Allusionist 18: Fix part II

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The messiness of English is the price of its success. It is the most widely spoken language in the world, geographically, being an official language in 88 different countries, and there are countless different versions of it all over the world. With so many speakers in so many places, it would be impossible to establish a single 'correct' form of English; and, as became evident in Fix part I, to try to do so is a losing game.

In Europe, a new strain of English is emerging. It's not spoken very widely, but it is used by some of the most powerful people in the world. Hampton and Michael Catlin, founders of the collaborative online dictionary Wordset, lead us into this linguistic netherworld.

Beware: excessive suffixes.

READING MATTER:

• Who WOULDN'T want to read the European Court of Auditors' 66-page 2013 report Misused Words and Expressions in EU Publications? Curl up on the sofa and prepare to discover bold new uses for 'homogenise', 'mission' and 'jury'.

• The history of musical notation, do re mi - née ut re mi - is interesting; read more about it here.

• If you're infuriated by someone who muddles up words like 'gamut' and 'gamete', you could direct them to diffen.com or the-difference-between.com.

• The transcript of today's show is here.

• The Guardian interviewed me about the Allusionist and Answer Me This; take a look here (if just for the accompanying photo).

RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
gleet

CREDITS:

• Hampton and Michael Catlin founded Wordset, the online collaborative dictionary that aims to collect every different form of English. You can help out at wordset.org. You can also hear the Catlins on their podcast, We Have A Microphone.

• This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Thanks to Matthew Crosby for his vocal contributions. The music is by Martin Austwick. Hear and/or download more - WITH LYRICS! - at thesoundoftheladies.bandcamp.com.

• Say hello to me at facebook.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/helenzaltzman.

The next episode will appear in a fortnight. Thank you for your actorness in listening.

- HZ

Allusionist 8: Crosswords

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Cryptic crosswords: delightful brain exercise, or the infernal taunting of the incomprehensible? Either way, crossword setter John Feetenby explains how they're made and how to solve them. Visit theallusionist.

Cryptic crosswords: delightful brain exercise, or the infernal taunting of the incomprehensible?

Either way, crossword setter John Feetenby explains how they're made and how to solve them. He reveals how he composes clues (even one for 'Zaltzman'), why crosswords reign supreme over sudoku, and why 'jacuzzi' is rarely the answer.

ADDITIONAL READING:

• If, like me, you suck at cryptic crosswords, to start off here's Cryptic Crosswords for Dummies.

• I'll never be able to do The Guardian's crossword, but if that's the crossword mountain you want to climb, here's the Guardian's Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners series. I can do the Telegraph crossword a bit, so here's the Telegraph's guide too.

• This is a very handy compendium of what words mean in crosswordese.

• Here's a summary of the differences between UK and US crosswords.

I'm aware that crosswords from other countries work differently to British ones, so do illuminate me about your own local crossword practices.

RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
waterbrash

Say hi at facebook.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, and come back in a fortnight for the next episode.

- HZ

CREDITS

• John Feetenby's crosswords appear every Sunday in one of Britain's major newspapers. He is @feexby on Twitter and his website is feexby.com, via which you can find his own podcasts.

• This episode was presented and produced by me, Helen Zaltzman.

MUSIC:

• 'Allusionist Theme' - Martin Austwick

• 'I don't Get It' - Cowboy Junkies

• 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' - The Animals