This podcast returns on May 10th 2026. A musician discovered Uranus, a Hollywood actress developed military technology, and a statesman invented bifocal glasses. Names such as Spencer, Marshall and Stewart trace their origins back to occupations. The son of Britain's first prime minister held a series of sinecures, roles that offered status and income for little or no work. 

Alongside these histories, this episode traces the origins of words such as dilettante, empleomania, gaffer, thrasonical, lucubrate and ambition. 

History Daily - https://www.historydaily.com 

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https://www.historytoday.com/archive/horace-walpole-gothick-man-letters/1000 

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/know-the-ropes.html 

To burke is to kill by strangulation, a word taken from the name of a 19th century murderer. In Anglo-Saxon England, a killing could be settled with payment through the wergild, a sum paid by the offender to the victim's family. In France, a petty criminal would go on to become one of the first figures to resemble a modern detective. 

Alongside these histories, this episode explores the origins of words such as assassin, scelerate, culprit, trucidate and lucre. 

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zvrsydm#zhxbcmn 

https://biomedical-sciences.ed.ac.uk/anatomy/anatomical-museum/collection/people/burke 

https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/eugene-francois-vidocq-and-the-birth-of-the-detective/ 

https://blog.oup.com/2015/08/word-etymology-culprit/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/04/11/local_heroes_doctor_william_palmer_feature.shtml 

This episode investigates obscure words for conversations about bizarre histories, considering their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words explored include diluvial, nundination, expetible, tripudiate, mucilaginous, delitescent and redhibition. 

Hear a collection of strange moments from the past, from a deadly latrine collapse in Erfurt to a speculative frenzy over tulips, a mysterious dancing outbreak, and a city flooded with molasses. 

Sources:
https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/erfurt-latrine-disaster-what-happened/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20160419-tulip-mania-the-flowers-that-cost-more-than-houses 

https://www.britannica.com/event/dancing-plague-of-1518 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/ 

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This podcast returns on April 12th 2026. This episode explores unusual words for conversations about chance, examining their origins and recognisable words from the same root. Words covered include incertitude, vicissitude, pari-mutuel, fortuity, aleatory and serendipity. 

Plus, hear how some public offices in ancient Greece were filled by lottery rather than election, reflecting a belief that randomness could serve as a safeguard against corruption. 


Sources: 
https://ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/decline.viii.xli.html 

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9105/9105-h/9105-h.htm 

https://blog.oup.com/2016/03/sortition-ancient-greece-democracy 

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This episode examines uncommon words for conversations about fixity, exploring their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words featured include intransigent, obdurate, adamantine, indelible, obstinate and irrevocable. 

Hear how a wartime survey of buildings at risk of bombing led to Britain's listed building system, granting certain structures legal protection designed to secure their permanence.  

Sources: 
https://grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/09/crying-over-spilled-milk.html 

https://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abeswlgbt.html 

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/targets-of-enemy-bombers-and-our-own-demolition-men-1598384.html 

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/about-the-list/ 

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This episode explores lesser known words that are useful in conversations about reputation, considering their origins and recognisable words from the same root. Words highlighted include perfidious, calumny, susurration, ignominy, opprobrium, obloquy and flagitious. 

Listen to the history of how a derailed train helped shape the beginnings of the modern public relations industry. 

Sources:  

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1857-08-18/debates/4642f51a-ffe6-4eee-a43e-9276e7fc81ac/CompensationForTheSufferersByTheIndianMutiny 

https://www.audible.com/blog/quotes-theodore-roosevelt 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qn-XatSQaA&t=404s 

https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/irish-legal-heritage-richard-pigott-and-the-forgeries-commission 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-history-spin-doctor 

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This episode investigates obscure words for discussions about error, tracing their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words examined include solecism, lapsus calami, amphibology, defalcation, misfeasance and mea culpa. 

Discover the mistaken beliefs that gave us the names West Indies, malaria and platinum. 

Sources: 

https://www.rd.com/article/malapropism-examples/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOU0eA03S2c 

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/quarterly-bulletin/2015/desperate-adventures-and-men-of-straw-the-failure-of-city-of-glasgow.pdf 

https://www.taylor-rose.co.uk/posts/misfeasance 

https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/library-archive-open-research-services/archives/sir-ronald-ross-collections 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anJKMZCVjxs 

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This episode considers unusual words for conversations about happiness, examining their origins and recognisable words from the same root. Words featured include gaiety, delectation, sangfroid, equanimity, ananda and rapturous. 

Hear the history of Jeremy Bentham's attempt to systematically assess pleasure and pain as a guide for moral action. 


Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/eudaimonia

https://blogs.library.mcgill.ca/osler-library/aequanimitas/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqfjUTqDGRw

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This episode gets into unusual words for conversations about eating, exploring their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words discussed include voracious, pantagruelian, temulent, alimentation, deglutition and abstemious. 

Plus, discover the history of how three daily meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, became the norm. 


Sources:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/caterpillar-mcmaster-1.5605825

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/gourmet-vs-gourmand-usage-difference

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1877-06-05/debates/119d4165-514d-4018-bd66-f6b96f695261/PrisonsBill%E2%80%94Bill121

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243692

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/28/breakfast-health-america-kellog-food-lifestyle

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/hard-chews-why-mastication-played-crucial-role-in-evolution/

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This podcast returns on February 22nd 2026. This episode examines lesser-known words for discussions about Precision, looking at their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words explored include punctilious, ad litteram, cavilling, facsimile, pettifogging and fastidious.

Find out when systems of measurement moved from regional variation to global uniformity.

Sources:
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/20686987-candelabra-selected-essays-and-addresses 

https://wordhistories.net/2018/02/04/scruple-origin/ 

https://kmbs.konicaminolta.us/blog/new-facts-about-fax-in-healthcare/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bUVjJWA6Vw 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51198666 

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