Shows
Ye olde wordWords from Greek myth-Part IWhat does the word cereal and panic have to do with Greek mythology? Listen to the episode to find out!Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(dwarf_planet)https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cerealhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(god)https://drhoffman.com/article/the-origin-of-panic-3/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-mythological-origin-of-panichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronoshttps://www.etymonline.com/word/victoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(mythology)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_(mythology)
2021-11-2003 minYe olde wordHumourAre the words humid and humour related? What does the word melancholy have to do with bile? Listen to the episode to find out!Sources: https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-origin-of-the-word-humor/https://www.britannica.com/science/humor-ancient-physiologyhttps://uselessetymology.com/2017/11/29/the-etymology-of-humor/https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/112655/how-did-the-word-humor-which-originally-represented-bodily-fluids-end-up-rephttps://www.thecolourworks.com/hippocrates-galen-the-four-humours/
2021-11-0504 minYe olde wordFossil wordsWhat does the word 'ado' mean in the phrase much ado about nothing? Why do we say fast food and not quick food? Listen to the episode to find out!Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_wordhttps://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/fossil-words/shod-in-slipshod-and-roughshodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreversible_binomialhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_collocationshttps://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/collocations.htmhttp://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/Malkiel1959.pdf
2021-10-2404 minYe olde wordPandemoniumWhat does pandemic and pandemonium have in common? Listen to the episode to find out!Sources:https://letsproofread.com/text/124/https://wordhistories.net/2016/08/25/pandemonium/https://blog.oup.com/2008/10/pandemonium/https://www.etymonline.com/word/pandemoniumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pand%C3%A6monium_(Paradise_Lost)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost
2021-09-2102 minYe olde wordSlothWas the animal sloth named after the Cardinal sin or was it the other way around? Listen to this episode to find out!Sources:https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/slothhttps://mashedradish.com/2016/02/26/sloth/https://www.etymonline.com/word/slothhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth_(deadly_sin)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acedia
2021-09-1202 min
Ye olde wordVenomWhat does the Goddess of love have to do with the etymology of the word venom? Listen to find out!Sources:https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/venom-and-the-goddess-of-lovehttps://www.etymonline.com/word/poisonhttps://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/o4x247/the_revered_deadly_beasts_loved_gonorrhea_venus/https://www.etymonline.com/word/*wen-?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_52678https://www.etymonline.com/word/venom
2021-07-0302 minYe olde wordKnightWhat does the word accolade have to word with a knight? Listen to this episode to find out!Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accoladehttps://www.britannica.com/topic/knight-cavalrymanhttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/brief-history-of-knights/https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/dcslfi/how_did_one_become_a_knight_in_the_medival_ages/https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/jcs078/accolade_an_embrace_kiss_especially_that_given_to/https...
2021-06-2605 minYe olde wordSolar systemWhat does milk have to do with the Milky way? Does asterisk means little star? Answers to all these questions are found in this episode!Sources:https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/science-diction-sun/https://www.etymologynerd.com/blog/sunny-dispositionhttps://medium.com/the-philipendium/word-connections-sun-moon-stars-946d9d0e5a13https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question48.htmlhttps://www.history.com/news/who-named-the-planetshttps://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-history-of-galaxyhttps://wordhistories.net/2016/08/11/galaxy-lettuce/
2021-06-1906 minYe olde wordOrangeWas the fruit orange named after the colour or is it the other way around? Listen to this episode to find out!Sources:https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/the-etymology-of-the-orangehttps://lithub.com/color-or-fruit-on-the-unlikely-etymology-of-orange/
2021-06-1205 minYe olde wordWords about wordsIn this episode, we look into certain words that describe words like onomatopoeia, embolalia, portmanteau, tmesis and bahuvrihi. Sources:https://www.history.com/news/where-did-the-word-barbarian-come-fromhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/barbarianhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/portmanteau-wordhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formulaic_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tmesishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahuvrihihttps://humanparts.medium.com/ten-great-words-about-words-63c6e8622cca
2021-06-0504 minYe olde wordJack-o'-lanternWho is Jack and why is he associated with Halloween? Listen to this episode to find out!Sources:https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhainhttps://perma.cc/D4X6-PSHXhttps://www.dictionary.com/e/jack/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/the-story-of-jack-o-lantern-if-you-knew-the-sufferings-of-that-forsaken-craythur-1.4065773https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/the-twisted-transatlantic-tale-of-american-jack-o-lanternshttps://www.history.com/news/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern-irish-origins
2021-05-2904 minYe olde wordMayday and S.O.SWhat does the S.O.S distress signal have to do with the Titanic's fateful crash? Listen to find out!Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydayhttps://yorkshireairmuseum.org/latest-news/its-mayday-but-that-means-trouble-for-aviators/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-panhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOShttps://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31911/what-does-sos-standhttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-titanic-first-call-help-not-sos-signal
2021-05-2207 minYe olde wordVampireWhy are Vampires called Vampires? Are there different types of Vampire like creatures in other cultures? Listen to find out!Sources:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vlad-the-Impalerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impalerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampirehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_folklore_by_regionWilson, K. M. (1985). The History of the Word “Vampire.” Journal of the History of Ideas, 46(4), 577. doi:10.2307/2709546
2021-05-1512 minYe olde wordJuggernautWhere did the word juggernaut come from? Did it come from the name of a Hindu god? Listen to find out!Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juggernauthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mandevillehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odoric_of_Pordenonehttps://www.learnreligions.com/rath-yatra-1770555https://blog.oup.com/2017/08/origins-juggernaut-jagannath/
2021-05-0104 minYe olde wordPotatoWhy is a potato called a potato? Is it related to the poisonous nightshade family? Who is Parmentier and what did he do to popularise potatoes? Listen to the episode to find out!Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potatohttps://culturedarm.com/cultural-history-potato-earth-apple/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine-Augustin_Parmentierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_the_Greathttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/parmentier-made-potatoes-popularhttps://laidbackgardener.blog/2016/02/23/how-the-potato-got-its-name/https://wordhistories.net/2017/09/29/spud-potato-origin/
2021-04-2406 minYe olde wordGargoyleWhat is the purpose of Gargoyles? Why are they called Gargoyles? Listen to the episode to find out!Source:https://www.academia.edu/9706139/A_Collision_of_Gargoyles_in_Evental_Aesthetics_2013_https://goingtotehran.com/the-history-of-gargoyles/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle
2021-04-1804 minYe olde wordBluetoothHave you ever wondered why Bluetooth technology was called Bluetooth? Listen to the podcast to find out why! In this episode we discuss the history of the word Bluetooth.Sources: https://www.bluetooth.com/about-us/bluetooth-origin/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetoothhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetoothhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-I-king-of-Denmark
2021-02-1903 minYe olde wordAmethystWhat does the gemstone amethyst have to do with drinking and intoxication? Listen to the episode to find out!Sources:https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amethysthttps://blogs.scientificamerican.com/rosetta-stones/the-origin-of-amethysts-may-leave-you-tingly/https://www.gia.edu/amethyst-history-lorehttps://sententiaeantiquae.com/2016/11/12/amethyst-the-sober-stone/https://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_greece/dionysus.php
2021-02-1604 minYe olde wordKHere in this episode we cover the history of one of the most versatile words in the English language. Curious to know what O.K. means? Listen to the episode to find out!Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proposed_etymologies_of_OKhttps://www.history.com/news/the-birth-of-ok-175-years-agohttps://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-hilarious-history-of-ok-okayhttps://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/11/16/ok-is-a-four-letter-word/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-12503686
2021-02-1405 minYe olde wordTock-tick? Dong-ding?Why do the words tock-tick and raff-riff seem weird to hear? Listen to this episode to find out!Sources: https://www.scienceabc.com/social-science/ablaut-reduplication-why-does-saying-flip-flop-feels-more-correct-than-flop-flip.html#:~:text=Most%20people%20do%20not%20realize,that%20you%20are%20doing%20sohttps://www.academia.edu/10100970/Extra_grammatical_morphology_English_reduplicativeshttps://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160908-the-language-rules-we-know-but-dont-know-we-knowhttps://www.almtranslations.com/news/blogs/why-do-we-say-hip-hop-instead-of-hop-hip/https://www.ef.com/ca/english-resources/english-grammar/ordering-multiple-adjectives/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication
2021-02-1207 minYe olde wordTrailers and cliff-hangersWhy is a trailer called a trailer when it is shown before movies? What is a cliff-hanger? Listen to this episode, to have these questions answered.Sources:https://priceonomics.com/why-are-movie-trailers-called-trailers/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_(promotion)http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hardy/diniejko6.html
2021-02-0904 minYe olde wordRing a ring o' rosesIn this episode, we go over different theories pertaining to the origin of the infamous rhyme 'Ring a ring o' roses'. Did it really have anything to do with the plague? Listen to find out!Sources: Wilde, Robert. "Fact or Fiction: Debunking Ring a Ring a Roses." ThoughtCo, Aug. 25, 2020, thoughtco.com/debunking-ring-a-ring-a-roses-1221610.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_o%27_Roseshttps://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/07/ring-around-the-rosie-metafolklore-rhyme-and-reason/
2021-02-0705 minYe olde wordKamikazeHere we discuss the origin and history of the word 'Kamikaze'. Sources:https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/the-origins-of-kamikaze-2344148484e8https://www.ancient.eu/article/1415/the-mongol-invasions-of-japan-1274--1281-ce/https://www.britannica.com/event/kamikaze-of-1274-and-1281
2021-02-0504 min
WTF - What the Film.Sufiyum Sujathayum - Malayalam movie reviewSufiyum Sujathayum is a 2020 Malayalam movie starring Dev Mohan, Aditi Rao Hydari & Jayasurya in lead roles. The film majorly revolves around Sufi & Sujatha's Love Story and it was shot beautifully & techincally great. What is lacking bigtime is what you can listen here.
www.instagram.com/the_nomadic_human
2020-07-0907 min