Words for Granted - An etymology and linguistics podcast
Words for Granted is a podcast that explores the origins and evolution of words. Host Ray Belli uses linguistic changes as a lens to understand broader historical and cultural shifts. Each episode delves into the etymology of specific terms, revealing how language reflects societal transformations.
Episodes
The Simplified Spelling Movement: Interview with Gabe Henry
We all know English spelling is inconsistent, but some people have actually tried to change it. In this episode, Gabe Henry, author of Enough is Enuf, explores the historical crusade to make English spelling more "rational." The conversation highlights the reform efforts of figures like Noah Webster and Ben Franklin, alongside eccentric movements like the 19th-century "Phunny Phellows" and the Mor
The Proto-Indo-European Puzzle: Interview with Laura Spinney
In this episode, Ray chats with author Laura Spinney about Proto-Indo-European, the ancestral language of hundreds of modern languages spoken by billions today ranging from Western Europe to India. They explore how linguists reconstruct this unwritten language through comparative methods, what its vocabulary reveals about ancient society, and why its story remains relatively unknown despite it
The Science and History of English Accents: Interview with Valerie Fridland
In this episode, Ray talks with linguist Valerie Friedland about accents—what they are, where they come from, and why everyone has one. They explore how accents begin in early childhood, how regional speech patterns change over time, and why certain pronunciations carry such strong social meaning. From accent bias to the myth of "accentless" speech, the conversation reveals how deeply language sha
The History of the Alphabet: Interview with Danny Bate
In this episode, author Danny Bate walks through the alphabet's evolution from its origins in Egyptian hieroglyphs to the letters of the English alphabet familiar to us today. He explains why English spelling became so irregular, while also arguing that non-phonetic spelling can preserve meaning and help unify diverse English dialects. The conversation also highlights memorable letter histories, i
Lessons on Language with the Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogerty)
In this episode, Ray chats with Mignon Fogerty, aka the Grammar Girl. "Good grammar" may seem like the epitome of prescriptivism, but when it comes to her "Quick and Dirty Tips", Mignon leans on a more ideologically neutral approach. Might you even call "good grammar" ... a style choice?
The Marvels of Translation: Interview with Keith Khan-Harris
What can we learn about the nature of translation by reading a warning message in hundreds of different languages? In this episode, Keith Kahn-Harris discusses his latest book, The Babel Message, in which the mundane, multilingual warning message found inside Kinder Surprise Eggs ignites profound observations about the nature of language and the written word. To buy The Babel Message, click here
The Power (and Omnipresence) of Rhetoric: Interview with Guy Doza
Rhetoric has a bad reputation. We tend to think of it as a linguistic tool used by polticians and marketing execs to maipulate the masses. While this stereotype is true, rhetoric is more than just snake oil––we use it in apologies, negotions, and love letters, all without even realizing it. In this episode, speech writer and author Guy Doza takes through a wide range of rhetorical techniques and t
A Defense of "Bad" English: Interview with Valerie Fridland
Instead of criticizing deviations from Standard English as "wrong," what if we celebrated them as expressive lingusitic innovations? In this conversation with Valerie, we take a look at some of the quirky features of English that our language teachers taught us to avoid, and in true Words for Granted fashion, we attempt to understand how and why they emerged. To buy Valerie's new book, "Like Lit
Learning New Languages: Interview with Rob Paterson
What goes into building a language learning curriculum? How do designers choose features within a language learing app? Are some approaches to language learning better than others, or is it up to the indiviudal? In this episode, I explore these questions and more with Rob Paterson, Content Production Manager at Memrise. To get 50% off an annual plan with Memrise, go to: https://memri.se/WFG50
Origins of Place Names: Interview with Duncan Madden
Place names are not random––behind the name of every country is a story of how it came to be. From stories of invasion and rebellion to the fantastical and mundane, author Duncan Madden takes us on a journey across the world in his latest book, Found in Translation: The Unexpected Origins of Place Names. To order or pre-order the book, go to https://www.duncanmadden.com/.
Grammatical Gender: Interview with Danny Bate
In this interview with linguist Danny Bate, we go deep on all things gender––grammatical gender, that is. Why do some languages have gender while others don't? Where does gender come from? What is the function of gender? To get 50% off your first month of Lingoda courses, follow this link: https://try.lingoda.com/Words_Nov
Episode 109: Trivia
Trivia refers to obscure or useless information, but this definition is a far cry from the word's etymology. Trivia, or tri-via, literally means "three roads," and in Ancient Roman times, it referred to three-way intersections. These heavily trafficked intersections were places where common people would chat, trade, gossip, and bicker, and it is in this context that the seeds of our modern sense o
African American English: Interview w/ Tracey Weldon
In this episode, I speak with Tracey Weldon, linguist and board advisor on the Oxford Dictionary of African American English project. We discuss the origins of AAE, the role of code switching within its speech community, AAE's contributions to mainstream English, and more. For $25 off your Lingoda Sprint Challenge enrollment, use this link: https://try.lingoda.com/Ray_Sprint
Episode 108: Understand
What does "standing under" have to do with "understanding?" Nothing at all, which is why most of us probably overlook the obvious fact that "understand" is actually a compound word comprising "under" and "stand." In our exploration of this confusing etymology, we look at some archaic meanings of the preposition "under" in addition to words with similar semantic constructions in other languages.
Episode 107: World
In Old English, the word "world", or weorold, did not refer to a place. It was a compound word comprising wer, meaing "man", and ald, meaning "age". "World" literally meant "the age of man", and in many of its earliest usages, it's more closely related to a man's "lifetime" or "lifespan" than the earth he inhabits. We also look at some unlikely cognates of "world", all of which share etymologies r
Deciphering Ancient Scripts: Interview with Silvia Ferrara
Have you ever wondered how writing was invented - or, how many times it was invented? How many undeciphered scripts has the ancient world left us, and is there any hope in eventually deciphering them? In this interview with Silvia Ferrara, author of The Greatest Invention, we explore these questions and many more. To buy Silvia's book, click here. You can also support Words for Granted on Patre
Episode 106: Grotesque
The etymology of "grotesque" is hiding in plain sight: "grotto-esque". Originally, the word was used to describe a style of ancient art that was discovered in underground grottos––or at least what appeared to be underground grottos. In the Renaissance, this style was emulated and innovated upon, influencing the evolution of the sense of "grotesque" familiar to us today.
Episode 105: Idiot
In Ancient Greece, an "idiot", or idiotes, was a "private person", which meant someone who did not hold a political office. In this episode, we explore how the word's modern pejorative connotation emerged. We also look into the word's 19th and early 20th century association with the IQ test.
Episode 104: Genius
Though people of extraordinary talents and intellect have always existed, the modern sense of "genius" didn't emerge until the relatively recent 18th century. In Ancient Rome, a "genius" was neither a person nor their brilliant works, but a mythological deity whose function within society evolved over the course of antiquity.
Episode 103: Run Amok
Most Malay loanwords in English describe the local flora, fauna, and food of Southeast Asia. "Amok", however, is different. Amok, which describes a violent killing spree, is ultimately a Malay word that entered European languages during the era of European colonial expansion. Did Europeans encounter something unique in Southeast Asia that prompted them to adapt this word?
Episode 102: Hyperbola/Hyperbole & Ellipse/Ellipsis
"Hyperbola" and "ellipse" are geometrical curves, while "hyperbole" and "ellipsis" are rhetorical terms. At face value, it's not clear how the meanings of "hyperbola" and "ellipse" relate to those of "hyperbole" and "ellipsis", but the history of these pairs of cognates are indeed closely intertwined. To start learning a new language for free with native speakers from around the world, check out
Episode 101: Parabola/Parable
The meanings of "parabola" and "parable" have very little to do with one another, yet these words are etymological doublets of a single Greek work, parabole, which meant "a throwing aside". In this episode, we explore how this literal meaning connects to the literary and mathematical developments of this Greek word. This month's bonus episode explores the syntax of predicate adjectives. Become a
Episode 100: Google
Before Google was the name of one of the world's biggest tech companies, "googol" was an obscure math term that meant "ten to the one hundredth power". Five decades before the founding of Google, the word "googol" emerged spontaneously out of a conversation between an American mathematician and his nephew. Click here to listen to this month's FREE bonus episode on Patreon.
Episode 99: Average
The word "average" has anything but an average etymology. If the leading theory is correct, "average" ultimately derives from an Arabic word meaning "defect". In this episode, we explore how this Arabic word made its way into European languages through sea trade and how, given this unlikely origin, its mathematical sense emerged over time.
Why Is English Highly Irregular? (Interview with Arika Okrent)
English may be spoken by a whopping 1.5 billion ESL speakers around the world, but that doesn't mean it's an "easy" language to learn. For native English speakers, it's easy to take for granted just how irregular the English language is. In this interview episode, I chat with Arika Okrent about her new book, Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don't Rhyme and Other Oddities of the Eng
Episode 98: Lost Letters: Long s (ſ) and Ampersand (&)
In many English works printed before the late 19th century, a letter unfamiliar to us today, ſ, is often used in place of the letter S. However, that unfamiliar f-looking letter is actually just an archaic form of the letter S called "long s". In this episode, we explore the origins and decline of this odd orthographical relic. As a coda to our series on lost letters, we also explore the history o
Episode 97: Lost Letters: Ash (Æ, æ) and Ethel (Œ, œ)
If you've ever encountered the ligatures æ and œ in old texts, you may have wondered: what are they called? Where do they come from? How exactly are they pronounced? Why don't we use them any more? The ligatures ash and ethel are rare in English writing today, but in previous centuries, they were common. (In Old English, the sound we today associate with "short A" was actually not represented by t
Nine Nasty Words (Interview with John McWhorter) [EXPLICIT]
F*ck. Sh*t. C*ck. These are some of the most profane words in the English language, but what exactly makes them profane? Is there something about profanities that makes them different from ordinary vanilla words? In this interview, I speak with John McWhorter, preeminent linguist and author of Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever. Click here to order Nine Nasty Words.
Episode 96: Lost Letters: Wynn (Ƿ), Insular G (ᵹ), Yogh (Ȝ)
Before the letter W was invented, the rune wynn was borrowed into the Latin AngloSaxon alphabet as a way of representing the /w/ sound. The letter yogh evolved out of Insular G, an Irish variation of the traditional letter G. The phonetic value of yogh varied. It could represent the /y/ sound, the guttural /x/ sound as in the Scottish "loch," and others. Many Modern English words spelled with GH d
Episode 95: Lost Letters: Eth and Thorn (Ð,ð and Þ, þ)
In Modern English, we use the TH digraph to represent the voiced and voiceless dental fricative sounds. However, English previously had two unique letters that did this same job: eth and thorn. In this episode, we look at the origin and decline of eth and thorn in English in addition to some places outside of the English alphabet where these ancient letters have survived. Also, check out these lin
Episode 94: The Lost Letters of the English Alphabet (Overview)
You can't have the English language without the ABC's, right? Wrong. In this overview episode, we look at the history of the alphabet and the many changes it has undergone from its Phoenician origins to today. We also consider the significance of the runic alphabet known as futhorc, the first alphabet used to write English. Two of the lost English letters, thorn and wynn, were directly adapted fro
Episode 93: Pasta
'Pasta' is first attested in English during the 1800's, which is later than one might expect. However, in prior centuries, a handful of its closely related cognates such as 'paste,' 'pastry,' 'pastel,' and others were borrowed into English. We consider how these words relate historically and etymologically to the beloved Italian food. We also examine the semantic relationship between the words pas
Episode 92: Meals (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)
In today's episode, we look at the etymologies of our meal words––not to mention "meal" itself. (As it turns out, "meal" has a long history of usage as a measurement word.) The meanings of our meal words have shifted over time in concert with the standard time at which these meals are eaten. Spoiler: "Dinner" was the original "breakfast," and etymologically, the two words mean almost the same thin
Interview with Tim Brookes, founder of Endangered Alphabets
In this interview episode, I speak with Tim Brookes, founder of the Endangered Alphabets Project. Among many other things, we discuss why preserving endangered writing systems is so important to the cultures that use them, how writings systems become endangered in the first place, and Tim's fundraiser to raise awareness about the Mongolian script through an original board game. You can learn mor
Episode 91: Artichoke
In ancient Greek botanical literature, there is a reference to a spiny plant called a kaktos. This word would pass into Modern English as "cactus," though the kaktos itself was certainly not a cactus as we know it. More likely, it was an undomesticated "artichoke," a plant whose name ultimately comes from Arabic. In this episode, we take a look at the intertwined history of these two words and the
Episode 90: Apple
In this episode, we explore the etymology of the most culturally ubiquitous fruit, the apple. Etymologically, the ubiquity of the apple is fitting, since it originally used to refer to apples and all fruits in general. We also explore the Latin and Greek words for 'apple,' the derivatives of which are hiding in plain sight in a handful of modern English fruit and vegetable words.
Episode 89: Cheese
In the episode, we explore the etymology of 'cheese,' a Latin-derived word that entered the Germanic languages through trade long before the emergence of English. We also consider why the Italian and French words for cheese, formaggio and fromage, are not its cognates and how the adjective 'cheesy' (meaning something lacking subtlety) evolved.
Episode 88: Egg
The word 'egg' plays a part in one of the most famous anecdotes in the written record about the evolution of the English language. In this episode, we consider the implications of that story and look into the etymology of 'egg' and some of its cognates. We also look into the 'egg' in the idiom 'to egg on.'
Proto Indo-Europeans with Kevin Stroud of The History of English Podcast
This episode features a conversation I had with Kevin Stroud of the History of English Podcast at this year's virtual Intelligent Speech conference. We discussed reasons why the history of the Proto Indo-Europeans––the linguistic ancestors of nearly half the world's population––remains obscure to the general public. If you think it has something to do with racist, pseudoscientific scholarship that
Episode 87: Dead Ringer
The idiom 'dead ringer' comes down to us from horse-racing slang, but a widely believed folk etymology links the idiom's origins to being buried alive. In this episode, we debunk the myths and get down to the written evidence behind the emergence of this phrase. I'll be speaking with Kevin Stroud from the History of English podcast about the Proto Indo-Europeans at this year's Intelligent Speech
Episode 86: Red Herring
The idiom 'red herring' is used to describe a distraction from the matter at hand. Literally, a 'red herring' is a kipper––that is, a smoked and salted sliced fish––but why would such a fish become an expression for a distraction? In this episode, we debunk a popular myth surrounding the idiom's etymology by close reading a handful of selections from the written record and drawing on the most rece
Episode 85: The Proof Is in the Pudding
Of all places, why do we put the 'proof' in the 'pudding?' Like many idioms whose origins date back several centuries, the connection between the literal and figurative meanings of 'the proof is in the pudding' is no longer clear in Modern English. 'The proof is in the pudding' is actually a shortened corruption of the idiom 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating,' but that's still not the ful
Interview with Simon Horobin, Author of "Bagels, Bumf, and Buses"
In today's episode, I talk with Simon Horobin, Oxford professor and author of "Bagels, Bumf and Buses: A Day in the Life of the English Language," a book that explores the etymology of common words we encounter every day. In addition to discussing Simon's latest book, we discuss a range of language topics including the standardization of grammar, the history of spelling, and more. You can purchase
Episode 84: Break a Leg
The etymology of 'break a leg' is disputed, but some theories hold up better than others. In today's episode, we look at a handful of plausible explanations for how 'break a leg' became theater slang for 'good luck' and also bust a few etymological myths surrounding the idiom. Today's episode is brought to you by Yabla. Click here for your risk-free 15-day trial.
Episode 83: Apple of the Eye
As we all know, the idiomatic meaning of 'apple of the eye' has nothing to do with apples. As it turns out, the origins of the idiom also have nothing to do with apples. In this episode, we look at how the English translation of an old Hebrew expression found in the Old Testament unintentionally defined our modern sense of the idiom 'apple of the eye.'
Episode 82: In a Pickle
"In a pickle" is one of the oddest sounding idioms in English. It means "in a predicament or bad situation," but it's not clear what pickles have to do with anything. In this episode, we look at the origins of both the phrase and the word "pickle" itself.
Episode 81: Idioms (General Overview)
This episode begins a new series on the etymology of English idioms. In this general overview of idioms, we discuss why idioms are syntactically and semantically peculiar, how idioms emerge, how idioms fossilize archaic grammar, and more.
Episode 80: Cannibal
The word 'cannibal' comes to us by way of a familiar historical figure: Christopher Columbus. The word is ultimately a Hispanicization of the name of an indigenous American group today known as the Caribs. Through Columbus' unreliable portrayal of the Caribs in his travel log, 'cannibal' came to refer to 'a person who eats human flesh.' In this episode, we explore the evolution of the meaning of '
Episode 79: Philistine
In common usage, a 'philistine' is a derogatory term for an anti-intellectual materialist. The word derives from the ancient Middle Eastern Philistines, a people best known as an early geopolitical enemy of the Israelites in the Hebrew Bible. The historical Philistines were far from philistines––note the lowercase P. Bizarrely, circumstance by which the latter derives from the former can be traced
Episode 78: Bohemian
As a common noun, 'bohemian' describes an artistic, carefree lifestyle usually marked by poverty and unorthodoxy. The word is derived from Bohemia, a region in the modern Czech Republic, but its semantic connection to actual Czechs is nearly nonexistent. In this episode, we trace the long history of the word 'bohemian' from its origins as an ancient Celtic homeland to the present.
Episode 77: Gothic
As someone who came of age during the late 90's, my first encounter with the word 'gothic' was through alternative music and fashion. However, the word was originally the name of a Germanic tribe most famous for sacking the Roman Empire. The evolution of the word 'goth' over the last two millennia is a classic but complicated story of linguistic appropriation and misunderstanding.
Interview with Steve Kaufmann, Polyglot & Co-founder of LingQ
In today's episode, I interview Steve Kaufmann. Steve is a polyglot and co-founder of LingQ. He also hosts a popular language learning Youtube channel under the name LingoSteve. Our conversation covers a range of language-related topics such as language learning myths, how language learning has changed with new technology, the relationship between language and culture, and more.
Episode 76: Wife
In Old English, the word 'wife' meant woman. In fact, the word 'woman' derives from the word wife! Today's episode is not only an exploration of the word 'wife,' but also of a handful of woman-related words whose etymologies and usages share a confusing, intertwined history.
Episode 75: Grandmother/Grandfather
What makes your parents' parents so ... grand? In today's episode, we trace the etymology and emergence of the French-influenced kinship prefix 'grand.' We also look at Old English words for 'grandparents' and 'grandchildren' before the 'grand' prefix became conventional. Just for good measure, we also take a look at the kinship prefix 'great.' To claim your 1-month free trial of the Great Courses
Episode 74: Sibling
Today, 'sibling' is one of the most basic kinship terms. However, it wasn't introduced into English until 1903 by a pair of scientists working on genetics. More accurately, 'sibling' was reintroduced into the language after 1,000 years of dormancy. In this episode, we look at 'sibling' in its Old English context and explore its Indo-European roots. Furthermore, we look into the etymology of 'broth
Episode 73: Papa/Dada/Father
In today's episode, we explore the origins of some of the universal characteristics of nursery father terms in languages from around the world, most of which include initial /p/, /d/, or /b/ sounds. For a 1-month free trial of the Great Courses Plus, click here.
Episode 72: Mama/Mom
'Mama' is a mysterious word. In the vast majority of languages around the world, the word for 'mama' sounds something like ... 'mama.' In today's episode, we uncover the reason for this peculiar universality. For a free 1-month trial of The Great Course plus, click here.
Episode 71: Noah Webster's Dictionary
Noah Webster is best known as the father of the first truly American dictionary. However, Webster's dictionary faced an uphill struggle for recognition during his lifetime. In today's episode, we examine some of these struggles in addition to the things that made Webster's dictionary so different from the English dictionaries that preceded it. Click here to sign up for you free one-month trial o
Episode 70: Noah Webster (Early Works and Spelling Reforms)
Noah Webster is best known for his 'all-American' dictionary, but in today's episode, we take a look at Webster's earlier works including The Grammatical Institute of the English Language and Dissertations on the English Language. In these works, Webster lays the groundwork for his future dictionary, revealing his political motivations for his spelling reforms and advocation of American English.
Episode 69: OK
'OK' is the most spoken and most written word in the entire world. It's such a fundamental part of modern communication that it's hard to imagine the world without it. But in spite of its ubiquity and compact versatility, 'OK' is under two hundred years old. Today's episode tells the story of the word's origins in 19th century America. If the leading theory is correct, then OK might just be the mo
Episode 68: Yankee
Today, the most relevant usage of the word 'Yankee' is probably in the name of the baseball team, but etymologically, 'Yankee' has nothing to do with baseball. 'Yankee' is an elusive word whose ultimate etymology is unknown and whose connotations may change depending on who's using it.
Episode 67: The American Pronunciation of R (Rhoticity)
One of the most defining characteristics of the Standard American English accent is its 'rhoticity,' or the pronunciation of the letter R. Unlike Standard British English, Standard American English always pronounces the letter R regardless of its position within a word. In today's episode, we trace the origins and evolutions of this feature of Standard American English. (Spoiler alert: The prevale
Episode 66: The Emergence of the American Lexicon
The English spoken in America began to diverge from the English spoken in Britain shortly after British settlers arrived in the New World. In today's episode, we look at several ways how 'Americanisms' began to form and how English speakers on the other side of the pond reacted to them.
Interview with Lynne Murphy, Author of "The Prodigal Tongue"
In today's episode, I interview linguist, professor, blogger, and author Lynne Murphy about her book, The Prodigal Tongue: The Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English. We talk about topics such as the British media's take on 'Americanisms,' nonsensical prescriptivism, national attitudes toward language, and so much more. Lynne's blog, Separated by a Common Language: https://s
Episode 65: Dialect vs. Language
'American English' is the variety of English spoken in the United States of America ... obviously. But is American English a language unto itself or a dialect of British English? In this episode, we discuss the differences between dialects and languages (if there are indeed any at all) from a linguistic point of view. Part 1 in a series on American English.
Episode 64: France
The name of France derives from the name of a Germanic tribe called the Franks. In addition to the name of France, the namesake of the Franks also produced a handful of other common English words, such as 'frank,' 'franchise,' and 'Franklin,' among others. Today, these words have little to do with France, but as we investigate their etymologies, subtle connections begin to emerge.
Episode 63: Turkey
In today's episode, we explore the etymological connection between Turkey the country and turkey the bird. Even though turkeys are native to North America, thanks to 16th century trade routes, these birds are mistakenly named after a country on the other side of the world. We also explore how these trade routes influenced the words for 'turkey' in other European languages.
Episode 62: Cincinnati
The American city of Cincinnati derives from a patriotic fraternal organization called The Society of Cincinnati. The society itself is named after Cincinnatus, a legendary figure in Ancient Roman history. Revolutionary Americans saw Cincinnatus as an idealized epitome of political virtue. In today's episode, we explore Cincinnatus' life from the point of view of early American idealism.
Episode 61: International Names of Germany
There are more etymologically different names for Germany than there are for any other European country. This is due to a long history of disunity among Gemanic tribes and the geographical location of the Germanic homeland smack dab in the middle of Europe. In today's episode, we explore the history and linguistic distribution of the etymological roots of Germany's many international names.
Episode 60: Wales
The English name for the country of 'Wales' is not native to Wales itself. It actually has origins in a derogatory term given by the AngloSaxons to their Celtic neighbors. The word 'Wales' has cognates in all of the Germanic languages, yet most of these cognates have nothing to do with the modern country of Wales. In general, these cognates are associated with speakers of Romance languages through
Episode 59: Proper Place Names (General Overview)
Today's episode kicks off a new series on 'toponymy,' or the study of place names. In this general overview, we take a look at some of the historical and etymological trends that often impact place names, such as colonialism and the commemoration of important individuals.
Episode 58: Gymnasium
Nowadays, a gym is a place for fitness and exercise. It's a shortening of the word gymnasium, which derives from the Greek word gymnasion. In the Ancient Greek world, a gymnasion was not only a place for exercise, but also a hub for philosophical study and learning. Today's episode explores the evolution of the gymnasium as a cultural institution and also looks at how some of the word's cognates i
Episode 57: Category
In the court system of Ancient Athens, the kategoria was a formal accusation. However, when the philosopher Aristotle borrowed the word kategoria to enumerate his 'categories of being,' he intended it to mean the 'highest order of classification.' Over the course of this episode, we explore the subtle link between an 'accusation' and 'categorization.'
Episode 56: Apology
The Modern English word 'apology' derives from the Ancient Greek word apologia. However, in the Ancient Greek work known as Plato's Apology, Plato doesn't 'apologize' for anything––at least not in the modern sense. That's because an 'apology' was originally a self-defensive manner of speech. In this episode, we look at how this rhetorical technique developed into an expression of sincere regret.
Episode 55: Sophisticated
In Modern English, sophistication is a desirable characteristic. However, the word derives from sophistry, an Ancient Greek intellectual movement with a historically bad reputation. In today's episode, we consider this bad reputation from various perspectives and how it has impacted the development of 'sophistic' words over the course of history.
Episode 54: Philosophy
In the pre-modern world, philosophy referred to all forms of intellectual knowledge. Today, the discipline of philosophy is just one aspect of the traditional field of philosophia, or 'love of knowledge.'
Episode 53: They
The pronoun 'they' was borrowed into English from Old Norse. Pronouns within a language tend to be conservative over time, so this borrowing of a foreign pronoun into English is a bit unusual. In today's episode, we explore the entire history of "they," from its roots as a Proto-Germanic demonstrative adjective to its modern usage as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun in English.
Episode 52: Linguistic Subjectification (Very, Really, Literally, etc.)
Subjectification is a unique linguistic process by which a word evolves to reflect the subjective viewpoint of the speaker using it. For example, the word 'very' used to mean 'true,' but over time, it lost its objectivity and merely became a way of emphasizing subjectivity. In this episode, we explore this process in a broad sense and look at a few more examples. Further reading: https://web.sta
Episode 51: The
The word 'the' is the sole definite article in the English language. It's also the most common word in our language. However, for such a grammatically fundamental word, its history isn't as straightforward as one might think. Old English had a whopping twenty different forms of the definite article, all of which collapsed into the single, versatile word 'the' by the time of Modern English. We disc
Interview with Steve Guerra (The History of the Papacy Podcast)
In this conversation, Steve and I discuss the linguistic influence of the King James Bible and some common English idioms that have Biblical etymologies.
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