For today’s instalment of Four Letter Word season, we’re hopping from ‘bane’ to ‘bain’ to ‘bath’, via poison gardens, doll’s eyes, alchemists, placentas and waterborne curses.
Read moreAllusionist 68. Curse Soup
Somebody has really ticked you off. You're all steamed up inside and you want to vent that rage using words, but you don't want to confront them directly because you're either too polite or too cowardly. So do you:
A. Subtweet them.
B. With your finger, scrawl an insulting message into the dirt on their car.
C. Get a small sheet of lead, scratch into it a message cursing your enemies, roll it up and throw it into your nearest sacred spring?
Oh, I forgot to mention that it's 1700-2000 years ago and you're living in the Ancient Roman Empire, so the answer is C.
Read moreAllusionist 34: Continental
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I'm not usually one to yearn for the past, but today, trying to find a clear definition for what a continent is, I find myself thinking, "Pangaea. One single continent. That was a simpler time."
Plus: more 'please'. Following the previous episode, listeners from several continents have contributed their local experience of 'please' usage, in what eventually will surely be considered the definitive global study of human niceties. Also, Lynne Murphy and Rachele De Felice return to explain how 'thank you' is not necessarily an expression of gratitude.
TL;DR: trust nothing.
READING MATTER:
Yeah but come on, what IS a continent? Anyone?
How the continents - whatever the hell they are - got their names.
Learn about Pangaea and Panthalassa, so you’re prepared when the next supercontinent shows up.
How and why non-European countries can compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.
“This is a shocked pair of girls who have just heard the apologetic U.S. soldier say that he looked like a bum. In English slang, he said he looked like his own backside.” Thanks to listener Mike for sending me this 1942 advice for Americans visiting Britain. So many linguistic obstacles for transatlantic travel(l)ers!
There's a transcript of this episode at theallusionist.org/transcripts/continental.
RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
rowel
CREDITS:
Linguist and 'please' investigator Lynne Murphy's blog is separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com and she is @lynneguist on Twitter. Rachele De Felice is @racagain on Twitter.
This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, with music by Martin Austwick. Martin's continental drift-inspired instrument-free instrumental was the result of combining boredom, Garageband for iPad and all the homemade percussion options offered by a B&B room in Utah.
