Words for Granted - An etymology and linguistics podcast
Episodes
Episode 30: Days of the Week (General Overview)
05 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The days of the week are part of the core vocabulary of any language. In English, their etymologies are rooted in ancient pagan mythologies. In this e...
Episode 29: How Does a Single Root Word Produce So Many Derivatives?
13 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Latin verb, secare, meaning 'to cut,' has produced English derivatives such as 'section,' 'sector,' and 'insect,' among others. One root word, man...
Episode 28: Scene
29 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The word scene has always had close ties to the theater, but it did not always refer to 'subdivisions within in a play.' The meaning of the original G...
Episode 27: Comedy
15 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today, 'comedy' is a genre of entertainment that makes us laugh. However, this was not always the case. The word derives from a Greek compound that mo...
Episode 26: Tragedy
21 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The word 'tragedy' is rooted in ancient Greek theater. It's a dramatic form that stills exists today, but what's the word's etymology? Is it connected...
Episode 25: Tyrant
07 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The word 'tyrant' is steeped in the political history of Ancient Greece. However, it didn't always refer to cruel rulers. Originally, a 'tyrant' was a...
Episode 24: Ethnic Suffixes (-an, -ian, -ean, -ish, -ese, -i)
25 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
English uses many different suffixes to indicate ethnicities. Each suffix entered the language independently, and each suffix has a story to tell. Thi...
Episode 23: Filibuster
10 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode looks at the evolution of the modern sense of the word filibuster. Borrowed from a Dutch word meaning 'pirate,' 'filibuster' originall...
Episode 22: Candidate
23 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we explore the origins of the word 'candidate.' It derives from candidus, the Latin word for 'white,' which describes the typical att...
Episode 21: Inauguration
12 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The presidential inauguration is a tradition inherited from Ancient Rome. The word 'inauguration' is rooted in augury, the Ancient Roman practice of i...
Episode 20: Letter C
27 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The letter C has split personalities. Sometimes it has a hard K sound, and sometimes it has a soft S sound. Sometimes it's a part of letter combinatio...
Episode 19: Tea
15 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Words for 'tea' in languages around the world fall into one of two etymological categories: te-derived and cha-derived. Both are ultimately derived fr...
Episode 18: Culture
04 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
According to literary critic Raymond Williams, culture is 'one of two or three most complicated words in the English language.' Today's narrative trac...
Episode 17: Two
21 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The spelling of the word 'two' is un-phonetic. Today's episode explores the origins of its silent W and the circumstances that eroded its pronunciatio...
Episode 16: Cologne
10 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Men's perfume known as cologne takes its name from the German city in which it was invented. But if Cologne is a German city, why does the perfume nam...
Episode 15: Sinister
26 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode explores the etymological and cultural connections between the words 'sinister' and 'left,' as in, 'left-handed.' In the world of Anci...
Episode 14: Calqued Words
11 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Calques are words or phrases whose meanings have been literally translated from one language into another, aka 'loan translations.' Words such as flea...
Episode 13: Beg the Question
09 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
What is the 'true' meaning of the expression 'to beg the question?' Well, it depends on what you mean by true. Today, 'to beg the question' is often u...
Episode 12: Ostracize
08 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The word ostracism can be traced back to Ancient Athens. For the Ancient Athenians, ostracism was not a sociological phenomenon, but an electoral vote...
Episode 11: Amateur
08 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The professional/amateur dichotomy portrays amateurs as inept and inexperienced, but amateurs haven't always had a bad name. In fact, 'amateur' derive...
Episode 9 (Bonus Episode): Mouse (and Why Its Plural Form Is "Mice")
07 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we look at the etymology of mouse, but really, it's a springboard into a far more complicated topic: the word "mice," its irregul...
Episode 8: Cellular
26 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The English language uses the word 'cell' in a handful of contexts. We have prison cells, brain cells, battery cells, and of course, cell phones. At f...
Episode 7: Digital
14 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode begins a short mini-series that explores the origins of technology-themed words. Although digital technology didn't permeat...
Episode 6: Comfort
05 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The word 'comfort' once described the spiritual consolation given by God to an individual. Today, it describes commercialized products like air condit...
Episode 5: Meat
23 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The word 'meat' once referred to all forms of solid food, not just animal flesh. In today's episode, we explore the ambiguities of the word 'meat' as ...
Episode 4 (Bonus Episode): Polysemous Words
08 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This episode explores polysemy, the phenomenon by which a single word can have multiple meanings. Why do we use the word 'foot' in the compound word '...
Episode 3: Weird
26 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode looks at the Old English sense of the word wyrd. Originally, it wasn't an adjective, but a noun that's commonly translated into Modern...
Episode 2: Nice
10 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
'Nice' has gone through more changes than almost any other word in the English language. Over the course of seven centuries, it has been used to mean ...
Episode 1: Villain
10 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Words for Granted! In this debut episode, we'll be looking at how villanus, the Latin word for 'farmworker,' became the Modern English word...