Blind Tiger - 2 March 2015

<p>This week on "A Way with Words": The best way to read poetry. When you pick up a book of poems, how many do you read in one sitting? Some people devour several in a row, while others savor them much more slowly. Plus, it's a problem faced by politicians and public speakers:  When you have to stand in front of people, what do you do with your hands? German Chancellor Angela Merkel came up with a solution. She positions her fingers in a special way that's become so closely associated with her, it now has its own name. And what does it mean if someone says you're "a real pipperoo"? Plus, orange grove vs. orange orchard, Pilish, ducksnorts and duckfarts, and the worst online passwords imaginable.<br /><br />FULL DETAILS<br /><br />On March 14, or 3/14, fans of both dessert and decimals come together to celebrate Pi Day. This year, though, it's not enough to call it at 3/14, because it's 3/14/15, and at 9:26 and 53 seconds, the first ten digits of pi will all be aligned. Speaking of aligning the digits, there's also a form of writing called pilish, where the sequential words in a passage each have an amount of letters that corresponds with the numbers in pi.<br /><br />A swinging song by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra called "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" drops the line What a gal, a real pipperoo. A homeschooling family in Maine wonders just what a pipperoo is. For one, the suffix -eroo is a jokey ending sometimes added for comic effect, as with switcheroo and flopperoo. Pipperoo may derive from a particularly desirable type of apple called a pippin. And the jokey suffix -eroo is added for comic effect, as with switcheroo and flopperoo. So calling someone a pipperoo is fond way of saying, in effect, you’re a peach.<br /><br />Former U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan once observed that a poem should act like a clown suitcase, one you can open up and never quit emptying.<br /><br />In East Tennessee, if someone invites you to a "fire," don’t be alarmed—there's a chance they're talking about a fair. A former Floridian who m