Butter No Parsnips

We might be long past the season, but Kyle and Emily still have a few jingle bells hangin’ around, and they’re using them to make sweet music as they discuss the word tintinnabulation. Kyle and Emily put words to sounds, finding just the right way to express the ring of a bell. Better yet, noted authors Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Dickens do the same. Our hosts also look at some historical and rit...

This episode comes in like a whisper on the wind, and gets Emily and Kyle talking about the sonically pleasing and linguistically intriguing word susurrus. Our hosts murmur about the word’s origins in Latin, as well as its satisfying sound as an onomatopoeia. Looking through the lens of some Roman poetry and English literature, they see how this word can describe all manner of noises, from rustlin...

Kyle lets Emily in on the true theatre kid experience, as they discuss French maids, Italian sopranos, and the history of the word soubrette. Our hosts reveal how an Occitan word for a servant came to refer to an iconic stock character as common as the Harlequin. From Italian Commedia dell’Arte, to French opera, to Shakespeare, to 1950s farces… the soubrette makes her presence known on every stage...

Emily delights Kyle’s ears with a serenade of the very worst kind, as this episode parades through the history of the word charivari. Our hosts begin with this word’s origins in Greek, and a bothersome inconsistency of spelling and pronunciation. But that’s not the only headache of the day--because this wedding tradition hinges noise making. It’s a party that’s enjoyed by everyone in town! …Except...

Seth, Emily, and Kyle decide that, this holiday season, they want to keep it simple. Well, not in terms of episode length. But don’t let that scare you off! Our hosts are dashing through some fascinating language history, laughing all the way! Seth starts us off with a word of uncertain spelling. The competition between decalogue and decalog launches Kyle and Emily into a journey through phonics a...

Med students, pull out your flashcards! Kyle and Emily are crafting a delicate weave of medical terms, biological networks, and the word retiform. Our hosts discuss how the usage of the word retiform is a bit extended from its etymological roots. Emily does her best to recall the anatomy of the eye, and Kyle takes us through all manner of nets and networks that appear in biology. But it’s not all...

Emily and Kyle roll the dice and try out some good old fashioned games of chance. If they play their cards right, they just might learn the history of the word bunco. The word arrived at the intersection of a card game and a dice game, both of which involved betting against a bank like in Blackjack or Roulette. However, you might not want to take your chances at these gambling games, as there’s a...

Kyle and Emily have been caught red handed! This week they’re exploring crime and punishment of the most Medieval kind, as they discuss the meaning and origin of infangthief. They begin with the origins of this criminal word--which, if you’re wondering, IS related to fangs… a little. But the thief relation is a little more concrete, as this word pulls our hosts deep into Medieval history and feuda...

Get ready to shine your fender and groom your horses, because this week Emily and Kyle are talking all things brougham, a car and carriage for those looking to travel in style. Our hosts explore the history of a carriage so iconic in Victorian London that it can be seen in the works of Charles Dickens, the world of Sherlock Holmes, and more. They talk about a host of other horse-drawn carriages as...

This week, Kyle and Emily get lean and green, or perhaps lean and mean! They discuss the meaning and origin of the word macritude, and it leads them into a classic culinary rivalry. Kyle begins with the origins of this obscure word, in language and in medicine. But he soon pivots to macritude’s much juicier usage in the age-old rivalry between the Brits and the French. Our hosts explore the divide...

Emily and Kyle take a trip up north and discuss a surprisingly versatile and incredibly useful word, dree. As per usual, it’s the little words that pack a punch! Our hosts discuss the Germanic origins of the Scots language, and the connection between Norse history and a word often only heard in Scotland, Yorkshire, and Northern Ireland. But Emily and Kyle agree that dree, and its linguistic partne...

It’s teatime for Kyle and Emily! But today they’ve decided to ditch the modern day kettle and instead do things the old fashioned way, as they explore the history of the samovar. Kyle teaches Emily about an ingenious device for boiling water--one which has been well used by Russian tea lovers for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Our hosts discuss the special place tea has in the history and c...

Get ready for some spooky scary skeleton action, because this week Emily and Kyle have a bone to pick with the word charnel. Our hosts discuss why the average grave in a Medieval graveyard might not be as old as you’d assume, and explore what happens when a church has more skulls and bones than they know what to do with. Kyle might be shocked and appalled at this space efficient alternative to bur...

Kyle and Emily get grave this week, discussing what might become of them after they have shuffled off this mortal coil, and digging into the history of the word mortsafe. This Victorian invention has our hosts asking a delightfully macabre question: Do we need to keep the living safe from the dead… or the dead safe from the living? Turns out Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was more a product of its ti...

This week, Emily and Kyle are joined by Amy Vorpahl , a Dungeons and Dragons pro you might recognize from Critical Role, D20, and the recently released Goblin Mode ! Amy and Kyle are guided by their DM Emily on an adventure into the magical world of thaumaturgy. Thaumaturgy might be familiar to the DnD players out there, but the history of the thaumaturge goes all the way through Ancient Greece, M...

There’s something in the air this week on Butter No Parsnips… and it just might be toxic. Kyle and Emily strap on their beaked masks and dive into the history of the word miasma. The roots of the word lie not just in a literal cloud of vapor, but also in the noxious atmosphere of shame and moral pollution. It turns out that even the most famous physicians like Hippocrates and Galen thought disease...

Emily and Kyle discuss the quality of what, this, that, and the other thing as they explore the confusing but useful word, quiddity. Our hosts dive into the nitty gritties of metaphysics philosophy from both Ancient Greece and Medieval Europe. Reality starts to unravel as Kyle and Emily talk about the works of Aristotle, the essence of an individual, and the nature of being. In addition to this wo...

Kyle and Emily take a ride to the Aegean Sea and Ancient Greece, exploring the divine and danger-filled history of the word aegis. Our hosts run through a number of uses for this word, encompassing not just a literal shield but figurative protection, guidance, support, and endorsement. Aegis may have come from some strange cross-section of goats and storms… But the real meat and potatoes of this e...

This episode goes out to anyone who’s calling out from work when they weren’t quite as sick as they implied, as this week Emily and Kyle chat all about the word malinger. Emily starts by diving into this word’s French roots, which once described actual sickly people–and even, perhaps, the MOST sickly person. But this word came to be more associated with fake illness and injury–and not always just...

Ever wondered if your name could influence your destiny? Kyle and Emily have, and this deep question brings them to the hilarious world of aptronyms. In this episode, our hosts explore the inception of the aptronym and delve into the theory's deeper implications, touching on ideas from Carl Jung's Synchronicity, to concepts like nominative determinism and implicit egotism. The duo discusse...

This week, Emily and Kyle thoroughly roast each other. But don’t worry; it’s all in good fun. And it’s the perfect segue to chatting about the Aussie and Kiwi slang word, borak! Our hosts look at some of the many Aboriginal languages of Australia, most notably one from the Melbourne area called Wadawurrung. They talk about the impact that colonialism had on Australian languages, and the ways borat...

Our apologies on the lack of video this week, we made a mistake during recording and forgot to record video! Kyle and Emily address a question that has haunted romantic partners for years--but this divisive worm conversation leads them to a much more fruitful discussion on the word fissiparous. Lovers of zoology, biology, and even microbiology, this is the episode for you. Our hosts discuss everyt...

Our apologies on the lack of video this week, we made a mistake during recording and forgot to record video! Emily and Kyle square up for an Alexander Hamilton style duel, but trade their pistols for fencing swords as they discuss the meaning and origin of the word spadassinicide. Our hosts begin by diving into the word spadassin, its history in French and Italian, and its relation to sword fighte...

Watch out, because this week Kyle and Emily are flying the not-so-friendly skies! They explore WW2 history, RAF slang, and the versatile meanings of the word prang. Kyle gives everyone a refresher on WWII, and the airborne showdown between UK’s Royal Air Force and Germany’s Air Force, the Luftwaffe. With the threat of an airplane crash ever looming, pilots of the time lightened the mood with niche...

Emily and Kyle talk about the etiquette of entertaining, the traditions of travel, and the xenophilic history of xenial. You might recognize this word from the FENIX Trophy acronym or from the city of Xenia, Ohio. But, in fact, xenial goes all the way back to Ancient Greece! Emily and Kyle learn about, how to be the best host and guest, the precise rules of Greek hospitality, and how this can make...