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From Levellers to Smog: Tracing the Life of English Words
Episode 220
In this episode we trace how a 1640s radical movement’s label evolved into today’s political vocabulary, how the soot‑laden haze of Victorian London …
4 days, 21 hours ago
Jamaican Patois: From Borrowing to Systemic Identity
Episode 219
Explore how Jamaican Patois evolved from a 17th‑century plantation contact language into a fully nativized dialect, tracing its phonological shifts, …
4 days, 21 hours ago
From Squanto to Auto‑Correct: How Interpreters and Technology Shape English
Episode 218
Explore the journey of English through the eyes of a colonial interpreter, the evolution of the pronoun 'one', and the modern influence of auto‑corre…
4 days, 21 hours ago
From Outlaw to Party Name: Tracing the Evolution of ‘Tory’
Episode 217
Explore how an Irish Gaelic word for outlaw became a staple in British politics, migrated across continents, and transformed from insult to political…
4 days, 22 hours ago
The Anchorite Cell: How a Tiny Sanctuary Shaped English Words
Episode 216
We trace the story of anchorites—women and men who sealed themselves inside church cells—to see how this medieval practice introduced terms like "anc…
4 days, 22 hours ago
Preterite‑Present Verbs: The Ghosts Behind Modern Modals
Episode 215
This episode traces the journey of preterite‑present verbs from Old English to their modern modal forms, revealing how these irregular remnants survi…
4 days, 22 hours ago
Thomas Blount’s Glossographia: The First Modern English Dictionary
Episode 214
Explore how 17th‑century lexicographer Thomas Blount compiled Glossographia, the first monolingual English dictionary. Discover its impact on later s…
4 days, 23 hours ago
From Dutch to Daily: The Hidden Influence of New Netherland on American English
Episode 213
This episode traces the journey of Dutch loanwords—from cookie and cruller to stoop and kiosk—into everyday American English, exploring how New York’…
4 days, 23 hours ago
Food Words in English: From Bread to Instagram‑Ramen – A Culinary Etymology Journey
Episode 212
Explore how the words for food in English reveal centuries of trade, conquest, and cultural exchange—from Germanic staples like bread, through Norman…
4 days, 23 hours ago
Vowel Mergers, Digital Archives, and Shampoo: Tracing English Evolution
Episode 211
This episode unpacks the cot‑caught merger that reshapes North American English, explores how search engines keep linguistic history alive, and trace…
5 days ago