Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Self Help Radio 030816: The Empty Show

(Original image here.)

You've probably been asked, in a chain email or by an annoying friend, about the three English words that end in -gry.  The whole thing is kind of a dumb joke.  But it occurred to me, when I was overthinking this week's show, that you could ask a similar question about English words that end with -mpty.

There's empty, of course, & nonempty, which isn't the word's antonym at all.  There's humpty & dumpty, which shouldn't be counted because they're made-up names, but because they're part of our culture (& because humpty is also the name of a dance), they get counted. A list online (which I found here) also adds numpty (which apparently means "a stupid or ineffectual person") & umpty (which means "such & such," I've found - related, no doubt, to umpteenth).  Try that question at a party that's winding down - not the three English words that end with -gry, but the (maybe more than) six English words that end with -mpty.

This has nothing to do with my show this week, but it's what's on my mind.  My mind, which is usually empty.  Like this week's show!  Which can be listened to now at Self Help Radio's website.  It's in two parts, so it's an empty show that's quite full, & what's in each part is below.  Psst!  You'll need a username & a password.  Also psst!  They're on the front page.

Let's hope the emptiness doesn't consume us, although we know it will.

(part one)

"Empty" Eddie Spaghetti _The Value Of Nothing_
"Emptiness Inside" My Bloody Valentine _Feed Me With Your Kiss_
"The The Empty" Le Tigre _Le Tigre_

"Diary Of An Empty Day" The Nice _Nice_
"Stronger Hearts Than Mine Lie Empty" Ballboy _The Sash My Father Wore & Other Stories_
"The Empty Page" Sonic Youth _Murray Street_
"Empty Heart" The Rolling Stones _12 X 5_

"In An Empty Hotel" Northern Portrait _Napoleon Sweetheart EP_
"Empty Streets" Suspicious For The Winter _EardrumsPop 100_
"Empty Space" Holly Golightly _Slowtown Now!_
"Empty Roads" 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong _Baby Trash_

"Empty Girl" The Soft Boys _Invisible Hits_

(part two)

"Empty Boy" Lane Steinberg _Lane Steinberg Collection 1984-2000_
"The Empty World" The Cure _The Top_
"Empty Bottles" Opal _Northern Line EP_

"I Have Known The Emptiness" Dan Melchior _The Backward Path_
"My World Is Empty Without You" Diana Ross & The Supremes _Greatest Hits_
"Empty House" The Pastels _Crawl Babies 12"_
"Empty Glasses" The Amps _Pacer_
"Empty Place" Burnt Palms _The Girl You Knew_

"This Empty Place" The Searchers _The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection_
"Sad, Free, Excited, & Empty" The Hepburns _How The Fallen Are Mighty_
"My Empty Head" The Flatmates _Potpourri (Hits, Mixes, & Demos '85-'89)_
"Empty Shell" Vic Godard & Subway Sect _What's The Matter Boy?_

"A Few Empty Waves" Cats On Fire _All Blackshirts To Me_

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