Bongo Bongo

A new series exploring the etymology and cultural impact of popular words we use, hosted by EthanFixell

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If you get up off the couch to gorge yourself on human flesh, you'd have to stop watching an entire season of TV. Tough choices. Either way you choose, you're going to binge. Learn more about it here. 

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Irony can often take the form of a simile, like "This steak is as tender as a Michelin tire."

Bongo Bongo host Ethan Fixell, always concerned about the quality and authenticity of the show, chewed several tires and overcooked steaks to make sure this was a good example of irony. What a guy, huh? 

Learn more about irony here. 

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Turns out he isn't the only person called John Cheese. Find out about all of the "John Cheese"s, or as they are more commonly known "Yankees" of present and past here. 

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Here we have rare archive footage of Bongo Bongo host Ethan Fixell performing rigorous physical training to prepare himself for the onslaught of verbal knowledge flooding into his brain before shooting.

Click here to see the results of his training.

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What does it mean to have a "dope" on a race? You'll have to ask someone from 1901, because "dope" meant something completely different back then. What did it mean before that? What does it mean now? Click here to learn the origins of the ever-changing "dope"

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Did you know that in the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, none of the shots fired by would-be assassin John Hinckley hit the president? Instead, a single bullet from the initial shots ricocheted off the armored car meant to protect Reagan, and hit him. That's true irony.

Learn more about how to use the word "irony" properly here. 

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That is one crazy crazy quilt. Where do they sell them? I want to specifically avoid going to that place.

Do gif posts without any context or explanation drive you CRAZY? Perhaps you should watch this video and find out what it truly means to be crazy. 

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What do two butt-faced children, arguing about which one of them is truly a buttface, have to do with the origins of the word "Yankee"? You'll have to watch this and find out. 

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News flash: the word SWAG wasn’t invented to revive the backwards hat trend. Here’s the real story of swag.

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Best. Thumbnail. Ever

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So you thought swag was just a strange new word that the crazy kids invented to make wearing your hat backwards cool again? Well you thought wrong! Swag has actually been around long before hashtags were just pound signs. Grab your coolest Ray-Bans, put on your favorite Justin Bieber song and get your swagger back with this weeks newest episode of Bongo Bongo. #swag

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Slur, it's not just the weird combination of words you string together when you and your buddies decide to drink an entire keg in your living room. This multifaceted word goes far beyond mudslinging and into much murkier waters. So if you're a music lover or just a beer connoisseur, slur your way into the newest episode of Bongo Bongo.

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Are you literally sick of everyone misusing the word literally? Do you cringe when your friends are, like, literally, so over it? Perk up, grammar heads, this weeks episode explores literally's journey from figurative word play to the hotly disputed modern term it has become. So tune in for LITERALLY the best episode of Bongo 

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Have you or someone you know ever been trolled? Has anyone in your community ever suffered from a looting pack of Trolls from the hillside? If you or someone you know has been a victim of such a heinous crime, you should really look into Troll insurance. But since Troll insurance doesn't exist, this episode of Bongo Bongo is your first line of defense in arming yourself with the most powerful weapon of all: knowledge. So come friends, join us in drinking from the Troll knowledge goblet. For to know is to not be trolled.

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DOPE sauce! A terrible internet age slang term or the etymology of another modern slang word? I guess you'll never know. Wait, of course you will if you're watching this episode. We do the DOPE in this edition of Bongo Bongo. A twisting etymological adventure through DOPE's past reveals a complex, dank blend of origins and phrasings. 

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If you're a fan of baseball, history, or America in general, we've got a word for you! On this week's Bongo Bongo we go back in time to unearth the origin and development of our patriotic pet name. That's right, Yankee. Yanks. Damn Yankees. So celebrate America's independence with us and get some fun grill-side facts to make small talk with at your family gatherings this week. Your uncles are going to be so proud that they can finally talk to you

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Tar gets stuck to your hands. Peanut butter gets stuck on the roof of your mouth. But where does the word "stuck" come from? On this week's Bongo Bongo we get out the Goo Gone and scrub off the word STUCK!

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Take a trip with Bongo Bongo to CRAZY-town. Crazy is a term we throw around quite a bit. Do you use it to describe a wild night on the town or that ex that had some questionable behavior during your relationship. As long as you're NOT saying "Cray" we're cool.