Something Rhymes with Purple - Zarf

Episode Date: February 2, 2021

Another month, another week, another episode for our dear Purple People! Take a whiff of that petrichor and allow us to metaphorically remove the phloem from life's banana. Come join us in this wordy oasis! This week Gyles and Susie will be remembering enough forgotten words to keep you thinking today, tomorrow and over-morrow. If you're fond of procrastination, or even a bit of perendination, never fear we'll be here whatever day of the week you like to listen. Gyles wonders if his hallux makes him a secret royal, takes pride in his glabrous visage and wonders where in the body the uvula is. Meanwhile, Susie explains why the philtrum and the omphalos are as precious to mammals as they were to Ancient Greeks, tells us why your caruncle may be bigger when you're tired and generally gives us the ultimate anatomy class according to an etymologist. We also answer some purple mail about poodle-fakers, pagans and pedipulation! A Somethin’ Else production If you would like to get in touch with Gyles and Susie with any questions, please email [e-mail]. Susies trio: Bucklebuster- a line in a play or book or comedy that makes you laugh out loud Sequaciousness- the slalavish following of another, even to extreme ends Whithering and Wuthering- move with great force or to buffet like the wind  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Something else. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. Hello and welcome to the 96th episode of Something Rhymes with Purple, a podcast about words and language, and I guess about me, Susie Dent, and my partner, Giles Brandreth. Hi, Giles. It's lovely to be with you me, Susie Dent, and my partner, Giles Brandreth. Hi, Giles. It's lovely to be with you again, Susie Dent. We've got to do something very special to mark our centenary. It's quite strange because for the past year, we've been doing these podcasts remotely. When we began doing it almost two years ago now, we would meet sometimes at the studios of something else, our production company, sometimes at Susie Dent's home. We talked about doing them in interesting places like Dr. Johnson's house in London.

But we've ended up doing them, really, you at your home in Oxford, me in my home in London, and communicating as people are nowadays via Zoom. And it's worked out fine, hasn't it? Do you know, I genuinely, I think I've said this to you before, I actually prefer it, because I think there's just very little distraction, curiously. I think having headphones on, it's quite a sort of immersive experience. And it just feels actually more one-to-one than sitting with our lovely producer next to us, much as I love them. It just feels like a more intimate, direct experience. So I like it. It feels like an old chat.

We hope that people find this moment in the week, the half hour or so that they give us, a kind of oasis. And you told me the other day that for you, making the podcast is a kind of oasis. And I then said to you, what's the origin of the word oasis? What is the origin of oasis? And we did a little radio piece, didn't we? And I said exactly that, that has been an Oasis for me because during lockdown, there isn't very much

else going on apart from sort of family life, et cetera. But from a kind of brain point of view, this has been my refuge. I can indulge in the love that has kind of sustained me all my life, as well as the love of my kids obviously um which is etymology and word origins and i love talking to you about it so yes you asked me about oasis as opposed to a mirage mirage is something illusory an oasis is just something that provides a refuge or a dwelling place and it goes back to the ancient greek but actually ultimately egyptian and it means just that, a dwelling place. So somewhere that you go and you take comfort, I think, and solace.

Good. How have you been coping during this latest lockdown? I have to confess that I have had the occasional fit of mubble fubbles. Remember mubble fubbles, which was a centuries old description of just a tinge of low spirits and melancholy. Not all the time, but I suppose it wouldn't be human if I didn't feel that sometimes. So it's a kind of low level sense of anxiety, which kind of builds and then just sort of ebbs away again. But, you know, I think we are all feeling that because there is not much cheer on the horizon at the moment. Well, I've been been having my headaches again and my son-in-law the vet who i go to because gp gp's understandably busy but since my son-in-law is a vet and i and i get the impression on the

whole that uh vets really like their patients possibly more than doctors do i don't know anyway i consult him and he said to me i doubt that it's anything to do with COVID. It's postular. And I said, what do you mean? He said, the way you sit at your desk, man. Not that he speaks to me like that. But the truth is, I am writing another book, of course. And I sit when I'm keen and anxious. In fact, I'm doing it now talking to you, leaning into the microphone. I sit at the desk with my neck forward and that apparently does terrible things to my posture. In fact, sometimes when I get up, I find I'm a little bit bent and that's what's probably giving me the headaches. And I thought it was anxiety because I'm not sleeping well because COVID is getting to me because I've probably got it. And he said, no,

you've got some postular problem. If only you would sit up properly. Or he said, stand at your desk. What I'm really trying to do is, well, two things of interest, I think. One is that I'm trying to move every half an hour. I'm trying to get up and walk around the block, make myself another cup of tea, do whatever, you know, and come back and then vary it. So I'm trying to do half an hour sitting down and then half an hour standing up at the desk. And I've simply got a little stool that I put the computer on. So I just lift it up and I just stand at the table with it two feet higher. So I'm doing that.

But also, I learned from my daughter, the one who's married to the vet, that we can only concentrate really for 25 minutes. And so I'm trying to do 25 minutes of really concentrated work. Then I'm taking a five-minute break and doing another 25 minutes. And I'm finding that really works. So I'm not allowing myself. I'm at the desk. I'm trying to write my thousand words a day. I try not to look at the emails until 4 p.m.

And then every half an hour, I am basically taking a break. So what is your writing habit? Because you're writing another book now. How do you work your day? I'm just terribly restless as a person. I'm very bad at sitting down for any length of time. So I'm constantly up and down, I have to say. I'm struggling a little bit now that we're only allowed a little bit. Well, we're only allowed out once for exercise, so you've got to make it count. So I go for a long walk every day, which I know you love as well. And the rest of the time, yeah, any excuse. I also have a very pestering cat who regularly comes in, looks at me,

and then trots off to the kitchen because she wants something or other. So she's quite a good reason to get up. But yeah, I'm not very good at the best of times at sitting down for hours on end and concentrating on one thing. And it's very difficult. Looking at emails only at four, I wish I could emulate that because with my phone right next to me, you know, it pings all the time. And that's one method. You must turn off the pinger. People regularly say to me, because I write a book a year,

they say, how do you do it? And I say, it's all down to Mark Twain. Mark Twain asked how to write a book. He said, what do you need? He said, application. Application, yes. Applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. That's the only way to do it. What are we going to talk about?

What are we going to talk about? We're going to talk about words. And we're going to talk specifically about things. You mentioned pinger the other day. I have to turn my pinger off. We have so many words for, say, remote control, whether it's the, you know, who my job or the thingamie or the doofus or whatever you call it. These, by contrast, are going to be things that actually do have a name, but you might not know it. So I'm going to give you a quiz, Giles. Please, I'd like a quiz. Okay. You'll have to reach back. You have to

delve back into your memory because we have covered all of these in previous episodes. But what is the interrobang? Do you remember our punctuation exercise? Yes. Interrobang. That is an exclamation and a question mark combined. Yes. When you want to say, what the hell, which is a question, but also it's an exclamation, you end it with an interrobang. It was a form of punctuation introduced maybe in the 1930s, 40s. 1960s. Well, it was very popular in the 1960s and they were combined. So it's not just this one after another, but actually it was a kind of combined question mark and exclamation mark. That's very good because that's both a new punctuation mark and a new word that we didn't know before. Oh, good. So, this is about words that have been

invented. Lovely. Go on. Well, no, or just forgotten. And actually, you know, when people say to me, oh, there's no word for this, I'm sure the Germans will have one. And sometimes, much as I love German, as you know, I will say, well, actually, we did too. But for some reason, we gave up on it. So, the day after tomorrow, do you remember? It's such a mouthful to say, well, actually, we did too, but for some reason we gave up on it. So the day after tomorrow, do you remember? It's such a mouthful to say, yes, I'm seeing them the day after tomorrow, or I'll do that the day after tomorrow. Do you remember what that is? Well, I do remember that my son's New Year resolution was to procrastinate more, and then he decided to put it off until February. So the day after tomorrow, what is that?

It's very simple. It was simply the overmorrow. Oh, it's a lovely word. It's just beautiful. That has a kind of 16th century feel to it. Yeah, overmorrow, things like yestreen, which was yesterday evening, last night, which I think is also gorgeous. Overmorrow, I'm just going to tell you when it was first used. Looking it up now. Yes, 16th century, spot on. And also you mentioned procrastinate.

Procrastinate has crass meaning tomorrow in Latin. And do you remember the word for putting something off until the day after tomorrow? Oh, over procrastinate? No, perendinate. Perendinate. Yes. How wonderful. So procrastinate is literally to put it off until the next day, is it?

Yes, until tomorrow. Not just to postpone it. Oh, because crass means tomorrow. Yes. We live and learn. This is why I adore this podcast. It may be our 96th, but I'm still learning things. Okay, here's one more for you.

Yes. Do you remember the name for a smell of hot earth after a period of rain or the smell of rain after a period of dry weather? The smell of rain after a period of dry weather. It's a smell that I rather like, but my wife doesn't. It's very earthy. Curiously, because it smells to her of leaves that are beginning to rot. What is the word? Petrichor. Oh, that does ring a bell now

yes petrichor and petri as in turning to it's rocks it's got a beautiful etymology because it means uh what it meant the ethereal liquid that flows in the veins of the gods that's ichor and petri is stone so yes it's due to an element called geosmin, G-E-O-S-M-I-N, which releases these kind of musky, earthy odours when very, very dry and then rained upon. And it's a very, very particular smell. I love it. One last one for you. What do you call the dot on top of the letter I? The dot on top of the letter I. I know the two dots on top of the letter E are called a diuresis. Does that going to lead me in the right direction?

No. It sounds much more English, this one. Oh, a dot on the letter I. This is not a dot above the dot on the letter I. This is the actual dot on the letter I. Yes. Give me a clue. Give me the initial letter.

T. O. Tit. Almost. Tittle. the letter i this is the actual dot on the letter i yes give me a clue give me the initial letter t o tit almost tittle tittle tittle it's a little phrase not a jot or tittle yes a jot was greek for the letter i iota which also gave us iota so it's all in all of those it's the tiniest tiniest part because the letter i was seen as the smallest greek letter in the alphabet so you've got iota. So it's all, in all of those, it's the tiniest, tiniest part because the letter i was seen as the smallest Greek letter in the alphabet. So you've got iota, you've got jot, and you've got tittle, the tiniest, tiniest punctuation mark. So when you say I care not a jot nor a tittle, it means I don't care at all. I don't care the tiniest, tiniest bit. Exactly. So the dot on an i, when they say cross your t's and dot your i's, dotting the i's is you're putting a tittle on your I.

Yes. And the expression, that's him to a T, we think that the T in question is the beginning of the word tittle. It's the first letter of tittle, meaning that's him to the tiniest degree. Him down to a T. You've got him down to a tittle, to the most small detail possible. Down to a T. Well, I've got one for you. See if you can tell me this one. Oclophobia. It's a good one now, because it's a bit what some of us are suffering from. Oclophobia. O-C-H-L-O-phobia. Somebody told it to me the other day, and they said, try it out on Susie Dent. I said, well, if it's a real word, she'll know it. If it's a made up word, she'll blow you out of the water.

It's interesting because most of the phobias that we come up with are actually recent words, but they are given because all phobias are coined in Greek. They are sort of given Greek names. Because phobia means fear of, doesn't it? It does. Yeah. So it's a fear of something. So what do you think the oklo is? The only thing I can think of is, I think there was a word oklocracy. I might've got this completely wrong,

meaning a mob. Yes, no, you're spot on. This is the obsessive fear of crowds. Crowds. Oklophobia. Oh, that's perfect for today. Which is today. We're all suffering from oklophobia.

It's quite bizarre. When my wife and I are out on our morning walk, we see somebody 100 yards away ahead of us on the street and we move to the other side of the road. I mean, what is this nonsense? They're yards away. It's quite strange. I had a lady the other day tick me off

because I went out for my walk with a friend and I was observing the two meter distance with my friend and the lady coming towards me didn't feel like I was going to be far enough from her so she stuck her arms out as you can see I'm doing now on zoom just telling me don't don't you dare come within that circumference of me um people generally are getting quite grumpy because I was I was not going to get near her but and I totally understand the fear of somebody coming too close. And some people just don't think. But there's quite a lot of animosity I find out on my walks these days.

So I think I would just implore people to be kind. Anyway, oclocracy, I think, is mob rule. That's why I was thinking of mob. So, OK, that's interesting. Talking of very small things, the little, the jot and the tittle, minimus, that's a word that often crops up in Shakespeare, meaning as a kind of insult, you, minimus, that's the same idea as jot and tittle. It's reducing something to the absolute minimum, isn't it? Yes, it absolutely is. And I think also

minimus can mean your little toe yes the smallest finger or toe and in fact while we're on this subject of things for which you didn't know there was a name the body has absolutely loads of them for example do you know what you call the space between your thumb and your finger your index finger the thumb and that sort of little fleshy bit yes yes it's got a lovely cute name tell me what is it it's the pearly cue oh i love it the pearly cue very cute isn't it um do you know the way to test somebody's age is it the pinching your skin onto your hand pinch the skin on the back of the hand if they're're young, it jumps back. And if they are, this is,

if you think you're with somebody who's had a lot of face work done and you're just wanting to assess in the half-light what's going on here, you just lean forward. And as you whisper your sweet nothing, you pinch the back of the hand. And if it springs back instantly, you know, gosh, they aren't as young as they look.

But if it takes a while to creep back, you can say to yourself, hmm, they've had some face work down there. So sorry, I interrupted you. If I may say so, I think that's very superficial, but I am also at the same time putting on some hand cream, as you can hear now. You can probably hear that.

Okay, so that's the pearly cue. What about... I love the pearly cue. The small pink bit at the inner corner of the eye? You know, in some people it can be quite pronounced, and I find when I'm tired also it becomes more prominent. That may just be my perception. Small pink bit, yes.

It's a kind of little pink dot. It's more than a dot. So it's just in the inner corner. You've got that sort of lumpy bit. And it's caruncle, C-A-R-U-N-C-L-E. So it's like a carbuncle without the B. And that actually, it comes from the French meaning a little piece of flesh and is applied, I have to say, to lots of different things, but particularly to the lacrimal, I don't know if you would call them the glands, but they're called the lacrimal

caruncles. Okay. so that's one for you. What about the fleshy bit that hangs at the back of the mouth above the opening of the throat? Oh, good grief. Oh, dear. It's rather revolting. It's the uvula. Oh, is that what it's called? I thought that was something more intimate.

The uvula. How interesting. I thought that was something more intimate. The uvula. How interesting. Is the uvula the thing that, if you picture a kind of Tom and Jerry cartoon, occasionally the characters open their mouths and they're screaming and you see little bits of jangling at the back of their mouths. You see the tonsils and then you see the tonsils.

Is that the uvula? Oh, that's the tonsils. That's the tonsils, but I think uvula is probably there as well. It actually goes back to the Latin uvula meaning the same thing. So there's nothing massively interesting to say there. But yes, there's a very detailed description of it in the OED. The conical fleshy prolongation hanging from the middle of the pendant margin of the soft palate in man and primates. There you go.

Does that make sense? That's Bert in its own way. You're one of the lovingest bits of the body. Yes. What about the smooth part of the forehead between the eyebrows? Oh, the smooth part of the forehead between the eyebrows. Not, sadly, as smooth in my case as it used to be. Can you give me an initial letter to give me a kind of clue?

I don't know if you'll know this one, but G. Oh, that's not going to be the glabella, is it? It is the glabella. Excellent. Yes. Yes, and if you are glabrous, you've got a smooth, bald head. I think I knew that because as the years have gone by, my hair has receded, or rather my forehead has grown.

I think you've got a fine head of hair. That's because of lockdown. I can't get to the hairdresser, so what there is. I remember this from last time. You really suit of hair. That's because of lockdown. I can't get to the hairdresser, so what there is. I remember this from last time. You really suit long hair. Well, thank you. It's going to be a ponytail by the end of this. I'm keeping going.

So glabella is what? Say glabella again. Glabella is the smooth bit between and directly above the eyebrows. That is the glabella. I'm going to give you one more. Yes, I know. Give me lots more. Because has every part of the body got an image?

It must have. Well, I guess so. Yes. There's another one here, which, give me lots more. Because has every part of the body got a name? It must have. Well, I guess so, yes. There's another one here, which, you know, there's that little crescent marking at the bottom of a nail. That's got a lovely word, and it comes from the Latin for a crescent moon, because it's shaped that way if you look at your nails now, and it's a lunule, L-U-N-U-L-E, little crescent moon.

I say I'll give you one more, but it was only because we need to have a break, I think. But I have as many as you want. Oh, I want lots of them. And I would want, if you don't mind, an alternative word for the belly button. Okay. Yes. It's not particularly nice, I think.

Yeah. Oh, well, never mind. Let's think we can go to dark places here, including the belly button. See you after the break. Wherever you're going, you better believe American Express will be right there with you. Heading for adventure? We'll help you breeze through security.

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This is Something Rhymes with Purple, where we're talking at the moment about parts of the body that have names that we didn't know. Subscribe now. well, it's words, is there a technical term for the belly button? Yes, it's the omphalos. Oh, good grief. I think, which can mean lots of different things. But yes, in Greek, it was the navel. But it was also the round stone in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which was supposed to mark the centre of the earth. That was the omphalos.

But it was then transferred over to the navel. Very good. You're one of these people who has slightly sort of icky feelings about when you talk about the belly button. Yeah, I don't know why. I just am slightly. It's bizarre, isn't it? Because it's such a lovely marker of birth. But yeah, the whole innie-outie business.

I think, can we move on? We can certainly move on. Give me another part of the body and another unusual name that exists, but I don't know it exists. Well, this one is much more romantic than the belly button, I think. It is that little groove at the top of your lip. Oh, in between your lips that some people have more indented than others. Yes. At the top of your lip, that little indentation. Is it the philtrum? Very good. It is the philtrum. And the reason I love it is it goes back to the Latin philtrum, meaning a love potion. So it's just linked to, I guess, attraction and romance. It's a love charm.

That's how it's supposed to be seen, that little groove, which I think is gorgeous. P-H-I-L-T-R-U-M. As in a love filter, it's spelled P-H-I-L-T-R-U-M. As in a love filter is spelled P-H-I-L-T-R-E, isn't it? Exactly. And it has got a biological function as well, because in most mammals, the philtrum is used to carry moisture from the mouth through capillaries to the nose in order to keep the nose wet. And a wet nose traps smells better than a dry one and so this enhances the smell and the tracking abilities of the dog or a mammal it's not really necessary in humans i suppose but yeah so it's like a little channel between the mouth and the nose the philtrum okay give me another one okay

this is it's a technical word for your big toe so i talked about the minimus the little toe it's not particularly nice this one it just there there is a word for it if you've ever wondered and it's the hallux h-a-l-l-u-x so does each toe have a name do you think i'm not sure i know that if you um were you ever told or do people ever said oh yes if your big toe is bigger than your other toes, that means you are of noble birth, or I don't know, there are all sorts of theories attached. Have you had that one? I didn't know that. Oh, how exciting, because I've got huge big toes. You can have a look now if you like.

No, please. I've got huge big toes. My big toes are vast, and my other toes are quite small. That means I'm of grand birth, am I? Well, apparently. Always thought I was. I think having one bigger is called Morton's toe, although I think that is a kind of medical complaint because I think it involves pain. But yes, I remember hearing all of that. But no, I genuinely don't know if there is a word for every single toe. We've covered the hallux and the minimus, but if there are any people listening who know this answer, any doctors who would love to know.

And essentially, these words come about because people think everything has to be named. And almost everything in the world has been named. But occasionally, new things come along, we have to think of names for them. Like I remember you introduced me to the name of that piece of cardboard that goes around a cup of coffee when you have a takeaway coffee to keep your hand from getting too hot. And that's called a zarf. You introduced me to that word, Z-A-R-F. And I imagine somebody invented that word when they came up with that bit of cardboard that went around the coffee cup. No, actually, no, they didn't. So it sounds like it's straight out of a Popeye cartoon, doesn't it? But zarfs are incredibly old and they began, they were usually made of silver or gold

and they were very ornately decorated and were absolutely beautiful and have been known in Arabic cultures for a very, very long time. And it comes from Arabic. And when it first came over, the word zaaf into English, it described cup-shaped holders for hot coffee cups, but usually of metal ornamental designs. As it's 19th century that it came over to English. But yeah, those cardboard sleeves have very long and illustrious histories. Are there any other new words or new words that have new uses, as it were, related to food, drink?

Well, there is a word. It took the internet by storm a few years ago. And I remember thinking, wow, I never knew that. I really, really wish I had. And I still can't work out whether, in fact, it does describe the thing that was in this social media post. And I think it probably does. But the word is phloem. It sounds too much like phlem really but it's p-h-l-o-e-m and if you look up phloem in the dictionary it says it's a vascular tissue of plants which conducts sugars and other products of metabolism between parts of the plant okay that in the post that took people by storm it was the stringy bits on a banana oh you know are know, are really annoying. And I always take them off.

And actually, I don't like eating them. I don't know about you, but it kind of puts me off. And I'd love a botanist to say, yes, they generally are called phloem. I'm hoping that that one is true. I just think it's beautiful. I've got one more for you, actually, which is the little bubbles on a raspberry. You know, the little bumps. Oh, yes.

And they're called druplets. D-R-U-P-E-L-E-T-S, little drups. I love that, druplets. That's gorgeous, isn't it? Little bumps on a raspberry are druplets. Yes. And the stringy bits in a banana are called phlegm. But if we've got that wrong, in fact, we would like somebody who is an expert on fruit and veg to get in touch and tell us if that really is what they are called.

I can't, I love a banana as a rule. I love banana toast. I used to have banana toast always for breakfast. And then I realised I needed protein. I don't think it's not a protein. No, I tell you what you can have. Banana toast with peanut butter. So put peanut butter on first and then banana on top.

Absolutely delicious. I've never done that. What a lovely idea. Oh, I'm going to do that. That's giving me an appetite. I've got one more for you. Okay. What do you call the tip of your umbrella, if you ever wanted to call it that?

If it came off, for example, that little metal bit on the point. Yes, the tip. I'd say I need the tip of my umbrella replaced. The nodule, the thingy at the top. Is there a word for it? It's a ferrule. F-E-R-R-U-L-E. I think it means other things. I think I know the word ferrule for other contexts. Give me the full meaning of ferrule. F-E-R-R-U-L-E.

You're right. It comes from ferrum, meaning iron, and it's a little ring or it's a little cap that strengthens the end of something. So you're right. it's used in lots of different ways it's used for things that are usually made of metal and it's to prevent splitting and wearing and you will find it at the end of an umbrella but it also i think in construction is it's of any anything that strengthens a joint or fastening look let's go to some correspondence now okay letters from people and do if you've got any queries about new words or particularly if you've come up with a word for something that doesn't yet exist that you feel needs a greater currency. We've been very lucky. We've had more than four million downloads of our podcast.

We're listened to around the world. This could be the means by which you spread your word globally. So if you've got a word that didn't exist for something that you feel deserves a word, let us know. Purple at somethingelse.com is how you get in touch with us. Something is spelt without a G. Who has been in touch and what have they had to ask? We have a nice, well, lovely letter actually from Stephen Garner in Bishop's Castle in Shropshire. I don't know about you, Giles, but this just always really, really cheers me up when people say things like this. Stephen says, thanks for the lovely blast of escapist wordplay in these

torrid times, which is really nice. He says, this is Ian Giles. During the course of his sleuthing pursuits, Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's inimitable detective, overheard a potential suspect calling her licentious husband a poodle faker. I was wondering, what does this rather marvellous allegation mean? Have you heard poodle faker? Yes, I have. And I don't really know what it means. I've heard the expression. Yes, a poodle faker originally was a man who cultivated female society, which is obviously how it's been used in Agatha Christie for the purpose of advancement so a ladies man but usually in order to become richer or get into the right crowd or whatever it's definitely derogatory in political

context it also meant a person who obsequiously or unquestioningly followed or obeyed another, a bit like the catch fart, if you remember that. And the reason the poodle is here is because the poor poodle has been much maligned, really, in the history of the dictionary. And it's been used for any dog that kind of simperingly dotes on their master or mistress, which I don't think is a particular attribute of poodles. I think they're lovely. If they don't wear bows, I think they're beautiful and it's not their fault if they are. But if they are sort of doting on their owner, if they're doing that, then they are poodling. And if you're a poodle faker, you are pretending to dote upon somebody when in fact

you have ulterior motives. Makes sense. Makes total sense. Somebody has been in touch. Oh, Kim Sullivan from New South Wales. Kim has written to ask, is there a word that describes the pleasure you have when you watch someone who is at the top of their game? Perhaps an actor or musician who gives a sublime performance which appears effortless. Have you ever seen a pair of American dancers called the Nicholas Brothers? No. Go onto YouTube. If you are listening to this, you could almost stop the podcast now, certainly when the podcast is over. Go onto YouTube and type in Nicholas Brothers, and you will see this pair of American dancers, famous really in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, though I think they went on until the 50s, even the early 60s,

the most incredible acrobatic tap dancing you will ever see. It's like Fred Astaire on speed. I mean, Fred Astaire is just magic beyond magic. Extraordinary, yeah. So look at these fellows, the Nicholas brothers, and you will just be amazed. I've been lucky enough to see a number of great artists in their prime. Frank Sinatra, I know we've talked about. I saw Barbara Streisand at the Hollywood Bowl back in the mid-1960s. And it was, you know, goosebumps, tingles up the spine time. Extraordinary. Is there a word to describe that kind of ecstasy that you feel, that high when you come away from seeing a great... Have you, I mean,

can you, is there an experience you've had of seeing somebody or hearing somebody play? You're probably more into classical music than I am. No, I'm really not actually. Well, I love classical music, but no, it just takes me back to the very first time when I was about 14 or 15. I went to my first concert and it was when I was on an exchange visit in Germany to a sort of pen pal. And we went to see Lloyd Cole and the Commotions in Cologne and yeah it was the first time I'd had that total immersion in loud music and it was exhilarating I just remember goosebumps all the way through but I honestly don't know Kim whether there is a word for this

and I'm going to go and do some homework on it I mean more often than not as I always say the dictionary tends to linger on the kind of insulting side. So pleasure in someone else's unhappiness, famously, is schadenfreude, but we don't really talk about comflicity, which is pleasure in someone else's happiness. But pleasure in someone else's skill is something different still. And I'm going to, yeah, I'm going to have to study that one because I don't know it. It's a good one for this episode because there might be a name for it, but I don't know it. And if you've got the name for it, please let us know, Purple, at something else. Well, touch wood, somebody will come up with it. Oh, speaking of touch wood, on our episode on potions and lotions, episode 87,

we discussed superstitions, phrases like white rabbits and pinch and punch for the first of the month. like white rabbits and pinch and punch for the first of the month. Well, Lindy, Linda, Linda, as in Linden tree, not Linda, L-I-N-D-E, she's written to ask where the superstitious phrase touch wood comes from. And whenever you say touch wood, you look around for some wood to touch. And if you can't find it, you touch your head, don't you, as a little joke, suggesting your head's made of wood. The origin of that, I think, is going to have something to do with the crucifix and the cross. Christ, I don't know. That's my guess. Honest answer, I can't tell you because there are lots and lots of different theories to this one. But I think my favourite goes back to a kind of pagan ritual, which is knocking on the trunk of a tree. And that's simply reflecting the fact or the pagan belief

that benevolent spirits resided in the trunk of a tree. And as a tree lover, I just absolutely love that. So the idea, I think, was that you would invoke the good spirits in order to bring yourself luck by tapping on the tree. That's wonderful. That's one theory. That's one theory. So that's the pagan version, as it were.

You're touching a tree. I've not heard a crucifix one, I have to say theory. So that's the pagan version, as it were. You're touching a tree. I've not heard a crucifix one, I have to say. Well, that's just me guessing. You know, touch wood. The idea, because, I mean, for hundreds of years, as it were, European society was profoundly Christian. And Christian imagery came into everything that people did and thought and talked. And so the idea of touching the cross as a kind of holy relic, the wooden cross, I don't know, would bring you a blessing or good fortune. I don't know.

But if anybody thinks they have a definitive answer, please, purple at somethingelse.com. Susie and Giles, my four-month-old spends a lot of time on his back with rattles and ball toys to play with. Recently, he managed to get a rattle by his feet and was kicking it. I thought, oh, he's manipulating it with his feet. But then I thought, manipulate must mean hands, just as manual and the Spanish mano mean hands. So is the root of manipulate the same as manual?

And if so, is there an equivalent for shifting something with one's feet? Love the show, says kindly Bob in Chicagoland. Thank you, Bob, for being in touch. Yes, can you manipulate something with your feet? Yes, it was coined as a deliberate riff on manipulate. And it's pedipulate, 19th century century so just as gruntles was a kind of back formation from disgruntled so pedipulate was a back formation from manipulate but it's a perfectly legitimate word and and bob can use it i admire your manipulation skills that's very very

good i don't wish to lower the tone but many many years ago, I may have mentioned this before, about 50 years ago, I was on a committee set up by the late Lord Longford investigating the scourge of pornography in our society. And one of the magazines that we had to look at was a magazine called Amigo. And it was a magazine for foot fetishists. Oh, yeah. And it simply contained pictures of feet with saucy toe-by-toe, step-by-in-step accounts of sexy feet. And I don't remember meeting the word particulate, but that is the word if you want to do playful things with your feet. Pediculate.

You are particulating. Pediculate. Yes, so it's manipulate, but pediculate. Pediculate. Manipulate, pedipulate. Very good. Have you got some interesting words for us this week, a trio of remarkable words? I do. Well, I like them. The first one I particularly like, I don't know if you remember, Jasmine, talking about a boffler. And a boffler is a very hearty joke. It's one that makes you laugh heartily. And this is quite similar. It's a

buckle buster. And a buckle buster means a line in a play or a book or a comedy that makes you laugh out loud so much that your buckle is stretched. I love it. Buckle buster. The buckle on your trousers or belt, I imagine. So that's the first one. The second one, I think I've talked about being sequacious before, but there were sort of events in America that kind of inspired this one really for me. Sequaciousness. Sequaciousness is the slavish following of another, even to the most extreme ends. So sequaciousness. That's the second one. I'll feed that one without comment. And I like this one because I think 2020 was definitely a withering year. And I'm spelling withering here with W-H-I-T-H-E-R-I-N-G. And it looks like this year is going to start off that

way for a little bit. And to wither is to move with great force or to buffet like the wind. So it's to be blown this way and that by forces beyond your control. And one synonym for withering was actually wuthering, hence Wuthering Heights. Oh. Wuthering Heights, set up the house, of course, set up on the hill and being withered or wuthered by the weather, by the wind. So, yeah, it's to knock or move forcefully, to buffet like the wind. Wonderful. Well, I've got a special poem for us this week. In fact, it's not really a poem.

It's the lyrics of a song. The songwriter, almost to admire above all others, was Cole Porter, American composer, lyricist in the first half of the 20th century, famous for writing Kiss Me, Kate. Also mentioned Frank Sinatra, I've Got You Under My Skin, that song. But this is a little song that he wrote about friendship. And we've been doing this for 96 episodes, and I could have kept it for our centenary. But I think during lockdown, we all ought to keep in touch with our friends if we can, either by Zoom or by phone, or by even sending them a postcard.

And well done, incidentally, the post is still delivering. I'm still getting letters at my door. It's amazing, isn't it? Aren't they good? Yeah. Great people. Anyway, here's this poem about friendship by Cole Porter. If you're ever in a jam, here I am.

If you're ever in a mess, SOS. If you ever feel so happy you land in jail, I'm your bail. It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship. When other friendships have been forgot, ours will still be hot. If you're ever up a tree, phone to me. If you're ever down a well, ring my bell. If you ever lost your teeth and you're out to dine, borrow mine. It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship. When other friendships have been forgot, ours will still be great. It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship.

When other friendships have been forgot, ours will still be it. Oh, that's gorgeous. Yeah, and that's for you, Susie Dent. Thank you. That is really lovely. Well, on that note, thank you for listening and for all of those who generally have been with us since the beginning. We really do appreciate it. And as

always, please drop us a line, purple at somethingelse.com. In the meantime, Something Rhymes with Purple is a Something Else production produced by Harriet Wells with additional production from Lawrence Bassett, Steve Ackerman, Ella McLeod, Jay Beale, and Giles, I didn't mention the word pug onion. And a pug onion is the foremost point on the midline of the chin. It's that bumpy bit on your chin. And we can't see this man's pug onion because it's very thickly covered by the most wonderful beard.

You know who I'm talking about. I do. Our very own Bucklebuster Gully.