Mailbag: Drug Names, Cow Abductions, and the “Ass-Intensifier”
In this episode we’re opening our mailbag to answer three fascinating questions from our listeners. How did “ass,” a word for donkeys and butts, become what linguists call an “intensifier” for just about everything? How do pharmaceuticals get their wacky names? And why do we all seem to think that aliens from outer space would travel to Earth just to kidnap our cows?
In this episode, you’ll hear from linguistics professor Nicole Holliday, historians Greg Eghigian and Mike Goleman, and professional “namer” Laurel Sutton.
This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, and Katie Shepherd. Our supervising producer is Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate’s Technical Director.
If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281.
Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.
Sources for This Episode
Bengston, Jonas. “Post-Intensifying: The Case of the Ass-Intensifier and Its Similar but Dissimilar Danish Counterpart,” Leviathan, 2021.
Collier, Roger. “The art and science of naming drugs,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, Oct. 2014.
Eghigian, Greg. After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon, Oxford University Press, 2024.
Goleman, Michael J. “Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s,” Agricultural History, 2011.
Karet, Gail B. “How Do Drugs Get Named?” AMA Journal of Ethics, Aug. 2019.
Miller, Wilson J. “Grammaticalizaton in English: A Diachronic and Synchronic Analysis of the "ass" Intensifier,” Master’s Thesis, San Francisco State University, 2017.
Monroe, Rachel. “The Enduring Panic About Cow Mutilations,” The New Yorker, May 8, 2023.
A Strange Harvest, dir. Linda Moulton Howe, KMGH-TV, 1980.
“United States Adopted Names naming guidelines,” AMA.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Datum:
- Duur:
Gerelateerde podcastafleveringen
/https%3A//megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/8f837732-a205-11ef-8978-3352753bfe95/image/058d281541689dd45a9e2f613bd95475.jpg%3Fixlib%3Drails-4.3.1%26max-w%3D3000%26max-h%3D3000%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat%2Ccompress)
/https%3A//megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/8f56d452-a205-11ef-8978-bb806c3cd360/image/29e3081c7140db36e795ce8fe219975e.jpg%3Fixlib%3Drails-4.3.1%26max-w%3D3000%26max-h%3D3000%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat%2Ccompress)
/https%3A//megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/8f2b0390-a205-11ef-8978-030cb8a7614d/image/38e97f097267590f165b0ef91f3567fa.jpg%3Fixlib%3Drails-4.3.1%26max-w%3D3000%26max-h%3D3000%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat%2Ccompress)
/https%3A//megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/9a4c2c2a-3e8b-11e8-bd53-9b1115bac0fa/image/230322_DecoderRingTile_final__1_.jpg%3Fixlib%3Drails-4.3.1%26max-w%3D3000%26max-h%3D3000%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat%2Ccompress)
/https%3A//megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/8ecfa4fa-a205-11ef-8978-8f75db83ba9d/image/0ea9531dfd50afed336442ae301079a3.jpg%3Fixlib%3Drails-4.3.1%26max-w%3D3000%26max-h%3D3000%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat%2Ccompress)
Meer afleveringen van Decoder Ring
-
Jane Fonda’s Workout, Part 1: Jane and Leni (Encore)
In 1982, the Jane Fonda Workout became the best-selling home video of all time. Over decades, it and its 22 follow ups would spawn a fitness empire, sell more than 17 million copies, and transform Fonda into a leg-warmer-clad exercise... -
How to Hunt a Mammoth, and Other Experiments in Archaeology
Experimental archeology is, simply put, archeology that involves running experiments. Where traditional archaeologists may study, research, analyze, and theorize about how artifacts were made or used, experimental archaeologists... -
The Bad-Mouthing of British Teeth
From The Simpsons’ Big Book of British Smiles to Austin Powers’ ochre-tinged grin, American culture can’t stop bad-mouthing English teeth. But why? Are they worse than any other nation’s? June Thomas drills down into the origins of the...