Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Butter No Parsnips
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Butter No Parsnips
By Butter No ParsnipsComedy
Butter No Parsnips episodes
- 94. Umquhile
This week, Emily stumps Kyle with a word whose spelling and pronunciation defy all expectations… umquhile.
Emily reveals umquhile’s many definitions, including everything from “late” to “sometimes” to “eventually.” She keeps Kyle in suspense about the word’s spelling for a while, starting with a dive into the um- prefix and its use in British mythology.
After a brief quest with a knight from King Arthur’s court, and several former synonyms for “surround,” at last the question of umquhile’s pronunciation is addressed. This leads our hosts to discuss linguistics, Scottish history, and the American Southern drawl.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us!
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
31 min - 93. Vlei
Kyle and Emily trek around the world, and through the wetlands, as they wade into the history of the word vlei.
Our hosts begin with this word’s journey through valleys in the Netherlands and swamps in South Africa. They talk about some of the impacts of Dutch colonialism, and the formation of the South African language Afrikaans.
Kyle spins beautiful tales about places where there’s a lake for half the year and a desert the other half. But his stories don’t only cover the geography of Africa. Kyle also takes Emily across the sea to New York, discussing some Dutch influence in the Hudson Valley and beyond.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
37 min - 92. Dunsel
Emily takes Kyle from the ocean to the sky this week with the seafaring (and spacefaring) word dunsel.
With three potential etymologies, the duo takes a brief stay in a Dutch origin before expanding ever outward to those glorious and historical ships of yore, paintings of which have left viewers with eternal questions such as, “What do all those sails even do?” Which lead to completely indecipherable answers like “main’sle” and “top’sle” and “foc’s’le”, and more still.
Ever upward, Emily takes to the stars with a surprisingly science fiction origin. We get television writing, we get Ray Bradbury, heck, we even get Emily doing one of the best known Spock impressions ever done in the history of podcasting. From nautical to Nemoy, this word is an enormously adventurous one for how it’s defined
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
35 min - 91. Fomite
Kyle grabs the doorknob with his tongue this week to let Emily into the world of the word fomite.
And if you’re still around after reading that sentence, then you’ll have no fear of what follows as Kyle decides to plunge us all head first into the subject of disease transmission. Not before, of course, introducing us to that household name Girolamo Fracastoro who was among the first to fathom the concept of transmission in any modern way.
Fomite brings us from atomism to the early days of germ theory to the recent pandemic (or epidemic for the more colloquial type). And while you might hope the disease talk is over, Kyle makes sure Emily is good and ill by the time he’s wrapping up by touching on infections, syphilis, and worst of all, back-formations.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
39 min - PATREON UNLOCKED - Butter'd Parsnips, ep. 18: "The 'Blog' of 'Unnecessary' Quotation Marks"
Kyle and Emily are taken on another journey through some misused and abused punctuation—this time with a particularly Y2K bent. They sit down with the founder of the “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks Bethany Keeley-Jonker to discuss blogging, the internet of the aughts, and quotation marks used for emphasis(?)
From the quilt of niche blogs stitched together with subjects such as the use of lower-L’s in all caps text to those websites which still have a place in our dial-up hearts, the 00’s gave us some of the most earnest fun you could find on the still fairly nascent World Wide Web.
Keeley-Jonker also presents some theories as to where these blogs have gone, social media’s role in it all, and most importantly, why people still use quotations marks that way! So join the Butter’d gang again on yet another superscript adventure!
This is a special look at the Patreon exclusive podcast Butter’d Parsnips available on our Patreon at www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips. For just $5 a month, you gain access to our entire backlog as well as a bunch of other fun perks.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us!
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
43 min - 90. Roup
Emily calls out to Kyle like a songbird this week to introduce him to the amply avian word roup.
Soaring through the word’s Scottish and English uses, Emily shows Kyle the “roups”. From those simple nothing phrases upon which we force alliteration to roup’s somewhat mysterious origins, Kyle discovers just what kind of grave difference the definite article can make.
Emily takes us briefly down memory lane revealing another of roup’s definitions to be synonymous with a word covered early in Butter No Parsnips’ history. And inviting us all to listen as Kyle reveals an alarming knowledge of Storage Wars, Emily introduces us to the relationship between this seemingly unheard of word and the world of auctions.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
32 min - 89. Wug w/ Jean Berko Gleason
This week, Kyle and Emily sit down with renowned psycholinguist Jean Berko Gleason to talk about wugs, wuggies, zibmen, and what they mean for child psychology.
They discuss the Wug Test, and what it can tell us about how a child, toddler, or even baby progresses in language development. They talk about what this test has meant for early childhood education and our understanding of early learning and child development.
But this episode isn’t all about baby talk and learning English. They also talk about the psychology of language learning and native versus non native languages. And, of course, it wouldn’t be Butter No Parsnips if we didn’t chat about etymology and linguistics.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us!
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
53 min - 88. Ylem
Emily and Kyle answer the biggest questions of the cosmos, as they discuss the meaning and origin of the word ylem.
Our hosts talk about how this word relates to matter and the elements, both in the works of Aristotle and other ancient thinkers, and in the Periodic Table. They chat about some quirks of grammar and pronunciation, but then they dig into the real cosmic center of this episode.
Always excited to talk astronomy, Emily and Kyle head back to the earliest thoughts on the Big Bang. Long before Stephen Hawking contributed to the Big Bang Theory, there was Lemaitre and Hubble and several others. And ylem, it turns out, might just have been the most important substance in the creation of the universe.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
33 min - 87. Macadam
Pack your bags and grab some snacks, because this week Kyle and Emily are going on a literal road trip through the meaning and origin of the word macadam.
This eponym leads our hosts back to the life of one John McAdam, a man involved with Long Island history, the American Revolution, the Scottish highway system, and most of all civil engineering. Kyle and Emily reveal how McAdam paved the way (pun intended) for modern asphalt.
They discuss McAdam’s major innovations in road building, such as using a camber, decreasing the need for maintenance, making a smooth ride for the increasing number of carriages on the road. Kyle tells Emily about how the name McAdam became synonymous with well laid roads, and can even still be seen on the airport tarmac.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us!
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
35 min - 86. Cumshaw
Looking for some gift ideas to say thank you to your delivery person? You’re in luck, cause this week Emily and Kyle are discussing the meaning and origin of the word cumshaw.
Our hosts spend some time getting to know Hokkien, a Chinese language variety from the area around Xiamen. They chat about what makes this variety different from others like Mandarin and Cantonese, and its beginnings as a trade language in the South China Sea.
They then dive into how this Chinese word of thanks came to English through a sailing context. Emily and Kyle dive into the history of trade in Chinese ports like Guangzhou. They discuss the importance of giving your ship captain a little gift, especially if they’re carrying something less than legal. And they also mention this word’s more modern usage in the U.S. Navy!
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us!
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore
34 min
About Butter No Parsnips
From the publisher's feed
Every week on Butter No Parsnips, your hosts Emily Moyers and Kyle Imperatore take you on an adventure through the weird, wacky, wonderful, and sometimes wicked history of one wayside word. Strange…
characters, delightful bits, and general joyousness abound, join them as they test each other's etymological expertise!