MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Do We Say We Get “The Willies”?
Getting caught in a spider web…walking through an abandoned warehouse…getting caught in a spider web while walking through an abandoned warehouse…those might make you feel uneasy, scared, or otherwise upset. Some would call that a case of “the willies”. But what are “the willies”? Who, or what, were they named after? And how did they become synonymous with feeling weirded out?
Some etymologists believe “the willies” arose from an 1840s Paris ballet about a woman named Giselle, who falls in love with Prince Albrecht, a ladies’ man with a long list of scorned lovers in his past. When Giselle dies of a broken heart, she meets the spirits of other victimized women, led by the Queen of the Wilis. Together, they seek revenge on their former earthly lovers. The Wilis were an over-the-top spectacle that scared the audience with their appearance, giving them a literal case of “the Wilis”.
Then there’s the 19th-century Willey family tragedy from New Hampshire that could be where the phrase came from. Samuel Willey Jr. moved his wife & 5 kids to Crawford Notch, NH, in 1825. A year later, there was a drought that caused a major landslide, which wreaked havoc on the area. The Willey house was spared, thanks to being near a rock ledge that diverted the debris. Yet the bodies of the family were later found outside. There was no way they could’ve known, but if they’d only stayed in their house they probably would’ve survived. The way the townspeople felt upon finding The Willeys could be considered one of the first cases of “the willies”.
Then there were the American frontiersmen, who wore wool underwear known as “woolies”, which frequently led to…irritation…a tingling sensation that could’ve been adopted as a way to indicate an overall feeling of discomfort.
Or it could’ve come from the turn-of-the-century children who would calle each other “willie-boy” instead of “sissy”. When fellow kids were viewed as skittish & feeble, they were said to have had a case of the “willies”.
The only “willie” we’re concerned with here at WFRE, however, is Willie Nelson. And there’s nothing scary or upsetting about him…he’s a national treasure.
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via Twitter (@AndyWebbRadio), or shoot me an email at [email protected].
Wake Up Crew Highlights: March 10, 2022
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Goodbye” Really Mean?
Most of our greetings & farewells are pretty straightforward, especially ones that begin with good (like “good morning”, “good afternoon”, “good night”, etc.). But what about “goodbye”? Are you basically saying, “I hope you have a good bye”? What is a “bye”? Is it some old word once used to reference a certain time of day? No, none of that is the case. Because the “bye” actually began as an abbreviation, while the “good” wasn’t originally good at all.
Back in the 1300s, people would say “God be with you” when leaving the company of one another. As time passed, that phrase got shortened because of linguistic shifts (and, honestly, human laziness). By 1575, the Oxford English Dictionary listed the word “godbwye” for the first time, taken from a letter by English scholar Gabriel Harvey. In today’s parlance, Harvey’s poetic letter loosely translates to have read: “To reciprocate your gallon of goodbyes, I give you back a half-gallon of howdies.” (By the way, “howdy” was derived from the phrase “how do you do”.)
But the evolution of “God be with you” to “godbwye” to “goodbye” had it hiccups. Folks pretty much spelled the term however they felt like over many years. It was chaotic, for sure. Heck, even Shakespeare wrote it no less than 3 different ways across 3 different plays.
As for how “God” became “good”, most scholars believe people were influenced by all those other good phrases mentioned earlier, since “good day” & “goodnight” had already been in use since the 1200s. “God be with you” is still a pretty common phrase heard & said in religious settings today. But the term “goodbye”, which first started showing up in the early 18th century, eventually replaced “God be with you” as the secular way of saying farewell. So now, whenever you say “goodbye” to your workplace, you’ll at least know what you’re really saying as you say “good riddance” to your boss (at least until tomorrow.)
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via Twitter (@AndyWebbRadio), or shoot me an email at [email protected].
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Is There Cotton In Pill Bottles?
Ever wonder why there’s a giant wad of cotton shoved into your bottle of aspirin or acetaminophen or ibuprofen? There actually is a reason it’s there, though that reason should gradually be fading away.
It was in the early 1900s when the Bayer aspirin folks became the first to stuff cotton into their product bottles as a way to fill the empty space in the bottle to keep the pills from jostling around inside & ultimately crushing themselves.
By the 1980s, though, Bayer had begun selling coated tablets, which meant that it didn’t matter anymore if the pills bounced around in the bottle because the coating prevented them from disintegrating. So why do we still find cotton balls in bottles of over-the-counter pain relievers now, 40 years later? Because, after decades of having to fetch the fluff filling from inside our pill bottles, consumers were conditioned to expect it. Some folks even believed the cotton balls were an effective way to determine whether the package had been tampered with; others believed it preserved the “potency” of pills. So, to maintain their customers’ beliefs & trust, Bayer continued putting cotton in their bottles. And because Bayer did it for so long, a lot of other brands still do the same thing to this day.
For the record, though, the National Institutes of Health actually advises removing the cotton, as it actually pulls moisture into the bottle. Plus, not only is the “cotton” totally unnecessary…it’s likely not even cotton now. Most cotton clumps found in pill bottles these days are actually made of rayon or polyester.
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via Twitter (@AndyWebbRadio), or shoot me an email at [email protected].
The ACM Awards Are On Tonight: Here Are The Nominees
The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Dolly Parton, Gabby Barrett and Jimmie Allen, stream live from Las Vegas tonight (Monday) at 8 p.m. on Amazon Prime Video.
Performers:
- Jimmie Allen – “Down Home” and “Viva Las Vegas”
- Gabby Barrett – “I Hope You Dance” and “Let’s Go to Vegas”
- Kelly Clarkson in tribute to Dolly Parton – “I Will Always Love You”
- Dolly Parton with Kelsea Ballerini
- Lady A
- Jason Aldean
- Breland featuring Thomas Rhett – “Praise the Lord”
- Kane Brown – “Leave You Alone”
- Luke Bryan – “Up”
- Eric Church
- Jordan Davis with Luke Bryan – “Buy Dirt”
- Walker Hayes – “AA” and “Fancy Like”
- Maren Morris – “Circles Around This Town”
- Brothers Osborne – “Skeletons”
- Brittney Spencer – “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'”
- Parmalee, Blanco Brown, Brook Eden – “Just the Way”
- Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde – “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”
- Thomas Rhett – “Slow Down Summer”
- Chris Stapleton
- Carrie Underwood
- Chris Young and Mitchell Tenpenny – “At the End of a Bar”
Presenters:
- Alan Ritchson (Reacher),
- Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr
- Comic Guy Torry (Phat Tuesdays)
- Author James Patterson
- Jason Aldean
- Actors Kelsey Asbille and Luke Grimes (Yellowstone)
- Mickey Guyton
Nominees
Entertainer of the Year
- Luke Combs
- Eric Church
- Miranda Lambert
- Chris Stapleton
- Carrie Underwood
Male Artist of the Year
- Jimmie Allen
- Luke Combs
- Thomas Rhett
- Chris Stapleton
- Morgan Wallen
Female Artist of the Year
- Gabby Barrett
- Miranda Lambert
- Ashley McBryde
- Maren Morris
- Carly Pearce
New Male Artist of the Year
- Hardy
- Walker Hayes
- Ryan Hurd
- Parker McCullum – winner
- Elvie Shane
New Female Artist of the Year
- Tenille Arts
- Priscilla Block
- Lily Rose
- Caitlyn Smith
- Lainey Wilson – winner
Duo of the Year
- Brooks and Dunn
- Brothers Osborne
- Dan and Shay
- Locash
- Maddie and Tae
Group of the Year
- Lady A
- Little Big Town
- Midland
- Old Dominion
- Cadillac Three
Album of the Year [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- 29: Written in Stone – Carly Pearce
- Country Again: Side A – Thomas Rhett
- Dangerous: The Double Album – Morgan Wallen
- Famous Friends – Chris Young
- The Marfa Tapes – Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall
Single of the Year [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- “Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
- “Famous Friends” – Chris Young and Kane Brown
- “Fancy Like” – Walker Hayes
- “If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood
- “You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton
Song of the Year [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
- “7 Summers” – Morgan Wallen
- “Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
- “Fancy Like” – Walker Hayes
- “Knowing You” – Kenny Chesney
- “Things a Man Oughta Know”– Lainey Wilson
Video of the Year [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
- “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” – Elle King and Miranda Lambert
- “Famous Friends” – Chris Young and Kane Brown
- “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version)” – Taylor Swift featuring Chris Stapleton
- “If I Didn’t Love You – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood
- “Never Wanted To Be That Girl – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Music Event of the Year [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- “Buy Dirt”– Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
- “Famous Friends – Chris Young and Kane Brown
- “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini featuring Kenny Chesney
- “If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood
- “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”– Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Are Most Jeans Blue?
When Keith Urban sang “Blue Ain’t Your Color”, he clearly wasn’t talking about jeans. Other fashion styles may come & go, but nothing in the garment industry has remained as consistently popular as blue jeans, with their standard features of metal rivets, tiny pockets, and, of course, the blue denim (hence, the name “blue jeans”). But why are most denim jeans blue? I mean, blue does seem an odd choice for pants that so many folks wear every single day. But blue actually became the jean standard for good reason.
Blue was the default denim hue even before Levi Strauss patented his riveted workers’ trousers in 1873. Here’s some style science: when exposed to hot water, most dyes seep deep into fabrics & set in the fibers. But not indigo. Indigo dye sticks only to the outside of fibers. Then, when placed in hot water, the dye progressively fades rather than permeating deeper into the material. Then, as the indigo washes away over time, it also takes minute amounts of thread along with it.
That would be bad if we were talking about more delicate fabrics, but not denime. It’s actually perfect, since denim starts out so stiff that losing some fibers doesn’t damage it. Instead, a couple of hot washes actually give the fabric a worn-in quality for the softer feel that many folks appreciate most in their favorite jeans. Aging blue jeans get more comfortable as you wear them, while also still staying strong. And for that reason, they were the favorite pants of many workers in the 1800s.
Nowadays, most jeans are created with synthetic indigo dye, but they’re still made to get softer the longer you wear them. For stiff denim, a good wash can help break them in. But, for a brand-new pair, maybe wait to throw them in the washer. Because wearing jeans for a few months before giving them their first wash will actually make them fade less evenly than jeans cleaned right away. That way, your favorite jeans’ fade pattern will be unique to you. And nothing says “comfortably distinct” & “distinctly comfortable” like a great pair of blue jeans.
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via Twitter (@AndyWebbRadio), or shoot me an email at [email protected].