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The Allusionist

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A PODCAST ABOUT LANGUAGE
BY HELEN ZALTZMAN

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The Allusionist

  • Episodes
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Allusionist 131. Podlingual

February 25, 2021 The Allusionist
A131 Podlingual logo.jpg

In their podcasts Mija and Moonface, Lory Martinez and James Kim create autobiographical fiction in multiple languages.

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In episodes Tags words, language, linguistics, education, comedy, entertainment, society & culture, arts, literature, etymology, lexicon, vocabulary, James Kim, Moonface, Lory Martinez, Mija, Ochenta Studios, podcasting, podcasts, fiction, drama, immigration, multilingual, bilingual, multiculture, English, French, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, libration

Allusionist 112. QUIZ 2019

December 24, 2019 The Allusionist
logo for Allusionist 112 Quiz 2019

For the last episode of the year, here is a quiz all about words, for you to play along with as you listen.

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In episodes, quiz Tags words, language, linguistics, education, comedy, entertainment, society & culture, arts, literature, Helen Zaltzman, Roman Mars, 99PI, Nate DiMeo, The Memory Palace, The Truth, podcast, podcasts, podcasters, quiz, questions, eponyms, history, etymology, phrases, hygiene, waste disposal, Emperor Nero, Nero, Radiotopian guest appearance, zygodactyl

Allusionist special: Podcast Podcast

December 16, 2019 The Allusionist
A111-5 logo Podcast Podcast.jpg

Here’s a special episode about the word that brought us all together… aaand a lot of you hate it.

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In episodes Tags words, language, linguistics, education, comedy, entertainment, society & culture, arts, literature, Helen Zaltzman, etymology, lexicon, vocabulary, portmanteaux, portmanteaus, brunch, audioblogging, blogging, weblogging, iPod, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Hal, Ben Hammersley, Guardian, coinages, neologisms, trademarks, Apple, podcasts, podcasting, PodCon, radio, zipper, jetski, escalator, tabloid, hula hoop, dumpster, yoyo, scotch tape, zip code, rollerblades, realtor, tupperware, jacuzzi, bubble wrap, laundromat, granola, brands, brand names, branding, dumbfound, Pooseum, flatzza, ponut, pantashoes, theriac, broadcast, prejudices, peeves, pet peeves, bugbears, Balenciaga, obsolete, generic terms, new words

Allusionist special play-at-home QUIZ 2018

December 18, 2018 The Allusionist
A91.5 logo Quiz.jpg

For a bit of fun to celebrate Radiotopia’s 2018 fundraiser, this episode is a wordy quiz for you to play along with as you listen.

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In episodes, quiz Tags words, language, linguistics, education, comedy, entertainment, society & culture, arts, literature, Helen Zaltzman, Avery Trufelman, Articles of Interest, Roman Mars, 99% Invisible, 99PI, Nate DiMeo, The Memory Palace, Hrishikesh Hirway, Song Exploder, The West Wing Weekly, The Truth, Radio Diaries, podcast, podcasts, podcasters, quiz, questions, eponyms, history, etymology, phrases, idioms, animals, hedgehogs, turkey, urchins, botulism, sausage, Latin, i, tittle, diacritics, Bible, euphemisms, foot, aglet, clothing, shoes, shoelaces, fashion, garb, garments, apparel, clothing terminology, terminology, diseases, medieval, castles, toilets, WC, garderobe, wardrobe, clothes, bathroom, ammonia, hygiene, faeces, waste disposal, evacuations, bodily functions, mistranslation, Vulgate Bible, dogs, feist, feisty, fart, meat, cold shoulder, expressions, juice, Hawaii, turkeys, Turkey, poultry, names, imports, Aztecs, India, trade, Peru, geography, New World, Christopher Columbus, horror, burpees, exercises, exercise, physical exertion, George Washington Gale Ferris Jr, Ferris wheels, pleasure wheels, inventions, strongmen, World’s Fair, zeppelins, Led Zeppelin, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, bands, music, name changes, lawsuits, fur, fabric, felt, cloth, Stetson, hats, John B. Stetson, genitalia, genitals, penis, Radiotopian guest appearance

Allusionist 45: Eponyms II - Name That Disease

October 16, 2016 The Allusionist

If you love eponyms like Roman Mars loves eponyms, I'm afraid physician Isaac Siemens is here to deliver some bad news: medics are ditching them, in favour of terms that a) contain information about what the ailment actually is, and/or b) don't honour Nazi war criminals. Eponyms are controversial things.

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In episodes Tags words, language, linguistics, history, eponyms, Isaac Siemens, Roman Mars, medical, medicine, doctors, diseases, illness, syndrome, Hans Reiter, science, controversy, apostrophes, possessive, punctuation, Caesarian Section, Caesar, Caesar Salad, names, podcasting, podcasts, disease
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Allusionist 37: Brand It

May 29, 2016 The Allusionist

Got a company or a product or a website you need to name? Well, be wary of the potential pitfalls: trademark disputes; pronounceability; being mistaken for a dead body...

Name developer Nancy Friedman explains how she helps companies find the right names, and why so many currently end in '-ify'.

Plus: The Allusionist's origin story, with Radiotopiskipper Roman Mars.

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In episodes Tags words, language, linguistics, brands, branding, names, naming, brand names, products, product names, companies, company, corporate, name, Nancy Friedman, Roman Mars, podcast names, podcasts, podcasting, trends, trending, startups, businesses, business, Silicon Valley, internet, technology, online, websites, domains, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Spotify, The Allusionist, Semantic Drift, Idiomatic, Amazon, retain, vowels, consonants, devowellution, disemvowelment, anchors, theme tune, music, Martin Austwick, Extreme, More Than Words, puns, Boyzone, verbs, suffixes, 99% Invisible, name development, name developers, Andrew Marvell, Fallen London, The Great Courses Plus
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Featured
Festivelusionists
Allusionist 221. Scribe
Allusionist 221. Scribe
Allusionist 220. Disobedience
Allusionist 220. Disobedience
Allusionist 219. Making Trouble
Allusionist 219. Making Trouble
Allusionist 218. Banned Books
Allusionist 218. Banned Books
Allusionist 217. Bread and Roses, and Coffee
Allusionist 217. Bread and Roses, and Coffee
Allusionist 216. Four Letter Words: Terisk
Allusionist 216. Four Letter Words: Terisk
Allusionist 215. Two-Letter Words
Allusionist 215. Two-Letter Words
Allusionist 214. Four Letter Words: Bane Bain Bath
Allusionist 214. Four Letter Words: Bane Bain Bath
Souvenirs on BBC Radio 4
Souvenirs on BBC Radio 4
Allusionist 213. Four Letter Words: Dino
Allusionist 213. Four Letter Words: Dino
Allusionist 212. Four Letter Words: Park
Allusionist 212. Four Letter Words: Park
Allusionist 211. Four Letter Words: -gate
Allusionist 211. Four Letter Words: -gate
Allusionist 210. Four Letter Words: 4x4x4 Quiz
Allusionist 210. Four Letter Words: 4x4x4 Quiz
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Creative Commons Licence
The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.