Word Wrangling with Terry Victor

Was it a technical glitch or did the metronomic ticking that underpinned the original posting of this episode serve as an ironic reminder that time is relentless whatever we may say? Either way, it was bloody annoying so I apologise for my sloppy editing. Thank you Tony Thorne for letting me know.

So, here we go again...

Word Wrangling is my weekly podcast that takes an idiosyncratic peek at the ways we use the English language, and how it got to be what it is in the first place. The weekly wordview this week is looking at the days of the week. Not just how the days came to be named but some of the things - good and bad -  that we do day-by-day..

This episode is Word Wrangling #45. It has been prepared in real and measurable time.  Composition started on a Monday; the Tuesday bit was written on Tuesday; Wednesday for Wednesday; and so on.  A week in a week.  And what a week it was.

When I started writing it was Monday and I knew I would publish on Wednesday week.  Here we are.

Also, there's an uncredited voice in this week's episode. It's my wife; she gets a mention on Tuesday. 

Cheers,

Terry

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

 Perhaps unsurprisingly, politicians are the shock troopers of the lying arts. This episode is all about liars and the vocabulary we have to call them out.

Features four prime ministers (you'll never guess who...) a dead cat, an overweight schoolboy and a marionette with a dream.

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

A short,  sharp  cry from the crypt of lexicography as a twisted Word Wrangling crawls up from the dungeons of Terry Victor's grammar nightmares.

Warning: contains hanging prepositions and some split'n'skewered infinitives.

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

Trying to measure a collection of words against the Oxford English Dictionary - and coming up short.

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

Bureaucracy was born in fire...

 How bureaucracy survived to become the word it is today is a proper word wrangling adventure.  Warning: contains traces of donkeys, jobsworths and red tape.

 Based on the inspiration of a truly faceless bureaucrat, I've kept this one short and sharp.

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

Every so often fresh vocal comes along to enliven the rhyming slang lexicon.  These may or may not be those words. Why not try them on for size. 

From Adam Hills to Zayn Malik.  Some words to save your lives, others that are a bit rude. If you like them, use them.

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

In the first episode of this two part exploration of the slang meanings of given names I had a look at the things boys get called. This is part two: more compact and way more drug-fuelled.  This is the secret life of girls names..

Much of the naughtiness of these two particular podcasts is based in rhyming slang. The Dictionary of English Rhyming Slangs is a fine resource. Honestly, it is the greatest collection of rhyming slang that has ever been gathered together in a single book (2 volumes in paperback). I should know. I am proud to tell you that I am  one of the two co-compilers who got it together and brought it into the light.

So, bragging rights aside, back to the podcast. You'll find lots of  things  that you wouldn't wish on your girl child  when you listen to Word Wrangling: What's in a Girl's Name? 

Prepare to be shocked. 

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

When new parents settle on their baby's name very little attention is paid to the wider range of meanings. Often, the extra meaning carried by a familiar name is not the sort of things you would wish your offspring to be associated with...

This is part one of a two part Word Wrangling – the girls are in the next episode.

Much of the naughtiness of these particular podcasts is based in rhyming slang. The Dictionary of English Rhyming Slangs is a fine resource. Honestly, it is the greatest collection of rhyming slang that has ever been gathered together in a single book (2 volumes in paperback). I should know. I am proud to tell you that I am  one of the two co-compilers who got it together and brought it into the light.

So, bragging rights aside, back to the podcast. You'll find lots of those things  that you wouldn't wish on your boy child  when you listen to Word Wrangling: What's in a Boy's Name? 

Prepare to be shocked. 

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

Some words don't pop up in everyday conversation - and that's their power. Prolixity to the people! Not. But if you can pull out the right word from the right vocabulary at the right time...

In this episode of the Word Wrangling podcast I challenge myself on  the multi-poly-syllabic sesquipedalian assault course, trip over my tongue and try to keep my dignity. 

All in all, this is quite a short episode considering the length of some of the words that get wrangled.  And mangled.

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.

The hairdresser asked: are you going anywhere for your holidays? The last thing this pandemic needs is irony. So, in this episode I am trying to wrangle my hairy vocabulary into a tidy style. From bob, buzz and  mullet to mohicans and more.  Many more.

Word Wrangling is an independent production. We are always on the lookout for new ways with words. If you have any thoughts please get in touch.