Feeling Gruntled - 17 February 2014

<p>Hyperbolic Headlines Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity!!!! Or maybe not. You've seen those breathless headlines on the internet, like "You Won't Believe What This 7-year-old Said to The President!" They're supposed to lure you to another webpage--but now there's a backlash against such clickbait. Plus, the most beautiful word in the Icelandic language. And if being disgruntled means you're annoyed, does being gruntled mean you're happy? Plus, gleeking, balloon juice, belly stretchers, scared vs. afraid, peruse, belting out a song, acknowledging the corn, To Whom It May Concern, and that awkward silence in elevators.<br /><br />FULL DETAILS<br /><br />In Icelandic, the term for "midwife" literally translates as "light mother." Icelanders voted it the most beautiful word in their language. Similarly, in Spanish, the phrase for "give birth," dar a luz, translates literally as "give to light." <br /><br />Gleek doesn't just mean "a fan of the TV show Glee." It's also a verb meaning to shoot a stream of saliva out from under your tongue.<br /><br />Disgruntled means "unhappy," and gruntled means the opposite, although you almost never hear the latter. Playing with such unpaired words can be irresistible, whether you're a poet or an essayist for The New Yorker. <br /><br />A century or so ago, balloon juice was college slang for "empty talk."<br /><br />An Indianapolis caller wonders if there's any difference in meaning between the words scared and afraid. <br /><br />Why did the chicken cross the basketball court? Spoiler alert: the answer is a groaner.<br /><br />Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a puzzle involving expressions that pair famous people with the last syllables of their names. For example, what kind of drinking vessel might a mustachioed genius named Albert use?<br /><br />The word peruse is such a confusing term that it's best to avoid it entirely. Some English speakers were taught it means "to read casually," while others were taught exactly the opposite.<br /> <br />If you take a job at an airline, bewa