Give It the Old College Slang - 11 August 2008

[This episode originally aired May 17, 2008.]<br/><br/>If someone calls you 'dibby,' should you be flattered or insulted? You'd know if you were in college a century ago--it's outdated college slang! Also, we are 'voluntold' to play a word puzzle about Unknown Superheroes!<br/><br/> What do we call it when new inventions or ideas change the name of something old? It used to be that the word 'guitar' was sufficient, but now we regularly distinguish between an 'acoustic guitar' and an 'electric guitar.' Same for television, a word that sufficed until we started saying 'color television' to distinguish it from the earlier black-and-white version. What's the word for such terms? We know you can't wait: it's 'retronym.'<br/><br/>A Cincinnati man says that at the non-profit where he works, he often hears the word 'voluntold.' It comes up when someone is volunteered by someone else to do some task, rather than volunteering themselves. Does this term for 'involuntary volunteering' have military origins?<br/><br/>'You're the apple of my eye' is an ancient term of endearment. Martha explains the connections between apples, eyes, and other precious things.<br/><br/>We share a listener's email about 'nicknames for the city of Vancouver, Canada.' How about ' Word-couver'?<br/><br/>Quiz Guy John Chaneski is a huge fan of comic books featuring superheroes like 'Superman and Spiderman.' Lo and behold, John claims he's discovered a whole treasure trove of 'Heretofore Unnamed Superheroes,' and invites us to guess their names. What do you call the doughty superhero who can take any food item that is past its expiration date, send it back through time, and make it edible again? Need a clue? His mild-mannered alter ego is in his first year at NYU.<br/><br/>An Oakland man is curious about a queasy-making phrase: 'a face that could gag a maggot off a gutwagon.' What's a 'gutwagon'? How's it used? Why is it used? Yech!<br/><br/>'Go fly a kite!' A caller from Washington, D.C. wonders whose kite is getting flown and why. Naturally, we hav