
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


This episode traces the language of sugar and sweetness, from the Arabic roots of the word sugar to the names of modern artificial sweeteners. Discover how accidents in the lab led to the discovery of saccharin, sucralose and aspartame, and how aspartame is linked to asparagus. Follow the shared origin of mead, the ancient honey-based drink, Miod, the Polish word for honey, and the name Maeve. Learn how syrup joined sugar in passing through Arabic into English and the likely origin behind the term 'sugar daddy'. Also covered are the etymologies of diabetes, glucose and insulin.
By Leon Bailey-Green4.5
1414 ratings
This episode traces the language of sugar and sweetness, from the Arabic roots of the word sugar to the names of modern artificial sweeteners. Discover how accidents in the lab led to the discovery of saccharin, sucralose and aspartame, and how aspartame is linked to asparagus. Follow the shared origin of mead, the ancient honey-based drink, Miod, the Polish word for honey, and the name Maeve. Learn how syrup joined sugar in passing through Arabic into English and the likely origin behind the term 'sugar daddy'. Also covered are the etymologies of diabetes, glucose and insulin.

78,411 Listeners

38,891 Listeners

25,841 Listeners

125 Listeners

228 Listeners

112,593 Listeners

56,575 Listeners

24,390 Listeners

1,405 Listeners

53 Listeners

2,133 Listeners

14,802 Listeners

2,817 Listeners

2,124 Listeners

871 Listeners