Podcast Episodes

What's so great about 'seventh' heaven? | NUMBER IDIOMS

Episode 96

We're exploring the origins of common sayings relating to numbers in this episode.

🥉 Why is the third time a charm?
⛅️ What's so great about "seventh …

2 months, 3 weeks ago

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Words the Vikings left behind | OLD NORSE

Episode 95

What did the Vikings do for us? Rob and Jess are exploring the words left behind by the Scandinavian invaders.

🪓 How much of English is Old Norse?
🗺️ …

3 months ago

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Are you pronouncing 'caramel' wrong? | ACCENTS (ft. Valerie Fridland)

Episode 93

Why do Americans and Brits have the accents they have? Sociolinguist, professor and author Valerie Fridland joins Rob and Jess this week to discuss …

3 months, 1 week ago

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What does 'Mona Lisa' even mean? | ART WORDS

Episode 92

How does an artist use a 'donkey'? What does 'Mona Lisa' actually mean? Who is the "dada" in Dadaism? Rob and Jess are explaining word origins from …

3 months, 2 weeks ago

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False Friends: Dangerous words in other languages

Episode 90

Rob and Jess are exploring deceptive words in other languages, like French, German and Spanish. So-called 'false friends' look familiar to English s…

3 months, 4 weeks ago

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How did The Beatles get their name? | ROCK 'N' ROLL

Episode 89

Why is it called "Rock and Roll"? Who came up with "The Beatles"? Which bands took their names from literature? Rob and Jess are answering all manne…

4 months, 2 weeks ago

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Spanish words hiding in English

Episode 88

¡Hablas más español de lo que crees! You speak more Spanish than you think! In this episode, Rob and Jess are exploring the Spanish words that have …

4 months, 3 weeks ago

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The origins of the alphabet

Episode 87

Let's explore the mysteries of our weird alphabet. Rob and Jess are joined by Danny Bate, author of Why Q Needs U, to discuss where our letters came…

5 months ago

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Who should you hit with a 'slapstick'? | COMEDY WORDS

Episode 86

Rob and Jess are guffawing their way through a world of comedic words. 

🎭 What does 'comedy' literally mean?
🤡 Who should you hit with a 'slapstick'?
🥄…

5 months, 1 week ago

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The Arabic words hiding in English

Episode 85

Rob and Jess are exploring the Arabic words hiding in English.

🛜 Who was the original ‘algorithm’ named after?
🥷 How did ‘assassins’ get their name?
🔢 …

5 months, 2 weeks ago

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