Fetid Smells and Debate on Nostalgia

  In Episode 82, the hosts take a listener suggestion and spotlight the word fetid—a recent Wordle answer—and trace its meaning, origins, and less obvious relatives. The hosts discuss both their Wordle strategies, starter words, and the minor heartbreaks and little victories that come with daily word games, before diving into vocabulary.

They explain that fetid means “having a heavy, offensive smell”—think stinky swamps, unwashed gear, or foul breath. Drawing on its Latin roots (fetidus from fetere, "to stink"), they clarify that it’s not related to words like fetish, despite some surface resemblance. They also discuss how fetid differs from putrid (which typically refers to rotting organic matter).

The conversation then shifts to Japanese slang for “uncool,” teaching listeners how ‘dasai’ or ‘janai kakoi’ offers a softer alternative to “dumb” or “gross”—and marveling at the nuance of language learning versus the bluntness of “that’s disgusting.”

Stories from a recent camping trip bring “fetid” to life—one host found the campground delightfully pristine, while the other (downwind of the septic tank) insists pockets of air were truly fetid, especially mixed with campfire smoke. A tangent about showering, towels, and sentimental childhood toys pivots the episode toward nostalgia—a mood they plan to tackle deeply next time, closing with a debate about whether nostalgia is about survival or moments of thriving.

Keywords: fetid, etymology, Wordle, Japanese slang, language learning, camping, nostalgia, vocabulary, parenting, word history.

Transcript

I Hate Talking: 0:29

Welcome to episode 82 of I Hate Talking. Hi everyone. So we have a particular word that was mentioned by a particular listener that it might be a good vocabulary word, and this word was recently a Wordle word. OK. So that word is fetid, fetid, F E T. ID ID ID you did have the correct number of letters because maybe you thought Wordle only has 5 letters, so it does, right? Yeah, -- that is -- correct. Did you use that as your prompt for spelling it correctly or incorrectly, but at least the right number of letters. No, but I did know, and like as I was spelling it, I knew I was on the right track for 5 letters. -- 5 -- letters. So 5 letters did come into your mind. I did. -- How many letters that is -- it because of Wordle, yeah, yes, OK. Yes, it did. So I think I solved it in 5 tries. So it did take me a while, but I also randomized my starter words. So I think perhaps that day I had a starter word that was not very helpful. My starter word, I mean, I haven't played in about a year or two, but I was consistent for a long while. My starter word would not have been helpful. That's true. Well, I am currently on an 87 day streak. Nice. My max streak is 257. And I have played 1,211 times. How many days is that? I mean, I know how many days, but how many like years? Yeah, it's at least 3 years, 3.5 years, I guess. Do you want the exact number? Sure, OK. -- As -- I'm staring at you blankly trying to do the math. 3.3 years. OK. And 99% of those have been wins, but it only goes to, well, 0 decimal places in the win percentage. -- So -- can we pause on and talk about Wordle for a second? Uh, when it first started. It was a thing. We were super into it every day, and I had this straight for, I don't know, over 100 days, maybe, maybe 90 something days. It was not 100, it was like 90 something days, and I lost for the first time. And the word was something. I don't even remember what it was, but it was something about losing or failure. Remember because I shared that on social media and how people were like, that's super ironic indeed, uh, and then after that I just never got my love for it back. I tried. And I've never had a word all in one. Still trying to do that. -- I -- did once, yeah, one of our kids did, -- and one of our kids did also because -- they use the same starter word, and it happened to be that word because no offense to him, but that starter word that he uses or had used in the past was not a very good starter word, but it worked out for the 11 day that it was the actual word. You started it 3 years ago. He was little. That's true. It was a good word for him, but now we need to encourage a different word since it's not gonna be that word anymore. So, well, I mean, I guess it could be if this goes on for decades at some point. No, I don't think it's ever been the same word yet. There are some theories out there that we're getting close to the point where they're going to have to start reusing words or adding words to the solution list, OK. So, fetid is on the solution list. It was the word, and it is a word that means Stinking or having an offensive odor, and it comes from Latin. And the particular original Latin word was fir, and that came to be used as fetidus or hotius and then became used as fetid in the late Middle English. Now there are some theories that this particular word feet or fetidus was related to Latin words for dung, which was femi. Or smoke which was fumis. So, as you're saying the word, it reminds me of like fetish. Is there any relation to that? I don't think so, but we can check. No, fetish actually is a Portuguese term. But does go back to Latin before that to a word factitious meaning made by art, but the Portuguese like co-opted that term. And shifted that to artificial objects. OK, so cause when you're explaining, how do you pronounce the word again? Fetid fetid. I feel like it almost sounds like you could twist it into a fetish, so that's when my brain's like, oh yeah, fetid fetish. Uh, no, no, I think you're making a mistake that a lot of English speakers make and actually a lot of podcasters because just they, because they think that the word is different by two letters or quote unquote sounds the same that it must be related, but It is not, and it oftentimes is not. Right? So, there is some commentary around the difference between fetid and putrid. So, as I've already said, fetid is perhaps more related to dung or smoke, and putrid is another particular word that describes some foul smelling odor. But that typically refers to things like rotting organic matter, so rotting food or dead animals or something like that, where fetid is gonna be perhaps more related to these general smells of even bad breath is one of the examples here. You could have fetid breath. So like, dude, go brush your teeth, your breath is fetid. Yes, -- I suppose -- so. So, this reminds me, we've mentioned before that we're casually learning Japanese, which is a very difficult language for an English speaker to learn. And one word we've learned lately is basa, which means uncool. And so I've been trying to get the kids, our children, to say Dasa. Instead of like stupid or dumb and things like that, when they don't like something like I'm so bored, it's like dude, say that's docile. It just seems, I mean, maybe Japanese, if you're a Japanese speaker and that's not appropriate, let me know. But it seems, if it just means uncool. It seems a better way to explain that you don't like something. And being like, oh, that's so stupid. Just be like, hey, that's aa, I don't wanna do that. And so that kind of reminds me of another option we can give them. Instead of saying like that's disgusting. Or that's gross, which can hurt people's feelings, saying like that's side, dude, I don't wanna eat that. Yeah, that's a good suggestion, I suppose. Maybe that will be the new hip lexicon that people can catch on to and for whatever generation is the next generation, they can be. Dasai or kokoi and that will be uncool or cool. Now, does Japanese have a modifier? I haven't gotten this far in the learning, I suppose, where they just put a on before the word, so like something's cool or uncool. Do they have a modifier that completely reverses the word? I, I mean, I'm not, I'm a little bit further along in my studies. But I'm not an expert by far, and I, I don't think they do. I think it's an absolute different word. But I might be wrong, so tell me if I am, or we can look it up, I guess. I suppose so. -- So I'm not -- aware of this, but I mean it's not completely out of the question because certainly English has words that are opposite or antonyms, right? So I think, so have you learned the word ginnitus, right? That's like not this thing, right? So like this is like this. But Ginnitis, ginitis is not that. So, so you could say Janais Kakoi and that is the same as dasai. Yes, this is not theoretically, right. Yes, I think you could say that, or you could just say that site. I mean, it's like English, right? Like you could say, this thing is not cool, you could say that's so uncool. Right. Uncool uncool, yeah, that's what I mean. It's like one singular word. It's the actual word is modified by that. So maybe they do, but I know, yeah, at the ending it'd be this or ginnitus. Interesting. Much more to learn about Japanese and probably still more to learn about English. So we were recently camping and I think our campsite was sort of fetid. Really? I liked where we camped. Explain. Well, it certainly was a very nice campground. We had bathrooms that were very convenient, located not too far, not too close. Normally we have to go maybe 1 mile or so for showers and bathrooms. This was just a small walk. And do you feel this way? I had a discussion with the people we were camping with. We feel like everything was brand new, it still had tags on it, but they maybe bought it for our group. No, it was constructed in April. So the tags were just still on from April. Yes, OK, -- so it just hasn't been used much -- though. I think we may have been like the 2nd or 3rd group to ever use that since April. -- So -- it was brand new. Uh, one of our kids, it was still like a trailer with like 2 stalls in it, one shower for boys and girls, right? Was that how it was situated. Our one child was like, this makes me feel rich. And it just cracked me and the other women up, cause obviously we're camping, and these are essentially just high-end porta potties, but like, they were very nice and freshly painted, and the curtains were brand new, like, or new within 6 months, I guess. So he felt very rich staying there. So I wanna know why you think it's Now I'm sick on fetish. What is the word? Fetid, fetid. Why do you think it's fetid when our child thought we were rich. So I do agree it was very nice accommodations for camping and camping, car camping still. Yes, and there was plenty of room for tents, and we had our fire ring and main campfire area, plenty of room to set up all the particular amenities that we brought with us, such as cooking areas and things like that. And then we did have the campfire. Now, we only burned wood and that had the iconic campfire smoke. But every once in a while, the wind would blow. And you didn't ever have a whiff of the particular septic tank. No, I never noticed it. OK, well, you must have been upwind of that the entire time then. Oh no, where was the septic tank? Where was the stench coming from? Well, from the fancy bathrooms, because I was on a septic tank system. Yeah, and every once in a while you would smell it. And I never noticed. Interesting, OK. And then that would mix with the campfire smoke, and that is, according to our research. Potentially, the literal definition of fetid is smoke and poop. Well there you go. You didn't want to teach that to the kids, huh? I didn't do this research until after the time, and actually I think the Wordle may have been after the camp out as well. Oh really? OK. It is -- very -- recent. OK. Yeah, it's funny. I did, I'm glad I didn't notice. It was actually a farther distance than we typically travel with our scout troop, but I would, I mean, I told everyone I'd camp here again, like, it was really nice. There's a creek, but it's not like any water nearly, that the kids would like have to step over the stones to get across and It was just a really nice area and it was beautiful with the fall leaves and the bathrooms that made us feel rich. So luckily I didn't notice any fetid smells. That's good. But we also had running water at our campsite, which we often don't have. Yup, we did have the nice little iconic stream and the running water, which, I mean, like we had water, drinking water, -- drinking -- water, that's true. Yes, sometimes we have to drive to fill up water containers and replenish those. This was on site as well, and the bathrooms had hot water, hot water, and it was actually hot. Yeah, this is gonna say more about me than I probably should share. But when we camp, it's usually just 2 nights, so I don't shower or anything. I like to use wipies, you know, we're camping and it's pretty primitive. But me and some of the women all agreed that had we known these accommodations, we would have brought in shower stuff and I would have totally taken a shower. I have no desire to hike 1 mile. A shower in this open area and ice cold water, so I don't normally bring shampoo and stuff like that. But this was hot water and just a few feet from my tent. So wherever you go, you don't travel in a way that's prepared to shower? I mean, I have soap, we have soap. So yes, I wash, I can wash my body like sponge wash. No, I don't bring shampoo and conditioner. And makeup remover and gel and a razor. No. I guess that's the difference even then in you don't I shower. I always have a bar of soap and a towel. OK, that's what I have as well, that's enough to shower, not when your hair is in the middle of your back. And you have to shave. -- I don't think you have -- to. Well, exactly, I don't. But I could have, is the point. Yeah, I think that's the most important thing that you can learn from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that you always have a towel. We did, yeah, we did. And so, and that's enough for me to shower, although I did not during this camping trip either, but I was prepared to. We did have towels and we lost one. We needed it to clean up a big mess. And you and I discussed it and decided to get rid of the towel there due to the mess we had to clean up. But that towels been with us for our entire marriage. So I mean, -- it's did we have a little ceremony as we were laying it to rest in the -- trash? I kind of did. I was like, good job. You've done so well over these years. It really has done us so good. We only what, maybe got 4 towels when we got married, I think 4. That's what I'd guess. Well, 4 like bath towels, and I think it came with the. Subsequent set of hand towels and -- and -- washcloths, yes, full size bath towels. So I think we had 4 and we still have them. I mean now we have 3 plus we've added through the years, but those initial ones have still been my favorite. They're still the softest, most absorbent and beautiful. Well there you go. And to clarify, it was not our mess. -- We were cleaning up other people's mess -- because we had to toss it. -- That's what -- leaders do. Yes, it was not our mess, but we willingly and kindly cleared, cleaned up someone else's. I also, in hindsight, shouldn't have brought those. Those are not our best towels, quote unquote. So I brought them. They're over 16 years old. Uh, you know, maybe I should have brought more ragged towels. I suppose so. Now we know for next time. Just bring all the towels. All of them? No. I, I mean, essentially, you probably don't have as many as some, but We have quite a few. -- We do -- have a few. We need to bring the little ones, like, we have uh Paw Patrol towels and stuff. Those are what I should have brought, cause our kids are outgrown Paw Patrol and made her from cars. That's true. You would not need to have a memorial service for those towels. Oh, maybe more so though, cause I have so many memories with our children in them. That's true. I found, um, as we're talking about that. I found, I was cleaning out our office today, going through a bunch of stuff, and I found one of our kids' favorite toys. I got rid, I gave away a bunch of their cars stuff, cause we've outgrown it. And we knew some people that would really love it and so we uh let them have it, but I found one of them still laying around. My heart was so happy, just remembering how much joy our children had with Mader. And Holly Schiffwell and. -- Who's the main -- guy? Lightning McQueenkchowchow. So I found that and I was like, oh, I'm glad I have this because we can keep one of them as a sentimental thing. That's true. And then you can pass it on to them and they can share it with their wives and children. Yeah, hopefully they enjoy it. As we're speaking of that, I heard a quote. You wanna hear it? Do I have a choice? Yeah, you always have a choice. OK, sure, tell me the quote. We live in America, a free country. Maybe I don't know. The government shutdown. SNAP benefits are ending. Who knows what's gonna happen in 3 days? People are gonna be stealing each other's groceries, shooting each other at work and schools. Oh, OK, OK, OK, OK. -- We have little kids that listen to -- this. OK, sorry, I went down a dark corner when you started talking about America. America, we love it. We put our hands over our heart and pledge to it. That's true. OK, we're all OK, y'all, and if you're not. Messages we can help. OK, so should I go to this or the other thing as well. Wherever you wanna go, you're in a free country apparently. OK, well, I'll go to this. I wrote it down because I wanted to remember it. It was by a playwrightter named Richard Greenberg. And he said, nostalgia is just a longing for a time we know we can survive. It it made me think of that when we're talking like I found that Lightning McQueen. I was like, oh, those times were so great and I love cars and Lightning McQueen. But it was an interesting concept of, it's just a time that we know we can survive, right? Like, we look back now, we're like, oh, those were great times, even if we were in them and sleep deprived and exhausted. And struggling with all these different things, we can look back now. And I think that every generation can kind of do that. Like you look at the 20s, and you're like, 0, 1920 was amazing, flappers and stuff. But actually they had that flu and they had, like, you know, like there's so many things, the war and all those horrible things that happened. But you just pick out your favorite things and so it's a. Time, so nostalgia is a time that you long for cause you know you can survive it. It's scary when you don't know what's coming in the future. But when you pass something, you're like, oh, I've done that, I can do that again, really hit me hard. Interesting. Where did you hear this quote? -- You wanna -- know? It's probably just Instagram or something. No, I've been binging y'all, OK. Listen to our podcast, but also you can listen to Josh Radner has a podcast on how I made your mother, is what his podcast is called. It is a recap. He plays Ted on How I Met Your Mother. And he goes through, he's doing a rewatch episode by episode on How I Met Your Mother, the TV show. And he did a play for this gentleman. And heard him say that apparently. So I've been listening to How I Met Your Mother, the recap show about how I met your mother. And I've been really enjoying it cause we were newlyweds during that time and I watched it a lot. And so I haven't watched it really since then, so it's bringing about a lot of nostalgia as I'm watching it and listening to him recap it. So the person that you're quoting, Richard Greenberg, is quite the character. His famous show Take Me Out. Has a ridiculous plot line. Well, does he have Josh Radner in it or somewhere in there? I supposedly Josh Radner is the one who quoted him. Uh, premiered in 2002. OK, yeah. That'd be around that time right before how I met your mother. There anyways, go ahead if you want to talk about his plot. I am not even gonna talk about. He only has one you wanted me to keep this good for the kids, and there's no way I can talk about the plot. -- This -- is a family show. He only has one show. OK, this was the most famous show. Apparently others are not all that different, so I don't watch plays by Richard Greenberg. Also, I disagree with his quote. -- So you -- don't. OK, first, let's, let me address this, and then I want to hear that. So think about that. I want to give him credit because whenever I hear a quote, I think it's important to give credit to whoever you heard the quote from. So that's why he did, and I heard Josh Radner quote him. So I did not deep dive it. I just wrote it down. I have a list of quotes I love. And that was just one I added to my lovable quotes. So I did not deep dive him. I'm apolo I apologize if he's not great or maybe you love him, I don't know. I know I love how I met your mother. And So tell me why you disagree with the quote, and I'll give it again, what he said. Nostalgia is just a longing for a time, we know we can survive. Yeah, I think there's people that knew they survived the Holocaust or knew that they survived the Great Depression. They do not long for those times. Is that nostalgic for them? I don't think so. Exactly. They know they survived it and therefore, according to this gentleman, they should be nostalgic for that time because they know they survived that. But I would highly doubt that anybody would be nostalgic for that specific experience. Now, there may have been highlights within that experience, and I would categorize that more as thriving, not surviving. So maybe during the Holocaust, they had a friend that was able to give them encouragement or during the Great Depression, they had a special dinner with potatoes and a hard candy at the end. And they are nostalgic for that because it was a highlight of particular emotional extremes in the positive. That they were thriving in those moments even though all surrounding particular events and scenarios were simply surviving that they could be nostalgic for those particular times. Do you recall Lightning McQueen being this time of conflict and discord and. It was a very difficult time. Well, I think that was the best time of my life, those couple of years there. I would literally stand here with all my money on the table and say those years right there were the best years of my life. Right? So you're nostalgic for a time you were thriving or were experiencing an emotional high point. Because if I write it down, I was waking up 60 to 90 minutes every night for years. I did not sleep through the night. For almost 10 years. So that, and especially during that time, you know, it's like if I write down things, I'm like, oh, those were struggling times. I don't think about, I have to force myself to think of those times. I think of those cute little boys and how much I wanted to be a mom. And then I was, and they made me laugh every day, and I just loved waking up and being able to take care of them and feed them and play with our cars all day long. So I instantly think of all those amazing times and how great I felt and then if I force myself past that, I can think of the hard times. But I, I understand what you're saying. So you would reword the phrase, nostalgia is a time of longing for when we arrived. Correct. And that thriving could be within times of surviving, but you're not longing for just the survival. You are thinking back to those emotional high points or times of particular emotional stress, whether that be positive, probably not negative, but that would be -- what I would posit and -- maybe, but I think maybe the concept I'm getting at, that I'm taking from it. During those times, I remember having stressful times. Our one kid had a lot of medical issues. Again, we didn't sleep very much, she traveled a lot. And so when I think about it, like, oh yeah, I actually struggled a lot, I was very stressed during that time. But now I remember only the good stuff. And now I have different issues as our kids are getting older and having a whole different social and peer dynamic that's stressful. I'm like, oh, now I'm stressing about this. I wish I could go back to those times when all I had to do was pick my kid up, and we could leave a situation. And our kids are too big. I can't pick them up and walk away from something now. Like they're too heavy for me to carry out of a store. That's true. Maybe we've already passed the point where We've picked up our kids and put them back down and never will pick them up again. You want me to cry? Is that the point of this? No, it's not, but it does happen. There is a point where You as a listener or you as my co-host were picked up by your parent, put down, and never picked up again. -- It's -- true, you don't realize it until it's like far past. That's true. So sad So perhaps for our next episode, nostalgia will be the word. Maybe. I am curious now about the etymology and perhaps some of the nuances on where that particular word comes from and if this gentleman is correct or not correct, and I'm still fairly convinced that this is actually a poor quote. OK, so we'll do our own research now cause I didn't prior. -- Right -- now or for our next episode? Next episode, next episode, and y'all. If you have opinions, let us know if you agree with Richard Greenberg. Or with Adam, on which way nostalgia goes, and then we'll do our research and we'll come back and chat. Yes, that sounds good. So, as always, you can leave a comment, send us a text, or send us an email with your particular thoughts on any of these topics or even new topics that we can tackle in the future. And in the meantime, do like, share, and subscribe, and we will probably Not, definitely, tackle nostalgia next time. It sounds good. So from your friends at I Hate Talking, until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.