Souped Up and Sizzling - 11 May 2009

Like mushrooms in fallen leaves, new words keep popping up overnight. Consider the recent coinages frugalista, AFPAK, and fang-bang. Recently, Forbes magazine asked Grant to handicap the chances of these and other neologisms sticking around longer than old-fashioned newspapers. He and Martha discuss these words and whether they have staying power.  <br/><br/>You'd be forgiven for wondering if 'eavesdropping' derives from the idea of would-be spies slipping and falling from the eaves of a house. But it doesn't, the hosts explain.<br/> <br/>Time for a sports question! If an NFL team has a week without having to play a game during the season, it's called a 'bye.' But a caller says he's also heard 'bye week' refer to a week in which a team draws no opponent. Which is correct? Hint: Tie goes to the adjective.<br/><br/>In our recent episode, 'Dust Bunnies and Ghost Turds' http://www.waywordradio.org/dust-bunnies-and-ghost-turds/ (we just love saying that name) Grant mentioned simping, a slang term for 'the act of pursuing a woman online in a fawning fashion.' This week, the hosts speculate about the etymological source of simping: 'Cyberpimping'? 'Acting like a simpleton'? 'Simpering'?<br/><br/>Quiz Guy and Proud Papa Greg Pliska stops by with a word puzzle in honor of his infant daughter. The quiz is called â what else? -- 'Baby Talk.'<br/><br/>What do you call the parents of your son or daughter's spouse? They're your child's in-laws, but what are they in relation to you and your spouse? A caller who spent years in Latin America says Spanish has a specific term for this: consuegro. She's frustrated by the apparent lack of such a term in our own language. <br/><br/>'Well, that was odder than Dick's hatband!' A caller says his mother always used that term. Now he wants to know: Who was Dick? And what was so odd about his headwear?<br/><br/>Ever sat down to a turkey dinner where someone offered you a bite of the Pope's nose? That's a name sometimes applied to the bird's fatty rump, which many consider a delicacy. Martha