Getting Down & Wordy

It’s the mother of all “etymology-of-mother” podcasts, just in time to be a month late for Mother’s Day! Why? Because this ain’t your mother’s mother— it’s a Pride Month special! We’re talking ballroom, queer inventors, motherfucks and mother liquors! Maybe if you’re good, we’ll even teach you about our favorite English lenitions! -- Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdown...

Code Pod! Code Pod! You can stop scrolling— we’ve gone on an (academic-coded) deep dive on the surprising history behind your 20 year old niece’s new favorite way to drag your butt! (Not YET sponsored by Code Red soda, but we’re working on it!) Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the...

Happy birthday, Gemini! This one is all about you! It’s also about the language of twins, stars, twin stars and the worst people for dating! This one’s a real Gem, and I(‘m there too!) - Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s prom...

Oh wheeeeere do these words come from? We’re reaching all the way back into our early CGI childhoods for a fruitful etymology topic: vegetables! Where do they come from? Why do we call them that? Where are their legs? We don’t have all the answers-— only the bible does— but we’ve got a lot to chew on! Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at getting...

What are the odds our “bet” etymology episode comes out the same week as our indictments for insider trading on Kalshi? Well, according to Kalshi, it’s— wait, our lawyers said we can’t say that. Instead, how about we talk about one of America’s favorite timeless classics (The Devil Went Down to Georgia,) and another one of America’s favorite timeless classics (gambling)!-- Find us on instagram her...

Wait just one sloppy second! Are you telling me words like “slop” have been grossing us out since before AI? Yuck! And also cool- etymology can be both! Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Haunted Tales. Fin...

Sorry, did you wait long? Our sincere apologies! We’ve got another biweekly etymology infodump for you, and it’s all about the delicate language of “Sorry.” Why do we say it? What makes a good one? And why did men in the aughts suck at them so bad? Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for...

Oy, Mista! Do you even know why we call you that, or is it still a Mr. E? Today, we’re gonna learn all about the most generic honorifics in English! And, why not— let’s throw some LDS musicians, early bloomers and generational formality in the Mx! Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for...

Mm, smell that? We’re cooking up a storm in the etymology kitchen, and PIE (Proto-Indo European!) is on the menu! We’re also serving a Hiram roast and piping hot internet takes, so come hungry and bring a Tupperware— we made a LOT! Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our t...

Glad everyone’s finally stopped talking about KPop Demon Hunters? TOO BAD! Because we loved it and we wanna talk about fandom culture, Hallyu and keeping your mystery father out of your dating pool! Then, we’re gonna bring our journey full circle: the podcast formally known as Pop Etymology will do the etymology of pop. And you just won’t BELIEVE how dumb American names for soda can get! - Find us...

Well, it is Valentine’s Day and it’s time to get all our gooner etymology out of the way at the same time. Let’s all be grownups about this, because we also have to squeeze in roasting Celine Dion’s Boss-Husband, taking a trip to the moon and figuring out which TV ladies are the goonerest coded! Is this a topic two asexual nerds are qualified to speak to? Who can say? But did we irreparably damage...

Shalom, and welcome to our American Jewish English episode! We’ve got your AI bat mitzvah playlists! We’ve got your diasporic language evolution! We’ve got the absolutely final word on the origins of “break a leg!” Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s...

Chat, is this real? A whole episode on the word “chat” by your favorite smatterers? And along the way, we’ll yadda yadda about blahblah, and give a little shout out to all the bug enthusiasts that accidentally clicked on an etymology podcast- we see you, and half of us agree that bugs are cool! Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownand...

Yes, sir, we’re back again with another annual celebration of centennial music! This year, we’re talking about 1925’s smash hit, Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby, by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson, as well as the honorifics “sir” and “ma’am.” Along the way, we’ll discuss the world of 1925, the social dynamics of English language honorifics and the most polite ways to call people old across the world! You’r...

So long! Farewell! Bye bye! Okay, now come back- today, we’re discussing the art of the goodbye, the inventor of the Jell-O shot and the lost art of satire! Later, we’ll have a funeral for words based on obsolete technologies- so we’d better not catch you rewinding anymore! Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge...

We're talking about the Lizzo and Cardi B song "Rumors", the context around the song, and a quick rundown of who Cardi B and Lizzo are and their history of rumors and scandals. Then we talk about "lock in", an old phrase but somewhat reinvented in the culture with new meanings. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at getting...

This week we discuss a Connie Francis song that recently went viral on Tiktok, and Connie's other claims to faim, including the first 60s beach party movie and popularizing the song that became our theme song! And we talk about all our baby animal words - cub, calf, puppy, kitten, chick, etc.! Wherer did they come from? How is a baby cat a kitten but a baby lion a cub? And other such questions...

This week we're talking about Billie Eilish's hit "Bad Guy", along with finally getting around to giving a short bio of Eilish, our first 3 time featured artist, and why not, she is in many ways the most successful zoomer pop artist. And we talk about guy, its usage and origins before and since the Guy Fawkes plot. And we discuss the similarities in the now growing usage of Luigi...

Happy halloween polterguys and ghouls. We're talking about vampires, the kings of halloween monsters, so we're talking about the king of contemporary pop songs in my humble opinion, "Vampire" by Olivia Rodrigo. In the course of talking about that, we'll talk a bit about monster fuckers and Chuck Tingle. And of course we'll talk about the etymology of the word vampire, and...

We discuss Calvin Harris's hit "Feels" featuring Katy Perry, Pharrell, and Big Sean, and the casual pill popping culture it reflects. And we discuss the etymology of pill, the history of pills, and the modern rise of being pilled - red-pilled, black-pilled, and ______-pilled, in which someone can be anything-pilled, describing a thing that they've recently gotten into or come aro...

We discuss the Jonas Brothers, their wives, and the etymology and evolution of everyone's favorite food, pizza. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at gettingdownandwordy@gmail.com Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Brutal Bizarre and Boozy. Find them anywhere you get po...

We're talking about the current US administration's war on science through an effective word ban on words in research projects related to "woke" topics such as trans, climate change, autism, and even words like trauma, bias, and woman, such that if they appear in your research article, your government funding gets cut. And to do so, of course we're talking about Radiohead&#39...

Are you afraid of no ghost in August? We talk boo, the word that is the thing ghosts say for some reason, and the thing we say to show disapproval, and a word for romantic partners, among many other uses! Plus, gemination and reduplication. And we talk Paul Russell's feel good hit, "Lil Boo Thang". In Eurovision talk, we discuss Poland's 2025 entry "Gaja" by Justyna Ste...

We talk about the mysterious meaning of Kelis's milkshake, and what else she's done, from her pentecostal upbringing to her transition into the culinary world. And we discuss milk, the origin of the word, other animals' non-breast-originating baby nourishments which are called milk, and the controversy around calling non-dairy beverages milk, such as almond milk and oat milk. In Eurovi...

Today we talk about a couple of Getting Down & Wordy veterans, Rose from Black Pink and Bruno Mars. We talk about the meaning of APT in Korea, English loan words in Korean, and our differing opinions of the song. In the etymology portion, we discuss the origin of various housing words including apartment, house, home, and rent. For Eurovision, we discuss Estonia's Tommy Cash and his song &...