh of their enemies.” Evidence has been found that real-life ancient Britons also engaged in cannibalism, perhaps for the purpose of removing competing groups and getting more food, and of gaining the enemy’s power.

trial by combat

Tyrion: “I will not give my life for Joffrey’s murder and I know I’ll get no justice here. So I will let the gods decide my fate. I demand a trial by combat.”

“The Laws of Gods and Men,” May 11, 2014

Trial by combat is, according to Tyrion Lannister, “deciding a man’s guilt or innocence in the eyes of the gods by having two other men hack each other to pieces.” But the practice has real medieval history.

According to The Atlantic, in ancient England, trials by ordeal were more common than trials by combat. Such ordeals included:

pluck[ing] a stone from a cauldron of boiling water, oil, or lead; if their skin didn’t burn off, they were judged innocent. In other cases, the guilty were believed to be those who suffered grave injuries from walking across hot iron, or ingesting poison.

Injuries from walking across hot iron or ingesting poison? You mean like any normal person? It seems that if you were sentenced to trial by ordeal, you were SOL.

Trial by combat, The Atlantic continues, “happened less frequently…but persisted in history for longer.” A historical example is that “of a Flemish murder inquiry in the 12th century that was resolved in a duel distinctly recalling the one” on Game of Thrones,” in which when opponent was about “to deliver the coup de grâce,” the other “reached up and grabbed [his] testicles, held on to them tight, and then shoved [the man] aside without loosening his grip.” The man with “all his ‘lower parts broken apart’” had to admit defeat.

Usurper

Daenerys [to Ser Jorah Mormont]: “Why did the Usurper pardon you?”

“The Mountain and the Viper,” June 1, 2014

Usurper “is a derogative term that refers to individuals who have seized power in opposition to a ‘legitimate’ or ‘rightful’ ruler.” It’s also what Daenerys, her brother, and House Targaryen loyalists call King Robert Baratheon, who took the Targaryen throne by force.

The word usurper comes from the Latin usurpare, “to seize for use, to use.”

white cloak

Sir Tywin [to Jaime]: “You’ll remove your white cloak immediately. You will leave King’s Landing to assume your rightful place at Casterly Rock. You will marry a suitable woman and father children named Lannister, and you’ll never turn your back on your family again.”

“The Laws of Gods and Men,” May 11, 2014

Members of the Kingsguard, “an elite group of seven knights” whose sworn duty “is to protect the king and the royal family from harm at all times,” dress in “gold plate and scale armor with white detailing and white armor,” thus gaining the nicknames, White Swords or White Cloaks.

The Kingsguard are like the Night’s Watch in that they “are sworn for life and are forbidden from owning land, taking a wife, or fathering children.” But while the Kingsguard are “supposedly the greatest and most skilled warriors in all of Westeros,” the Night’s Watch — who dress all in black, and thus are also called crows or black brothers — are “comprised of criminals avoiding corporal punishment or nobles avoiding scandal.”