In this episode, Bob and Marcia Smith discuss various historical and trivia topics. They explore the life of Captain William Bligh, who became the governor of New South Wales but was forced to resign for trying to stop the colony’s rum trade. They also delve into the history of TV shows depicting married couples in bed, noting that “Mary Kay and Johnny” was the first in 1950, followed by “The Flintstones” and “The Bob Newhart Show” in 1972. They touch on the State Department of Global Engagement Center, which was defunded in 2024, and the first aviation sonic boom by Chuck Yeager in 1947. Additionally, they discuss the rise of Hispanic surnames in the U.S., the military alphabet, and the origin of the term “sidekick.”
Outline
Captain William Bligh and His Unconventional Career
- Marcia Smith asks about Captain William Bligh from “Mutiny on the Bounty.”
- Bob Smith reveals that Jimmy Carter, President Carter, had a second job as a parole officer while in the White House.
- Bob Smith shares an interesting fact about Jimmy Carter designating Mary Prince, an African American woman wrongly convicted of murder, as his daughter Amy’s nanny.
- Marcia Smith is surprised to learn that Captain Bligh became the governor of New South Wales but was forced to resign for trying to stop the colony’s rum trade.
Early TV Shows and Married Couples in Bed
- Bob Smith discusses the first TV show to show a married couple in the same bed, revealing it was “Mary Kay and Johnny.”
- The show had three distinctions: the first sitcom, the first to show a couple sharing a bed, and the first to show a woman’s pregnancy on television.
- Bob Smith mentions that the next program to depict a married couple in the same bed was “The Flintstones,” followed by “Herman and Lily.”
- The first show since 1950 to depict a married couple in a single bed with real human beings was “The Bob Newhart Show.”
State Department of Global Engagement Center and Sonic Booms
- Marcia Smith asks about the State Department of Global Engagement Center, which focuses on shutting down foreign propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation operations.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the importance of fact-checking and the potential consequences of Congress declining to renew its funding.
- Bob Smith explains that the first aviation sonic boom was heard in Victorville, California, on October 14, 1947, by Chuck Yeager in his craft “Glamorous Glennis.”
- They discuss the significance of sonic booms and their historical context.
Religion in Haiti and Surnames in the United States
- Marcia Smith asks about the religion in Haiti that combines elements of Roman Catholicism with African religious and magical beliefs.
- Bob Smith reveals that it is Voodoo.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the prevalence of the surname Smith in the United States, noting that it is one of the top three surnames in every state except four: California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and North Dakota.
- They explore the top three surnames in these states, highlighting the diversity of names in different regions.
Historical Figures and Famous Packaged Meals
- Bob Smith asks about the family name of the royal house of Scotland and Great Britain that started in 1371 and ended with Queen Anne in 1714.
- Marcia Smith correctly identifies it as the House of Stuart.
- Bob Smith reveals that the famous female singer Tina Turner’s real name was Anna May Bullock.
- They discuss the launch of Kraft macaroni and cheese during the Great Depression as a cheap and comforting meal.
Famous Filmmakers and Naval Drills
- Bob Smith asks which famous filmmaker piloted a submarine to the deepest point on Earth.
- Marcia Smith correctly identifies James Cameron, who solo-piloted the Challenger Deep submarine to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2012.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the Birkenhead drill, named after the HMS Birkenhead incident in 1852 where women and children were saved while the sailors went down with the ship.
- They reflect on the importance of lifeboats and the tradition of women and children first.
Thor Heyerdahl’s Voyage and Historical Presidents
- Bob Smith asks about Thor Heyerdahl’s 1947 voyage by raft to Polynesia, theorizing contact between ancient civilizations.
- Marcia Smith correctly identifies that Heyerdahl set sail from Peru and crash-landed on a Polynesian island three months later.
- They discuss the historical significance of Heyerdahl’s journey and its impact on understanding ancient civilizations.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith reflect on the president during the first moon landing, which was Richard Nixon.
Hispanic Surnames and Military Alphabet
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the rise of Hispanic surnames in the top 20 US surnames, noting the growth of names like Garcia, Martinez, Hernandez, Lopez, and Gonzalez.
- They explore the meaning of the “EZ” suffix in Hispanic names, indicating family relationships.
- Bob Smith introduces the military alphabet, explaining its purpose in making radio transmissions understandable.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith go through the military alphabet, listing words for each letter from “Oscar” to “Zulu.”
Origins of “Sidekick” and Final Thoughts
- Marcia Smith asks about the origin of the term “sidekick.”
- Bob Smith reveals that it comes from pickpockets, where one man would trip a victim while the other reached into the victim’s pocket.
- They reflect on the evolution of words and their meanings over time.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith conclude the episode with quotes from Alex Morit and Joey Adams, encouraging listeners to reflect on their choices and the brevity of New Year’s resolutions.
Marcia Smith 0:00
Whatever happened to the real captain, William Bly from Mutiny on the Bounty.
Bob Smith 0:06
What US president had a second job as a parole officer while in the White House, really? And what is the first TV show to show two married people in the same bed? All that coming up, all that in this episode of the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith,
Welcome to the off ramp, a chance to slow down, steer clear of crazy and take a side road to sanity with fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia. That’s
Marcia Smith 0:50
That’s why we’re here. Tantalizing
Bob Smith 0:53
Okay? Marcia, what U.S. President, had a second job as a parole officer while in the White House.
Marcia Smith 0:59
That’s just too weird. Teddy did a lot of things Roosevelt. That’s true. Was it him? No, it wasn’t him. Too easy. Okay. Oh, okay. Tell me. Who is it?
Bob Smith 1:10
An older president, a newer president? Sounds like something from the Grover Cleveland era to me, for some reason.
Marcia Smith 1:16
Okay, Grover Cleveland
Bob Smith
And you’re wrong.
Marcia:
Who is it?
Bob Smith 1:20
It’s just another interesting fact about the late President Jimmy Carter. Oh, really, yeah. What he and his wife Eleanor Rosalind Smith Carter, had three sons and a daughter, and Mary Prince, an African American woman wrongly convicted of murder and later pardoned, was their daughter, Amy’s nanny for most of the period from 1971 until Jimmy Carter’s presidency ended. But Jimmy Carter, President, Carter asked to be designated Mary Prince’s parole officer so she could work in the White House. I was kidding, as Amy’s nanny.
Marcia Smith 1:54
Wow, that’s so cool. Isn’t that an interesting fact? What was she paroled
Bob Smith 1:58
from? She was wrongly convicted of murder and later pardoned murder. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 2:03
well, that’s classic Jimmy Carter, right? He was very benevolent, very interesting, right? All that wasn’t particularly the greatest president, but he had so many different interesting things. Yeah, he was probably one of the smartest, and he was the first US president born
Bob Smith 2:17
in a hospital. Plains hospital had 60 beds. That’s all the bigger it was. And his mother was a nurse there.
Marcia Smith 2:23
Oh, really. So she just said, okay, and he died at 100 years old. That’s right, okay, Bob, I didn’t know that Captain Bly of Mutiny on the Bounty was a real person, did you? Oh,
Bob Smith 2:35
yeah, I knew that was a real tale. That’s a real famous tale of the British Navy. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 2:39
yeah. It was a good movie. Was made many times. Anyway. Whatever happened to him? Well,
Bob Smith 2:46
he came back, I think he went back to England, didn’t he? Let’s see, how was that? All those guys, they were in the South Seas, weren’t they? I can’t remember the South Seas. I think the ship was, uh huh. It was a mutiny. He was not killed. And then he and I think the officers went back to England. Is that what happened?
Marcia Smith 3:02
I don’t know. Yeah, I thought I was answering your question. No, he went on, Bob. He went on to become governor of New South Wales. Did you know that? No, I didn’t. Okay in Australia, huh? And almost 20 years after the famous mutiny in 1808 British Army officers captured and forced him to resign. What did he do this time? What? What did he do wrong? Okay, what happened? He tried to stop the colony’s rum trade, and that was it. Oh, we’re not gonna do that, that some things are sacred, I guess. And they forced him out. Boy, he had a bad resume, didn’t he? I was captain, and they get mutinized, and I was governor try to stop the rum trade. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, yeah, I would have retired and just let it be at some point for old captain. Bly, apparently, he was a man of principle. Well, I don’t know. He was a tyrant on the Bounty, wasn’t he? I don’t you
Bob Smith 3:57
wonder how much of that was real and how much of it was just a story. You think
Marcia Smith 4:00
they were snowflakes. I think on those ships, think
Bob Smith 4:04
about all those people on those ships, and you have to be really strong to be a leader. They’re out there alone, yeah, no wonder some of the early explorers died because their ships mutinied when they were out in the middle of nowhere. Nobody knows where we are. Yeah, we’re gonna die. We’re gonna die. We’d rather you die than us,
Marcia Smith 4:21
sir. All right, what were you talking about before about double bed, sir? Remember,
Bob Smith 4:25
we had that question. You kind of brought it up when we were talking about the early sitcoms and movies. You said, What was the first TV show that showed a married couple in a single bed together? Scandalous? And I have the answer. All right, and it’s more complicated than you think. Of course, this is a surprise, because almost nobody alive remembers this one. According to snopes.com the first TV program to show a married couple in a single bed was Mary Kay and Johnny what what show is that it was a show that aired from 1947 to 1950 Key in fact, that show had three big distinctions. Number one, it was the first sitcom of all time, Mary Kay and Johnny. Mary Kay and Johnny the first sitcom broadcast on network television in the United States. Number two, it was the first program to show a couple sharing a bed and get this. Number three, it was the first show to show a woman’s pregnancy on television and the first to work a birth into a storyline. Now that’s something we thought was Lucy. I love. Lucy always gets credit for that, but Mary Kay and Johnny did it in 1958 three years before Lucille Ball in 1951 Mary Kay and Johnny starred a real life couple actors, John and Mary Kay Stearns, and it ran for three years on three different networks, including Dumont and BC and CBS, really, they all carried it, not at the same time. It switched from one to another. Now, if you don’t remember ever seeing Mary Kay and Johnny, here’s the reason why the show was aired live, and unfortunately, not even kenne scopes of it have survived. So it only exists in scripts and the memories of those who saw the program during its run, 70 plus years ago, or
Marcia Smith 6:10
did it
Bob Smith 6:13
okay after that? What were the first TV shows to depict a married couple in the same bed? This is where it gets really funny. The next program sharing a married couple in the same bed was the Flintstones for God, a cartoon about a stone age family, honest
Marcia Smith 6:28
to God. That makes no sense at all.
Bob Smith 6:32
The Flintstones aired from 1960 to 1966 then the next couple was Herman and
Marcia Smith 6:38
Lily. Wait is that the monsters. Monsters,
Bob Smith 6:42
not even real people, but two haunted ghost like creatures who shared a bet on the monsters from 1964
Marcia Smith 6:50
to 1966 you mean the monsters had sex, apparently
Bob Smith 6:54
they did Good grief, and two interesting little children, as I recall, very interesting, dear. After that, it was The Bob Newhart Show, really, according to Bob Newhart, he and Susan pluschette were the first show since 1950 to depict a married couple with real human beings in a single bed. Their show debuted in 1972 and ran till 1978 so really, no married couples depicted by real human beings shown on TV in one bed for 22 years from 1950 until
Marcia Smith 7:27
1972 seems so silly now, doesn’t it? Ever since
Bob Smith 7:31
then, TV’s not been afraid to show that and a whole lot
Marcia Smith 7:35
more. Now it’s too much. Back then, it wasn’t enough.
Bob Smith 7:38
That was a perfectly interesting rabbit hole to go down that really was okay. All right.
Marcia Smith 7:44
All right. Bob, yes, what is the State Department of Global Engagement Center? The what the State Department of Global Engagement Center? Isn’t that
Bob Smith 7:55
funny? Why do we need the word center at the end of that sentence? Yeah, the State Department of Global Center. Isn’t that what a department is? It’s a center of something, yeah, okay, I don’t know what that is. State Department of Global Engagement. I guess it’s to get people to talk to one another. I would assume. Well,
Marcia Smith 8:10
it’s interesting. I never heard of it before either, until it was no more. It’s the center established to seek out and shut down foreign propaganda, misinformation and disinformation operations focusing on such countries as Russia, China and Iran, Congress declined to renew its funding in december 2024 which means we all need to be ever more vigilant about the news we read and know its source of origin. Yeah. Nothing wrong with getting rid of fact checkers, is there? Wow. As an old newspaper reporter, I see this as a real problem.
Bob Smith 8:46
Oh, I think it’s a problem too. Okay, what do you got we talked about sonic booms, and the first sonic booms were actually whip cracks. Remember that? Yes, correct. All right. So what was the actual first aviation sonic boom? And when did that happen? Say, again. Here’s the way I’ll put it. What was the first place in the world to hear a sonic boom? Oh, from aircraft. From aircraft. Yes, okay, post World War Two.
Marcia Smith 9:11
So it’s probably some island somewhere. No, no. Think
Bob Smith 9:15
of the right stuff. Who was a fighter pilot? Oh, of course. I
Marcia Smith 9:19
saw this. The Right Stuff, the movie. I read the book too. Oh, good. Well,
Bob Smith 9:23
then you know the answer, yes. Chuck Yager, there you go. Do you have an idea what the town was? It was a little Texas town was no, no. California, Victorville. California. Victorville, yes. And so the first sonic boom from an aircraft that occurred October 1947 october 14 that year over the Mojave Desert Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager in his craft glamorous glenice, named after his wife, really, yes, yeah, was dropped from a B 29 bomber Bay at 25,000 feet, his rocket ignited, and at the height of 45,000 feet, he reached the speed of sound, Mach one at that seven. 160 miles per hour in Victorville, California, heard the first Sonic Boom. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 10:05
he was the first. And he should have been an astronaut, that’s right, but he didn’t make it. He had not gone to college. That’s part of it. That was a big part of it. Yeah, what a kick in the head. Oh, no kidding. He was the number one test pilot. Just amazing, a
Bob Smith 10:18
hero to the end of his life. Yeah, interesting, yeah, yeah, okay. Bob,
Marcia Smith 10:22
which religion of Haiti combines the elements of Roman Catholicism with African religious and magical beliefs?
Bob Smith 10:32
What is the name of the religion? Yeah, it’s not voodoo, is it? Yes. Okay,
Marcia Smith 10:36
Voodoo. They took elements of Roman Catholicism and African religious and magical beliefs, mashed it all up and came up with voodoo.
Bob Smith 10:45
What an interesting stew of information.
Marcia Smith 10:49
Yes, yes, there is stew in there, isn’t there? Okay, all right, what do you got? Okay,
Bob Smith 10:54
I’ve got some things on surnames. Okay. Okay, as you know, you married into the Smith clan a number of years ago, and that was, of course, the proudest moment of your life, joining our clan, wasn’t
Marcia Smith 11:04
it the only clan in the world, the Bob Smith clan? No,
Bob Smith 11:08
not the Bob Smith clan. The Smith clan not an exclusive club. It’s a big club. So since you adopted this wonderful name of Smith, you’ve become a Smith expert. I’m sure you know the answer to this. The name Smith is one of the top three surnames in every State of the Union except
Marcia Smith 11:25
four. Okay, you want me to name the four? Yes. What
Bob Smith 11:28
states now? Want me to give you a hint, yes, please. Okay, all States east of the Mississippi have Smith as number one, which makes doing genealogy for Smith a nightmare. Yeah, so many Smiths. Which one is mine? Yeah, so it’s west of the Mississippi. That’s right. So again, name the four states where Smith is not one of the top three surnames. Okay?
Marcia Smith 11:49
I’ll say Oregon, no. I’ll say Montana, no. And one more,
Speaker 1 11:57
one more. Wrong answer coming up. Wyoming, wrong, all
Marcia Smith 12:01
three times. Alaska, Alaska, no. Marcia, Hawaii, that’s one
Bob Smith 12:06
of them. Yes, ding. Ding. Only took six or seven to get to one. Yes, three
Marcia Smith 12:11
more. Now go ahead, tell me the four US
Bob Smith 12:13
states where Smith is not one of the top three surnames are California really the top three surnames there are Garcia, Hernandez and Lopez. No kidding, all Hispanic. Hawaii, where the top three names are Lee Wong and Kim. Okay, Asian, New Mexico, Martinez, Garcia and Chavez, also Hispanic. And North Dakota, Johnson Anderson and Olson,
Marcia Smith 12:40
rather Nordic. Isn’t that interesting? California
Bob Smith 12:42
and New Mexico have Latino names. North Dakota and Minnesota are known for their Scandinavian names, Anderson and Olson, although Smith still survives as one of the top three in Minnesota, not in North Dakota. And What’s distinctive about Hawaii is those three most common surnames, Lee Wong and Kim don’t even appear in the top three anywhere else in the United States. No kidding. They’re Asian names only in Hawaii and Massachusetts, with its Irish population, is the only state with Sullivan in the top three.
Marcia Smith 13:13
Sullivan, well, okay, speaking of family names, what was the family name? Bob of the royal house of Scotland and Great Britain, that started in 1371 and ended with Queen Anne in 1714, the royal name, the family name, the house of okay,
Bob Smith 13:34
wasn’t Windsor. No, was it? Was it the house the plan to plant a jack or something like that. No,
Marcia Smith 13:42
which one is it? It’s the House of Stuart Stewart. There we go, the Stuart kings. Yes, right. That’s almost 400 years of one royal family. Can you believe it? The
Bob Smith 13:52
House of Stuart Mary, Queen of Scots, was the steward, I think Wasn’t she? I think so. Even the tutors, speaking of names, what famous female singer’s real name was Anna May Bullock, Bullock. Mary, Anna May Bullock. She alive? No, she’s not alive. She died in recent years. Okay,
Marcia Smith 14:11
I don’t know. The
Bob Smith 14:13
answer is, you might say on Jeopardy is, who is Tina Turner? Really? Is that her name? She was born Anna May Bullock. I should have known that November 26 1939 in Brownsville, Texas, and she found success in the rhythm and blues and soul and rock genres. After a series of guest appearances and the albums of other artists, she finally released her debut solo album, private dancer in 1984 and that was the one that had the song, what’s love got to do with it? Yeah. And from that point on, her career took off like a rocket. As a solo artist, she got away from from Ike Yeah, Ike Turner, who was her husband
Marcia Smith 14:48
and abuser and abuser, yes, okay, yes. Well, good old Tina. Tina Turner
Bob Smith 14:52
originally, Anna May Bullock, okay, what’s in a name? Well, Tina Turner sounds more exciting than
Marcia Smith 14:58
Anna May Oh, it’s a good name. Name you always remember that.
Bob Smith 15:01
I remember anime and those, those long legs dancing with those skirts. You
Marcia Smith 15:05
remember the fish net stock. That’s what I remember. Anime, Bullock.
Bob Smith 15:09
I remember that name. I’m sorry. Tina Turner, okay, all right. Marcia, one more question before our break, okay, what famous packaged meal was launched during the Great Depression era, this is considered a cheap eat, and people turn it to a pinch for comfort food, macaroni and cheese. That’s right, Kraft, macaroni and cheese. Thank you. Marcia, that was excellent. That was launched in 1937 alongside other convenient foods by spam at the time, macaroni and cheese casserole was a popular, economical meal to feed families, so perfect for the Great Depression. All right, we’ll be back in just a moment after this lunch break.
Marcia Smith 15:50
Okay, we’ll be right back. Well,
Bob Smith 15:56
we’re back. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. We do this each week as a way to promote lifelong learning and just to have fun, mostly to have mostly to have fun. Marcia, I have a question for you, what famous filmmaker piloted a submarine to the deepest point on Earth? One of our famous filmmakers piloted a submarine to the deepest point on Earth.
Marcia Smith 16:19
Hmm, do I know this name? You sure do. Should I?
Bob Smith 16:24
I can give you names, and you can choose from, yes. Steven Spielberg, uh huh. Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, or Catherine Bigelow, it
Marcia Smith 16:32
sounds like a James Cameron thing. Yes. Was it goes along
Bob Smith 16:35
with his Titanic fascination, right? Yeah, in 2012 James Cameron became the first person and the first Hollywood director to solo pilot the Challenger Deep submarine to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. That’s the deepest point on Earth. It’s in the western Pacific Ocean near Guam he traveled 6.8 miles under sea in the vertical torpedo sub, and then he spent hours collecting samples for scientific research. The Titanic director’s journey was documented in a 2014 documentary. James Cameron’s deep sea challenge that might be interesting to watch. Yeah. Okay, that was from National Geographic.
Marcia Smith 17:15
Well, speaking of water in navy circles, Bob, what is known as the Birkenhead drill. The
Bob Smith 17:22
Birkenhead drill, yes, the Birkenhead drill. Now that Birkenhead is a famous name, for some reason, I can’t figure out what it is, though. What’s the answer? Don’t say
Marcia Smith 17:32
shoes. Okay, not shoes. Oh, yeah, okay. This is very intriguing. In 1852 the HMS Birkenhead was off to war in South Africa when it ran aground and sank off the coast of the Cape in South Africa. So this was a British vessel. The only usable life boats were quickly filled by 20 women and children aboard, while the 476 sailors lined up on the deck and went down with the ship. Oh my goodness, this is when the tradition of women and children first was born, and in naval circles it’s referred to as the Birkenhead drill, jeez. So that’s what year was that again, was
Bob Smith 18:20
1852 that’s the first time that happened. And
Marcia Smith 18:23
yeah, and so they gave it a name from the Birkenhead experience. Jeez,
Bob Smith 18:27
that’s interesting. I didn’t know that. Yeah, that’s a very stunning and, boy, it makes you think, doesn’t
Marcia Smith 18:34
it? Yeah, that. That makes you think we need more lifeboats.
Bob Smith 18:39
Speaking of boats, one more on boats. In 1947 Thor Heidel traveled by raft to Polynesia. This was a big deal. We remembered reading about as kids. Thor Thor Heidel traveled by raft to Polynesia. Where did he sail from, and how long did it take? Did he sail from Mexico, Peru, Japan or Singapore, Singapore? No,
Marcia Smith 19:03
Japan, no, I don’t know. He theorized
Bob Smith 19:06
that the ancient civilizations of South America and Polynesia were capable of contacting one another. That’s why he did this. And so he set out to prove it by building a raft named the Contiki from balsa logs, similar to what would have been available to the Incas. And he set sail from Peru and headed west, and he crash landed on a Polynesian island three months later. Huh? His journey is detailed in a book and a documentary, both named Contiki. Oh, Contiki, that’s a well known book. Yeah, that’s, yeah, we had Contiki proms and stuff, and oh, then
Marcia Smith 19:37
everybody, they’re still having them, I’m sure.
Bob Smith 19:39
And that came from that, that thing that occurred in 1947 they took that an experiment. Okay, it’s fascinating, really, and brave to do that. Yes, a raft out into the Pacific Ocean for three months. That’s so you and me. Oh, yeah, that’s my leisure trip. Let’s
Marcia Smith 19:54
try this. What did they call those adventure trips? Extreme is what I would call. Invocations. That’s, that’s so you and I, oh yeah, who was the president when we first walked on the moon? The President was Richard Nixon, that’s right, yeah. Didn’t he make a phone call to,
Bob Smith 20:11
oh yeah, he called them up. This was the most famous phone call of all time. I just gave
Marcia Smith 20:17
it to you there. Didn’t,
Bob Smith 20:17
yeah, I’m sorry. Back to the names, the Hispanic names you are mentioning that you know, looking across all the states, Hispanic names are coming into the top 10 rankings in a lot of states. And if you look at the traditionally Hispanic name, Garcia, it ranked eighth in 2000 in 2010 it jumped to number six, moving up in the rankings. Also was the surname Martinez. Speaking of that, we mentioned Lopez Chavez. Martinez, what does the EZ suffix mean in Hispanic names? What does the what suffix the EZ suffix at the end of the word Martinez, Lopez, oh, is it family? Yeah, it has to do with family. It does mean something about family, Father, yes, the son of son of, son of so Martinez is the son of Martin okay, just like Johnson means the son of John. Yeah. I thought that was interesting, yeah. And then looking at the top 20 US surnames, that’s where you really see the most Hispanic growth. There were three Hispanic surnames in the top 20 names in 2000 there were five Hispanic surnames in the top 20 names in 2010 and the five are Garcia, Martinez, Hernandez, Lopez and Gonzalez. That all comes from ancestry.com All right.
Marcia Smith 21:31
Time for AKA, also known as All right
Bob Smith 21:36
today, the category is letters in
Marcia Smith 21:39
the military alphabet. What we were just discussing that, this Bravo and all that stuff. Well, yeah, can you explain what the military alphabet is? The military
Bob Smith 21:49
alphabet was adopted in order to make radio transmissions understandable.
Marcia Smith 21:55
That’s right. So you don’t confuse T with v
Bob Smith 21:57
and b with D and all that. So if somebody said the letter B, they’d say bravo, right? And then all the other letters. So each letter of the alphabet has a name or a word associated with That’s correct. So you’re going to ask me some of those,
Marcia Smith 22:10
no, but I will tell you all the words in the alphabet after this, aka, okay, first one, if I say Academy Award, what’s the word
Bob Smith 22:19
associated with it? Yes, that would be Oscar. That’s correct. So Oscar is associated with Oh, in the military alphabet. Okay, correct?
Marcia Smith 22:27
Tiger sport,
Bob Smith 22:28
Tiger sport, Tiger sport, golf.
Marcia Smith 22:33
That’s it. Argentinian dance. Argentinian dance,
Bob Smith 22:37
that’s the polka, isn’t it? No, no, it’s the tango That’s correct. Tango for T, that’s
Marcia Smith 22:44
correct, okay, opera, cheer, bravo, correct for B, that’s correct. Alpha, Bravo, that’s right. Sound reflection,
Bob Smith 22:54
Echo, correct. That’s for E, correct. And
Marcia Smith 22:57
lastly, see You’re doing good. Light up your insides, light
Bob Smith 23:01
up, light up your insides, yeah, light up your insides,
Marcia Smith 23:06
uh huh. The letter X, light
Bob Smith 23:09
up your x No, yeah, I don’t get it. Marsh, X ray, oh. X ray, oh, light up your insides, yeah. X ray, see, I think of that as going through you, not lighting up your insides, penetrating, going through then, let me say, lighting up the inside. Okay, penetrating your inside. I don’t know. I have no idea. X ray, okay,
Marcia Smith 23:29
okay, X for X ray. X ray, okay, Champion, Champion, yeah, we
Bob Smith 23:35
are the word
Marcia Smith 23:38
Victor. That’s it very good, all right? And just to wrap it up, because you and I wondered, what are all the rest, here it is. So
Bob Smith 23:46
this is the alphabet in military lingo, A to Z,
Marcia Smith 23:49
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Fox Trot, Golf Hotel \, India.
Bob Smith 23:57
India is for I, yeah, see, I thought that would be something with a little harder consonants than that. Okay?
Marcia Smith 24:03
Juliet is for J. Okay. Kilo is for K, okay. Lima. Mike, November
Bob Smith 24:20
Mike? There’s not like, mono rail or something like that for Mike.
Marcia Smith 24:23
Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, uniform, Victor whiskey. Yankee and Zulu.
Bob Smith 24:36
Whiskey is my favorite of all those.
Marcia Smith
Yeah, Yankee and Zulu.
Bob Smith
Zulu. Boy isn’t that interesting that they came up with all those?
Marcia Smith 24:43
So I guess you had to memorize those 26 words, right? Yes, I guess
Bob Smith 24:47
so. I’ve always wondered what the whole list was, and I remember looking at it once, and I forgot about it. There’s always something about Romeo, bravo. It sounds sexy or something, isn’t it? It does very interesting.
Marcia Smith 24:59
Okay. Bob. Why do we call a special buddy? We go out with a side kick. Where does that word come from? Side Kick. Where does it come from? Okay?
Bob Smith 25:07
Well, the kick makes no sense. The side means, well, they’re at my side, right?
Marcia Smith 25:13
They have to do with a buck board. They had to kick a buck board in front of them, or some good guess. But no, okay, kick a dashboard. No. Okay. What is it comes from pickpockets. What? Yeah, the word first appeared in the early 1900s and it referred to the criminal accomplice of a pickpocket, really? Yeah, in the mid 19th century, the slang term for men’s pants was kicks. Oh, really, so you had kicks, is what you wore? Yes, and of course, you had pockets in your kicks, right? Okay, so the turn sidekick arose because one man would trip or bump a victim, while the other guy, the sidekick, would reach in and take cash from the victim’s pocket. So it was a term that came from a pickpocket. So
Bob Smith 25:58
when you’re asking, who’s your sidekick there, it’s like, who’s your fellow criminal? Yeah, that’s not a nice thing. Somebody. Words always evolve. They do. That’s interesting. I never knew that. Yeah, did you? No,
Marcia Smith 26:09
I did not. Okay, okay, here’s a quote from Alex morit, New year, new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story. Ultimately, we write it. The choice is ours. It’s
Bob Smith 26:23
always your choice. Yes, it’s what you have to remember that all these things that happen to you, there are choices that led to those things happening. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 26:30
and I’m going to finish with Joey Adams, may all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.
Bob Smith 26:39
In many cases, that means not long. Yeah, not long at all right. All right. Well, we hope that it’s not going to be long before we hear from you. We invite you to send us a thought or a question or a comment by going to our website, the offramp dot show and you can go into the menu and go to contact us and leave it there. We’d love to hear from you. We hear from people all the time, and it’s a lot of fun go
Marcia Smith 26:59
to the website just to listen to old shows. We got over 250 of them.
Bob Smith 27:04
That’s right. Yes, there’s a lot of stuff there. Good stuff. We think good stuff. Yes, all right, and we’ll have more good stuff in about a week. Join us again next time when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia here on the off ramp.
The off ramp is produced in association with the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg Wisconsin. Visit us on the web at theofframp dot show.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai