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Journal Entry 7–A Way With Words Podcast - Oh For Cute!

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Fig. 1. Still from A Way with Words website.


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This podcast episode of A Way With Words begins with a discussion about a fascinating group of compound words. Normally, compound words consist of two words that make up one idea or thing, such as houseboat and steamboat which are both a type of boat. However, there are some compound words whose definition comes from describing what they do, not by what the two words mean together.  For example, scarecrow is not a type of crow, nor is pickpocket a type of pocket.


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enturies ago, it was in fashion to create a word by combining two words and making up a whole new word, and around 1200 new words were created. They are called Cutthroat Compounds, but some of the created words have fallen out of common use. These compound words are aptly named for the word cutthroat as it is not a type of throat. Some examples of Cutthroat Compounds are:
  1. saddle-goose – silly person
  2. scrapegut – violinist
  3. tanglelegs – a strong alcoholic drink
  4. smell-feast – someone who invites themselves over to your meal
  5. smellfungus – discontented person

     The complete lists of words can be found on Encyclopedia Briannica, Briannica Hughes, a linguist’s website.


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dditionally, this episode also discussed an emphatic phrase which is popular in the Minnesota - Oh, for adjective, for example: cute!, nice! dumb!, stupid! or gross! Though sometimes used in Utah, its use is mostly centralized to Minnesota. Around the country, the phrase is also heard, although it has evolved by omitting the “oh” and is found in the popular phrases: “for real?” “for sure!” But these are adverbial, and not emphatic such as the example with the added adjective.


     A most interesting fact was mentioned when the hosts revealed that it is actually women who are the most common users of the Oh, for adjective phrase over males. Moreover, it was discussed that this phrase’s inception originated in the 1920’s and is still being used 100 years later. It’s definitely a phrase with staying power!

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Works Cited:

Barrett, Grant, and Martha Barnette. "Oh, for Cute! (Episode #1506)." A Way with Words, a Fun Radio Show and Podcast About Language, 1 Jul. 2023, www.waywordradio.org/oh-for-cute/.


Buckley, Beverly. “letters-4938486_1280.” Pixabay. 16 Mar. 2020. https://pixabay.com/photos/letters-tiles-word-game-crossword-4938486/. Accessed 15 Oct. 2023.


Geleynse, Joyce. “alphabet-6916985_1280.” Pixabay, 22 Jan. 2022. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/alphabet-letters-decorated-letters-6916985/. Accessed 5 Sept. 2023.

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