A Roberta of Flax - 22 Nov. 2010

<p>SUMMARY <br /><br />We have collective nouns for animals, like "a gaggle of geese," "a pride of lions," and "an exaltation of larks." So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a "greasing of palms," or a "pursing of tulips"? Also, the difference between further and farther, the proper use of crescendo, how Shakespeare sounded in his day, and why a child's runny nose is sometimes referred to as lamb's legs.<br /><br />FULL DESCRIPTION<br /><br />We have collective nouns for animals, like "a gaggle of geese," "a pride of lions," and "an exaltation of larks." So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a "greasing of palms," or a "pursing of tulips"? Martha shares some others collected on the site of food writer Gary Allen.<br /><br />http://bit.ly/bKG1yC<br /><br />Reverend William Archibald Spooner was known for transposing sounds, like raising a glass "to our queer old dean" instead of "to our dear old queen." A caller shares some favorite Spoonerisms.<br /><br />Boil up some pigs' neck bones, add some liver sausage and buckwheat, mold it in a loaf, then slice, fry, and serve with syrup. Some folks call that scrapple, but a Milwaukee woman's family calls it pannas. <br /><br />A listener asks: "Does the phrase "snap, crackle, and pop" need a cereal comma?"<br /><br />Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a puzzle about anagrams.<br /><br />What did Shakespeare's plays sound like in his day? An acting teacher with an interest in dialects wants to know how researchers reconstruct Elizabethan speech. <br /><br />A Pennsylvania college student remembers playing a game called "Whisper Down the Lane." She's surprised to learn that her fellow students call the same game "Telephone."<br /><br />What's the difference between further and farther?<br /><br />Martha shares more funny collective plant names, including a "mommy of poppies."<br /><br />Pity the poor typeface designer, always seeing anachronisms in movies and TV. Imagine how painful it must be watching a World War II movie, only to see a document printed i