EDITOR’S NOTE: Informer editor Andrew Perzo is on vacation and will return Jan. 1. Today’s column features questions and answers that first appeared in 2006 and 2007.

In Western folklore, who lassoed the cyclone?

It was Pecos Bill, though in some versions of the story he uses only his bare hands to get hold of the twister.

Bill, one of 18 children, so the stories go, fell from his parents’ wagon as the family crossed the Pecos River. He was rescued and raised by coyotes, who taught him how to hunt, howl and “kill deer by runnin’ them to death,” Edward O’Reilly wrote in 1923 in “The Saga of Pecos Bill.”

When he was 10, Bill took up with humans and soon developed a bad reputation — albeit one tempered by resourcefulness and fairness.

“He invented the six-shooter and train-robbin’ and most of the crimes popular in the old days of the West. …,” O’Reilly wrote. “Deep down he had a tender heart, however, and never killed women or children, or tourists out of season.”

O’Relly’s version of the tornado story lacks the lasso, but it contains much of the other material that now features in many Bill-and-the-cyclone stories, including references to the origins of both the Grand Canyon and Death Valley.

From O’Relly’s tale:

He met the cyclone, the worst that was ever known, up on the Kansas line. Bill eared that tornado down and climbed on its back. That cyclone did some pitchin’ that is unbelievable, if it were not vouched for by many reliable witnesses. …

He rode it through three States, but over Arizona it got him. When it saw it couldn’t throw him, it rained out from under him. This is proved by the fact that it washed out the Grand Cañon. Bill came down over in California. The spot where he hit is now known as Death Valley, a hole in the ground more than one hundred feet below sea-level.”

Charmed’ example of phatic expression

When people are being introduced to one another, what does it mean when one person says, “Charmed, I’m sure”? Does it mean that the person saying it is charmed to meet the other, or is it the other way around?

The statement, known linguistically as a phatic expression, refers to the feelings of the person saying it — if, of course, it carries any intrinsic meaning at all.

(Vocal inflection, facial expression and other cues would probably convey more meaning.)

The term “phatic communication,” coined by Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in the early 20th century, refers to small talk — that is, the words we use to be sociable or polite rather than to pass on information.

Examples of phatic expressions:

How are you doing?

I’m fine, thanks.

You’re welcome.

How’s it going with you?

Never been better.

Nice talking to you.

Same here.

Have a nice day.

You, too.

“Phatic” comes from the Greek “phanai,” or “to speak,” by way of “phatos,” or “spoken.” It’s related to the words “euphony,” “euphemism,” and “aphasia,” or the loss of one’s ability to speak.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.