Etymoleon - Word History, the etymology podcast.

This time we're uncovering the origins of espionage-related terms, from bug, alias, and surveillance to eavesdrop and secret, tracing how they entered the English language (and words they are related ...

15 Jun 202515min

This episode takes a look at terms and phrases that trace back to biblical roots. To "wash your hands of something/someone" has origins linked to the crucifixion, while a commonly misquoted phrase abo...

8 Jun 202514min

This episode looks at the origins of names used in common sayings, uncovering the theories behind how these phrases came about and tracing the names to their historical linguistic roots. Gordon Bennet...

1 Jun 202515min

This episode is all about size, tracing the origins of words related to 'bigness' such as massive, monumental, enormous and gigantic. Discover how gargantuan and Brobdingnagian have literary beginning...

18 Mai 202515min

This time we're tracing the origins of colour names and the terms and phrases linked to them. Learn how conditions like grapheme-colour synesthesia, where people associate letters or numbers with colo...

11 Mai 202516min

This episode uncovers supposed origins of well-known superstitions, along with the histories of the words tied to them. One story suggests the tradition of hanging a horseshoe above a door for good lu...

4 Mai 202515min

This time, we're taking a deep-fried dive into the origins of words tied to fish and chips, the beloved British dish dating back to the 19th century. Discover how 'fish' follows the same linguistic pa...

27 Apr 202528min

This episode reveals the etymology behind art-related terms, tracing words like draw, sketch, mural, canvas and sepia to their origins. Discover how 'canvas' shares an etymology with a drug, how 'past...

13 Apr 202523min