Thank <Speech_Male> <SpeakerChange> <Silence> <Speech_Female> <Speech_Telephony_Male> you <Speech_Male> very much. Okay. Take <Speech_Male> care, Lou. Thank you. <Speech_Male> Thanks. <Speech_Male> <SpeakerChange> Bye bye. <Silence> Oh, <Speech_Female> what's the word of phrase <Speech_Female> that your parent used <Speech_Female> and you wonder <Speech_Female> if maybe anybody <Speech_Female> else in the world says <Speech_Female> it? Give us a <Speech_Female> call. 877-929-9673 <Speech_Female> <Speech_Female> <Speech_Female> or <Speech_Female> send it to us in <Speech_Female> email the address <Speech_Female> is words that we <Speech_Female> would radio dot <Speech_Female> ORG. <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Male> Hello, you have <Speech_Male> a way with words. <Speech_Male> Hi there. This is <Speech_Telephony_Male> Paul's element. <Speech_Telephony_Male> Hi, Paul. Where are you calling <Speech_Male> from? Camden <Speech_Male> Maine. <Speech_Male> Camden Maine. <Speech_Male> Welcome to the show, Paul. <Speech_Male> <SpeakerChange> Well, <Speech_Male> I <Speech_Male> have <Speech_Telephony_Male> a new puppy. <Speech_Male> A beagle <Speech_Male> mix. <Speech_Male> And <Speech_Male> when I get them up in the <Speech_Telephony_Male> morning, he's all <Speech_Male> wags and <Speech_Male> kisses. <Speech_Male> And <Speech_Male> he was looking <Speech_Male> my face. <Speech_Male> Good mornings ago. <Speech_Male> And I said, <Speech_Male> you're getting your licks <Speech_Male> in. <Speech_Male> And then I paused for <Speech_Male> a minute and realized, <Speech_Male> oh, gee, <Speech_Male> that's <Speech_Male> like hitting <Speech_Telephony_Male> somebody. <Speech_Male> And that shouldn't <Speech_Male> have anything to do with <Speech_Male> my puppy's tongue. <Speech_Telephony_Male> <Speech_Male> <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Male> <Speech_Male> What <Speech_Male> is your cute little <Speech_Male> puppy's name? We <Speech_Male> have to tell us. <Speech_Male> <SpeakerChange> His name is <Speech_Male> max. <Speech_Male> Max. <Speech_Male> Getting <Speech_Male> your morning kisses your <Speech_Male> max. <Speech_Male> <Speech_Male> <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Male> <Speech_Female> Well, what <Speech_Female> we can tell you about <Speech_Female> lick Paul is that <Speech_Female> it's a really, <Speech_Female> really old word. <Speech_Female> It's been around for <Speech_Female> more than <Speech_Female> a thousand years. <Speech_Female> It goes back to old <Speech_Female> English lichen, <Speech_Female> which <Speech_Female> means <Speech_Female> the way you use <Speech_Female> the word to <Speech_Female> describe what your <Speech_Female> dog is doing. <Speech_Female> It means to pass <Speech_Female> the tongue over <Speech_Female> a surface. <Speech_Female> But this <Speech_Female> word lick gives <Speech_Female> us a great example <Speech_Female> of what <Speech_Female> we call polysemy. <Speech_Female> When a <Speech_Female> word has a lot <Speech_Female> of different meanings, <Speech_Female> this <Speech_Female> simple basic <Speech_Female> word that's <Speech_Female> had a lot of time <Speech_Female> to put out a lot <Speech_Female> of different shoots <Speech_Female> and branch out in <Speech_Female> different ways <Speech_Female> to <Speech_Female> indicate different things <Speech_Female> that are <Speech_Female> related <Speech_Female> to that <Speech_Female> fundamental root. <Speech_Female> And <Speech_Female> by the 16th <Speech_Female> century, <Speech_Female> the word <Speech_Female> lick also <Speech_Female> came to mean <Speech_Female> alongside <Speech_Female> that original meaning it <Speech_Female> came to mean <Speech_Female> to beat or strike <Speech_Female> or thrash, <Speech_Female> which is kind <Speech_Female> of an intensification <Speech_Female> <Speech_Female> of <Speech_Female> that motion, I <Speech_Female> suppose, but <Speech_Female> also <Speech_Female> at that time <Speech_Female> there was the verb <Speech_Female> to lick <Speech_Female> up, which <Speech_Female> meant to defeat <Speech_Female> or vanquish <Speech_Female> and <Speech_Female> that was used in <Speech_Female> an early influential <Speech_Female> translation <Speech_Female> of the Bible, <Speech_Female> which talks <Speech_Female> about <Speech_Female> an army licking <Speech_Female> up the enemy <Speech_Female> the way that an ox <Speech_Female> would lick up the <Speech_Female> grass in a <Speech_Female> field. <Speech_Female> So <Speech_Female> there was that sense <Speech_Female> of it as well, but <Speech_Female> as you noted, it <Speech_Female> means a whole lot of different <Speech_Female> things like a small <Speech_Female> amount. You know, he hasn't <Speech_Female> done a lick of <Speech_Female> work. And <Speech_Female> I think <Speech_Female> most recently, <Speech_Female> <Speech_Female> kids on <Speech_Female> TikTok have been <Speech_Female> posting video <Speech_Female> of things that they've <Speech_Female> licked, that <Speech_Female> is things that they've <Speech_Female> stolen. They show off <Speech_Female> their latest devious <Speech_Female> lick <Speech_Female> on TikTok. <Speech_Female> So <Speech_Female> it's kind of a <Speech_Female> Swiss Army knife of <Speech_Male> a word. <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Male> Interesting. <Speech_Male> Give us some scratches <Speech_Male> behind the ears for <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Male> well, thank you <Speech_Male> very much for <Speech_Telephony_Male> explaining that. <Speech_Male> I was <SpeakerChange> flummoxed. <Speech_Telephony_Male> Well, glad we could sniff <Speech_Female> it out for you. <Speech_Male> <Speech_Male> <Speech_Male> Thanks very <Speech_Male> much. All right. <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Female> 877-929-9673. <Speech_Female> <Speech_Female> <Speech_Female> <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Music_Female> <Music> <Speech_Music_Female> <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Female> Thanks to senior producer <Speech_Female> Stephanie Levine, <Speech_Female> <Advertisement> editor Tim <Speech_Female> <Advertisement> Felton, and <Speech_Female> <Advertisement> production assistant, <Speech_Female> Rachel Elizabeth <SpeakerChange> <Speech_Male> weissler. You can send <Speech_Male> us messages, subscribe <Speech_Music_Male>