Word Wise: Prefixes (1976)

[music] [bell] [music] [bell] I arrived secretly in Snow Peak village, pretending I was just another tourist here for the winter festival. My real assignment. Find secret agent [music] Joe Conrad. I would easily recognize Agent Conrad, headquarters told me, because he would be dressed for the snow. But everybody was dressed for the snow. What was I to do? Anybody could be Agent Conrad. Well, maybe not anybody. I could see right away I'd have trouble in the case of the secret prefix, an official wordwise adventure. Then I remembered something. When I found Agent Conrad, I was to say a secret code word to identify myself. The secret code word I was to say was an ordinary prefix like un or re. The letters you can put in front of a word to change its meaning. For example, when you load an inner tube with people, you can put the prefix on in front of the word load and get a new word unload. Then when you want to get back onto the inner tube, you can use the prefix re so you can reload. But who was Agent Conrad? How could I say the secret prefix to him if I didn't know who he was? Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. All I had to do was say the [music] secret prefix to everybody I saw until Agent Conrad heard me. I put my plan into action right away. Hello. Would you like to hear an interesting prefix? >> The prefix is it's the the pre Suddenly I realized a terrible fact. I had forgotten what the secret prefix was. As I walked through the village, I thought of prefixes. un re this mid super. But I couldn't remember which one I was supposed to say. What was I to do? Oh, there's some people working on snow sculptures. Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. I must say out loud every prefix I could think of to everybody I met and hope that Agent Conrad would hear me when I said the right one. What a good plan. Hello. Hello. My, it must be fun to build such a fine snow sculpture. Even if a hurricane came and blew it down, you could always rebuild it. Re is a prefix, you know. It it means again. When you put the prefix re in front of the word build, it means to build again. Rebuild. And if a hurricane did blow it down, that would make everybody unhappy. Un is a prefix, too. It means not or opposite of. Hello. I was telling those people about the prefix on. Uh, but there are other prefixes that also mean not or opposite of, like D, as in decode. I thought if I talked about codes, Agent Conrad, if he heard me, would get the idea more quickly. You know what a prefix is, don't you? It's the letters you put at the beginning of a word to change its meaning. And that gives us a lot more words to use. Well, I guess nobody there was Agent Conrad. >> Ladies and gentlemen, the skiing events are now officially underway. >> Oh, there would be lots of people at the ski area. I went there right away. Oh, maybe this was Agent Conrad. Hello. Could you tell me what time it is? It could be midnight. My watch says 12. Mi mid is a prefix, you know. It means it means middle. Prefixes are wonderful. See, once you have a word like night, you can add a prefix to the front of it, like mid. That changes the word. It's amazing. Of course, it's so light. It must be midday, the middle of the day. Oh, look at that skier. He's fast. Hello there. Oh, hello. Do you know the prefix super? Well, maybe this one will hear me. Say there. The prefix super means more than. Uh, you put it in front of the word human and it makes superhuman more than human. It's a handy prefix to tell how you feel when you ski like that. Superhum. I guess they were going too fast to hear me. Oh, some skiers going slowly. Here's my chance to say a prefix meaning less than. Hello. I see you are skiing at a subnormal speed. Less [music] than normal. Subnormal. They can't hear me. If I could talk at a subnormal speed, maybe someone could hear me. [music] Hello. I see you. >> Oh, he stopped. Hi. We're talking about the prefix sub. If you stay there in this subzero weather, you'll soon be covered with frost and we'll have to defrost you. D is a prefix, too. You know, put it in front of the word frost and it changes the meaning to take away the frost. Defrost. A fine prefix for a cold day. Oh, I could hear band music. The parade must have started. Oh, would I ever find Secret Agent Conrad? I could be saying prefixes all day. >> [music] >> The trouble is I wasn't able to talk to enough people at one time. [music] >> Ladies and gentlemen, the snow festival grand parade is now underway. >> Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. >> I would disguise myself as the snow festival judge so I could use the microphone to talk to everybody at once. >> I then made my way to the loudspeaker stand. Ladies and gentlemen, the official snow festival judge has just arrived to introduce the next event. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am honored to introduce the next event. But first, a few words about prefixes. There are many prefixes in our language. Re d sub. Hey, what are you doing? In trans this, pre post post. That beard is fake. Say you're not the real judge. >> I was discovered, so I ran. >> Get him. Capture him. >> I couldn't tell them I was really a secret agent on an important mission. Just in time, I jumped into an empty snowmobile. And off I spin, shouting prefixes as I went, hoping Agent Conrad would hear me. This as in discover. Non as in I wish this were nonskid. But somebody was after me. I went faster. On as in unsteady. I looked back. He was driving in a semiircle. That would give me time to refuel. Restart. Now they were all after me. Off I went again. I kept shouting prefixes. D as in detour. On as in unsafe, M for impossible. With difficulty, I crawled out of the overturned snowmobile and hid behind a pile of snow. I looked around for my pursuers. They were gone. I was safe. Oh, I I could see I was among the snow sculptures. Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me. [snorts] I turned. Oh, there was nobody. >> Hey, over here. >> It was a snowman talking. I couldn't believe it. Who are you? >> I'm Secret Agent Conrad. >> It was Agent Conrad disguised as a snowman. What a clever disguise. >> Don't look at me. Just pretend I'm a snowman. I know you're the other secret agent because I heard you give the secret prefix over the loudspeaker. >> Well, tell me which secret prefix it was. >> I can't. It's a secret. Here, brush the snow off me. >> All right. Say, was the secret prefix un meaning not as in uncover? >> Nope. >> Well, was it non meaning not as in nonsense? Nope. Well, was it this meaning opposite of as in disappear? Nope. Where are you? I've been brushing and brushing you off and as far as I can see, you're in. Oh, now I remember. The secret prefix is in because you're invisible, meaning not visible, right? >> And I came here to rescue you and take you back to headquarters. Now I remember. Boy, I forgot all that. Well, let's go. >> Okay. I couldn't drive back by myself cuz you're not allowed to drive a car if you're invisible, >> right? And it's a good rule, too. Won't you get in? >> Thank you. Boy, I never would have been rescued if it hadn't been for you. >> Well, it's just a good thing I remembered that a prefix is a group of letters you put in front of a word to change its meaning. I remembered that. I have a good memory. You know, >> everybody should remember what a prefix is, >> right? Especially if they're going to be secret agents. Do you always have such a good memory? >> Do I have a good memory? >> Yes. Do you have a good memory? >> What was the question? [music] [music] [music]