1 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh. There's 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: Chuck and Dave and Jerry are both here in spirit 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: and this is short stuff. I'm sorry this is or 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: shay off stay. I had a hard time with this 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: episode research wise, because, uh, this how stuff works article 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: keeps talking about what a joke it is and how 7 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: easy it is, and it's like, it's not the Enigma code. 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: But I didn't do pig Latin growing up, so it's 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: just still confuses me. Like I get it, but I like, 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: I don't just hear someone speak it and I can say, oh, 11 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: this is what they're saying, and I have to write 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: it down and move a bunch of dumb letters around, 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: right right, yeah, you, I'm right there with you, Like 14 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: I have to stop and think about it. You know, 15 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: how to say a certain word or spell it or 16 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: what somebody's saying is very difficult too. But I think 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: that's kind of because pig Latin it wasn't like the 18 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: cool thing when we were growing up. Where were younger, 19 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: we probably or I should say way way older, we 20 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: probably um would have been a little better at pig Latin. 21 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: It's just it is very easy to learn the rules 22 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: of it are very easy, but to speak it fluently 23 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: would be, I'm sure very difficult and take a lot 24 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: of practice, for sure. Yeah, and there are so many 25 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: more things that you can do with your time. They're 26 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: more constructed to try and be fluent in pig Latin. 27 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: But when you're a little kid and the only the 28 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: only thing to play with is a hoop with a 29 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: stick that you chased down the hill, pig Latin is 30 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: pretty attractive, you know what I mean. Yeah, so pig 31 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: Latin is uh we'll talk a little bit about the 32 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: history in a sec but basically, if you take the 33 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: word cat and we got this from the House to 34 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,960 Speaker 1: Works article at way is way big pay at and 35 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: lee what is pig Latin? And see that annoys me 36 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: just reading it? Uh, so what you do with cat 37 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: it would end up as at k. So you take 38 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: the letter at the beginning of the word, move it 39 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: to the end, add the syllable a y and that's 40 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: sort of it, right that, I mean that that is 41 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: all there is to it. So you'd have at k 42 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: that's pretty simple. At k um and that's it. I mean, 43 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,079 Speaker 1: that's all there there really is to it. Like if 44 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: you run into a word that has a couple of syllables. Um. 45 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: They use the example of curtain. Um. There's a couple 46 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: of things you can do. You can say artn k, 47 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: That's what I would do. But if you're if you 48 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: were like fluent in pig Latin, you might say no, 49 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: no no. Each syllable gets messed around with this, so 50 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: you have um er k tin a no er k k, 51 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: which I mean like almost no one's going to know 52 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: what you're talking about, especially at first. But if you 53 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: and your buddy are really good at pig Latin, then 54 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: you've got your own little language that no one can 55 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: can come in too. And in your world is is 56 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: shatter proof. That's right. And uh. There were some predecessors 57 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: two pig Latin, dog Latin, and hog Latin, which they think, um, 58 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: the name hog Latin might have eventually gotten to pig Latin, 59 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: even though dog Latin and hog Latin were not anything 60 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: like pig Latin. Um. Apparently it was just like a 61 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,239 Speaker 1: fake Latin that people made up. Like Shakespeare. I think 62 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: it did a little. Uh, I think dog Latin and 63 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: it's funny. They really explained the Shakespeare passage, which I 64 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: don't even think we should get into but no, no, no, 65 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: you co starred. I'll be Holofernes. All right, jeez, everyone, 66 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: we present to a dramatic reading from Shakespeare's Loves Labor Lost. 67 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: Oh I'm co co starring, yea, your co star man, 68 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: this is where our TV show didn't work. Oh wait, 69 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: I'm chuck alright, co starred. Go to thou hast it 70 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: add dung hill at fingers ends as they say, oh, 71 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: smell false latin dunghill for and then okay, we can't 72 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: go over that again. So this article takes great paints 73 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,280 Speaker 1: to explains, to explain all that, and then at the 74 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: very end says, the joke is much funnier when you 75 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: explain it at links, and I'm like, no, that's never 76 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: been true for any joke ever. Right, well so, but 77 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: the point is is like what Shakespeare was calling this 78 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: dog latt or hog Latin or dog Latin is basically 79 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: more like Cockney rhyming slang than what we think of 80 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: as pig Latin. He was replacing dunghill for ungium, which 81 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: is fingernail, which was right, pretty clever words smithery, right, 82 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: and it's funny, like it's pretty rich. The two of 83 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: us just mocking Shakespeare right now, but but that that 84 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: this was like, not, it has nothing to do with 85 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: pig Latin, even though they're like clear, Really, hog Latin 86 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: was a direct predecessor of pig Latin, even even if 87 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: they aren't similar. Somebody said, oh, we'll call this one 88 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: pig Latin rather than hog Latin. Yeah, and I think 89 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: even Edgar Allan Poe mentioned both dog and pig Latin. 90 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, dog Latin and pig Greek. Uh. And it 91 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: was pretty disparaging of those. But again, it was not 92 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 1: the pig Latin that we know. And maybe we should 93 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 1: take a break and talk about when that dumb thing 94 00:05:26,640 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: came around right after this ko way, chuck okay, chuck um. 95 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: So pig Latin, as we understand, it was around by um, 96 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: the late eighteen hundreds at the latest. They think, Yeah, 97 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: there was I think in the Ox. It was in 98 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: the Atlantic. Rather, it says they all spoke a queer 99 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: jargon which they themselves had invented. It was something like 100 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: the well known pig Latin that all sorts of children 101 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,600 Speaker 1: like to play with. Uh. And it looks like it 102 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: was invented by kids to talk about stuff that their 103 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:33,679 Speaker 1: parents couldn't understand. That totally makes sense. Um. And again 104 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: here's where that famous Enigma code line comes in. That 105 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 1: like the parents could could crack it pretty easily. Um. 106 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: The point was, I think maybe that it became cute 107 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: and just widely appreciated because maybe this is my own 108 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: personal theory, kids thought that they were speaking in a 109 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: way their parents couldn't understand, and their parents did fully understand, 110 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: so they allowed it to keep going on. Is like 111 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: the gret language, um with with this kind of like 112 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: little bit of you know, delight at the childhood nous 113 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: of the whole thing. That's what I think. That's why 114 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: I think pig Latin got traction originally. Yeah, And it's 115 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: it's kind of weird that I have such contempt for 116 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: it because I've seen examples in movies and in real 117 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: life where and it's usually seems like young girls have 118 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: made up their own little secret language, and I just 119 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: find that like exhaustively adorable and very funny and cool. 120 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: But there's something about pig Latin that just ugs baby me. 121 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: Oh good, one good one chuck, that was very good. Yeah. 122 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: So um, one of the things that I love about 123 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: pig Latin are twofold and they both come in the 124 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: early twentieth century. So pig Latin basically had its golden age, 125 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: It's heyday where it was like part of the popular 126 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: culture and like the first uh three or four decades 127 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century. And um, it showed up Chuck 128 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: in this this this song called pig Latin Love, which 129 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: was an Arthur Fields record from and did you listen 130 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: to it? Of course it's adorable. I looked, I looked 131 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: everywhere to see if it's in the public domain, and 132 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: couldn't find it. So I'm not sure if we can 133 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: play anything. It's got to be I would think so too. 134 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: So we'll say, let's play a little bit here, and 135 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: then if do you don't hear anything, it means that 136 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: we found out it is in the public domain, in 137 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: which case go look it up yourself. But here's a 138 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: little clip of pig Latin Love by Arthur Fields. Maybe correctly. Goodness, 139 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 1: it really is. And so I just think it's an adorable, 140 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: adorable song. But the fact that somebody had a popular 141 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: song about this shows just how popular it was at 142 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,560 Speaker 1: the time, how how prevalent it was in pig almost 143 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: in pig culture. And pop culture. I'm sure in pig 144 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: culture they're like, stop making fun of us. We don't 145 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: talk like that. Yeah, we used to have an old 146 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: patrola with some old records, and uh it was it 147 00:08:56,679 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: was always kind of fun to um to put those on. 148 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,080 Speaker 1: Like we never did it as a family, like sat 149 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 1: around and listen to him, but when friends would come 150 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: over at papan on, it's kind of kind of cool. 151 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: My dad had um Jackie Gleason records, and uh, I 152 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: used to tell them that they were so square, the 153 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: records themselves were square. He would be like, what do 154 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: you mean that's great? Uh So the other use, I 155 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: think you were probably talking about The Three Stooges, right, Yeah, 156 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: did you watch that too? I didn't, Actually, I didn't 157 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 1: get around to that one. It's just adorable. I can't 158 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: wait to do our episodes on the Three Stooges or 159 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: five episode, seven part episodes on the Three Stooges. But 160 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: there's a particular one in UM ninety eight called Tassels 161 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: in the Air where Mo and Larry are trying to 162 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: teach Curly pig Land. It's a good like full minute 163 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: or so like lesson on pig Land. Curly just can't 164 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: quite pick up. But so he's like, so I'm oh 165 00:09:55,679 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: may and that's airy lay and you're early and curly 166 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: goes que and they're like no, I think he gets 167 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: slapped as a result. But um, it's it's pretty cute. 168 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: So here's the deal, though, pig Latin is not I mean, 169 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: technically it's a language, but it's it's really um something 170 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: called back slang or a coded language. Um, it's not 171 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: like I know, we covered Esperanto many many years ago 172 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: on the show and uh like kling on. Those are 173 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: really invented languages with vocabulary and grammar and syntax, and 174 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: they don't rely on English as the basis of it. 175 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: This is not that. No, there's no pig Latin without English. 176 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,600 Speaker 1: That's it. And it follows all of the same vocabulary 177 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: rules and like you said, syntax and everything that English follows. 178 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: It's just you're rearranging it a little bit. Um. One 179 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: of the other categories that pig Latin qualifies as a 180 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 1: coded language, Like the reason that this is done is 181 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: to disguise what you're saying. Even if it is not 182 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: just kind of a feeble attempt at disguise, it's still 183 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: qualifies it as a coded language. Yeah, and there are 184 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: examples of stuff like this in other countries. Apparently in 185 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: France there's something called verlon that switches up the first 186 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 1: and last syllables of a word. Um, Spanish has uh 187 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,199 Speaker 1: here gonza. Oh nice. I guess that's how you pronounce it, 188 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: which where you double the vowels and put a P 189 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: between them. So gato, which is cat is gaba topo 190 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: sounds kind of cool? It does you take Japan? Okay? 191 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 1: Japan has something I was asking you me about this. 192 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: She knew exactly what I was talking about. Um called 193 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,079 Speaker 1: bobby go b A b I g o, and g 194 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 1: O indicates a language in Japan, So like English go 195 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:45,199 Speaker 1: or something like that would be the English language. This 196 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: is like bubba language. And it's because you insert be 197 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 1: sounding syllables into the already extant syllables of a word. 198 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: So sushi becomes subu shibi. I love that word. Yeah, 199 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: subushi bi subushibi. Yeah, and that's bobbigo in Japan. Let's 200 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: go get some superb I just think it's so great 201 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: that everybody's like this language interest is interesting, but we 202 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: could make it even even better. Let's try kids, Yeah, kids, 203 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: are great. Uh, well, you got anything else? I got 204 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 1: nothing else. I don't either so or we go or 205 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: stay off or shay off, stay to a that's that 206 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: all right. Stuff you should know is a production of 207 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: iHeart Radios How Stuff Works. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 208 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 209 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.