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The Allusionist

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A PODCAST ABOUT LANGUAGE
BY HELEN ZALTZMAN

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The Allusionist

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Allusionist 225. Hues transcript

April 14, 2026 The Allusionist
a boggle grid spelling out the word 'hues'

KORY STAMPER: How do you describe colour in a consistent way without a visual aid? So no colour chips, no paintings – how do you describe colour in a way that makes sense to everybody who hears you describe it, so that all of you are picturing the same colour at the same time? And that seems simple, and is actually really terrible. It is an eternal quest.

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In transcript Tags Kory Stamper, lexicography, lexicon, lexicographers, dictionaries, dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Webster’s Third, definitions, defining, semantics, science, colours, color, pigment, Shakespeare, pompadour, purple, Germany, USA, World War One, WW1, WW2, World War Two, First World War, Second World War, McCarthyism, Samuel Johnson, research, technology, dye, dyestuffs, weapons, consumer psychology, marketing, primary colours, Homer, Odyssey, government, subjectivity, objectivity, Brent Berlin, Paul Kay, Sapir-Whorf, linguistic relativity, imago, puke
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Featured
Allusionist 225. Hues
Allusionist 225. Hues
Allusionist 224. Cosmic Hairball
Allusionist 224. Cosmic Hairball
Allusionist 223. Bonus 2025
Allusionist 223. Bonus 2025
Allusionist 222. A Christmas Carol
Allusionist 222. A Christmas Carol
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
Creative Commons Licence
The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.