AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER -- names used in slang.
RS: Take Johnny come lately. That's an opportunist who tries to gain from something started by others. AA: We certainly wouldn't call our buddy Slangman David Burke in Los Angeles a Johnny come lately. But we did ask him to put together a report about names used in slang ... RS: And what he did was put together a completely fictional interview with movie actress Reese Witherspoon. The only thing real about this story is that Reese Witherspoon is the star of a brand-new sequel to Legally Blonde, a comedy in which she plays a young lawyer who becomes politically active. SLANGMAN: Well, I want to welcome you to Slangman's Slang Hollywood Report. Yesterday I spoke with Reese Witherspoon over a cup of joe. RS: A cup of joe. AA: A cup of coffee. SLANGMAN: A cup of coffee. A few years ago we didn't know Reese Witherspoon from Adam, we didn't know her at all. Now she's known as the star of the new movie 'Legally Blonde 2.' I told her that I don't mean to be a doubting Thomas (that's someone who's always very doubtful, doesn't believe anything), I don't mean to be a doubting Thomas but jeez Louise (now jeez Louise is an expression of surprise), but jeez Louise I really wondered if John Q. Public was ready for another movie. Now John Q. Public simply means the average person, John Q. Public. AA: Right. SLANGMAN: It could be anyone. I wondered if John Q. Public was ready for another movie about a former plain Jane. That's a woman who's not ugly, she's not pretty, she's just plain. So I wondered if they were ready for a movie about a plain Jane who grows up to be a rich, beautiful Jack of all trades. RS: Someone who does everything. AA: Or in this case, a Jill of all trades. SLANGMAN: You know, that's interesting. For some reason some of these expressions we have -- for example, Joe Blow, which is an expression for men meaning anyone: 'Every Joe Blow thinks he can become president.' RS: There's not a Jill Blow. AA: No, because it doesn't rhyme. SLANGMAN: Right, there's no feminine form of that. So oftentimes we do use the masculine form, even though it refers to women. Well, now I mean there's nothing Reese's character can't do -- that's why she is a Jack of trades. In the movie, she tries to change some United States laws. Now, I don't know jack about politics. RS: I don't know anything. SLANGMAN: I don't know anything. It means absolutely nothing. I don't know jack about politics, but if someone asked me if one young girl could change the law, I'd say: 'No way ... ' RS: Jose! (Laughter) SLANGMAN: Jose. Of course, that comes back to the rhyming slang, no way Jose. It means absolutely not. But Reese manages to get enough people to put their John Hancock -- RS: Their signature. SLANGMAN: Their signature, because John Hancock -- one of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence -- signed his name very largely, very big. So she got a lot of people to put their John Hancock on an important bill, resulting in a new United States law. True -- I'm not jacking you around. Now to jack someone around means to mislead them. Well, I asked Reese the following question: You've made millions of dollars in the movies 'Legally Blonde' and 'Legally Blonde II,' what comes next. 'Well,' she responded, 'probably Uncle Sam.' RS: Uncle Sam. SLANGMAN: Right, the tax man, the tax person, Uncle Sam. Well, I'm afraid that's all the time we have, for Pete's sake. RS: For Pete's sake. SLANGMAN: Well, for Pete's sake is something you simply say out of amazement, out of surprise, out of frustration, out of disappointment. 'For Pete's sake, I broke my computer.' 'For Pete's sake, how are you!' So anything -- surprise, disappointment -- it's just another way to say, I have a lot of emotion here. AA: And that's what makes him the one and only Slangman, David Burke. In fact, his book The Slangman Guide to Street Speak Two has a whole chapter on names used in slang. You can find out more about his materials at slangman.com.