Something Rhymes with Purple

Love is in the air(waves) as Susie and Gyles get to the heart of the many different types of love in their special Valentine’s day episode on Something Rhymes with Purple.  Susie and Gyles will explore what the cabbage has to do with reviving romance in Italy (hint: ‘cavoli riscaldiati’), how feeling a touch lusty in the spring has its own word, as well as a call out to the Purple People for a wor...

We are diving beneath the surface today as we undress all the words related to your Undergarments at our live show at the Fortune Theatre.  Come learn how your undergarments are linked to garnish, why the bra used to be exclusively worn by men, what your stockings have in common with a murderous medieval contraption and which style of underwear is connected to the violin.  Susie will keep us in su...

We have reached 200! That’s 200 episodes of Something Rhymes with Purple consisting of topics such as Drinking, Theatre, Death, Hair, Biscuits, School, Sex, Board Games, Fish, Cricket, Water Vessels.. The list is 200 items long!  To celebrate our 200th birthday, Susie and Gyles will dedicate it to the Purple People and spend the episode riffling through the dictionary as they seek to find the perf...

We are on the 4th leg of our North America road trip where we are visiting Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Susie and Gyles will take us to the meadows of Las Vegas and the snowy capped mountains of Nevada before we hit the casinos and Gyles reveals he has a booking at a church in Las Vegas ready and waiting for him. We’ll continue on to Queen Calafia’s California to visit San Francisco...

Discover how Tailors and Tagliatelle pasta are connected, why a large nail gave its name to the technique of ‘tacking’ and the treacherous origin story of the sewing machine. It’s going to be a *Singer* of an episode today as Susie and Gyles stitch, hem and thread their way through the world of sewing where all is not as it seams…  We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and...

As a lover of words, we know you’ll be a lover of this comedy podcast all about story telling… Omid tells his story to Abi. Abi tells Omid’s story to Sean, then Sean to Kai, Kai to Sikisa and Sikisa to Helen… each time with hilarious misrememberings, improvisations, stumbles, fumbles and laughs. Six comedians have a funny story to tell. Can they pass the story along the chain without completely tw...

Susie and Gyles are guiding us out of etymological darkness as they the light way to better understanding the world of light!  We’ll have many light bulb moments as we discover how extortion and contortion are twisted into the intriguing language of torches, what’s hiding in the sconce and why candles are candid.  Gyles shares his schoolboy days as a lighting technician of sorts whilst Susie conti...

It’s a smokin’ hot episode today people as we delve into the world of Smoking.  We’ll run into Colombos, Hamlet and Charles Dickens as we uncover why we have pipe dreams, why stogie cigars are linked to wagons, how pipes and musical instruments are connected and that the original meaning of blowing smoke up someone’s arse is very different from today’s..  Susie will make sure our understanding of...

Recorded live at the Fortune Theatre on Sunday 20th November 2022.  Tis’ that peculiar time between Christmas and New Year when we might find ourselves overindulging and spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Therefore, Susie and Gyles are here to make you feel that little bit more informed about the methods of cooking that have come to create that mince pie you might be eating whilst you get your...

Come discover what the $10 note might have to do with Dixieland, why the city of Orleans was ‘made new’ and what ‘Mile High Ice Cream Pie’ is as we arrive at the city of New Orleans for our 3rd stop on our North America road trip.  Susie and Gyles explore the food, the language and the Jazz Culture of one of Gyles’ favourite places in the world and he makes sure that Susie has put the city of New...

It’s a knit and natter kind of episode today Purple People, as we unravel the words and phrases that are woven throughout the world of knitting.  We’ll unstitch the mystery of what frogs have to do with knitting mistakes, how a lawyer’s wig pulled the wool over our eyes, what stitches and sticks have in common and Susie advises Gyles to avoid knitted underwear as she is certain it will cause him s...

It’s the real deal today Purple People as we enter the palace courtesy of Tour Guide Gyles for a Royal episode. Come discover why Sovereign is ‘super’, how the King was a family man, why real tennis isn’t royal at all and how elevation was the key to prominence in the monarchy.    Gyles seems in need of a pizza delivery service during our correspondence section thanks to Purple Person, Quentin Lot...

It’s a chock-a-block episode today as we dive into the chocolate box to discover how our favourite fillings got their names. We’ll hear the ‘sweet’ story that gave us the Praline, what a horse's lower jaw and Ganache have in common and why the strong smelling fungus and the lovely truffle filling are etymological twins. Susie takes us back to university in search for the origin of being ’Toffee no...

Come discover which Italian explorer gave his name to the continent of America, why Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love and why you “Take the T” when in Boston as we travel down the East Coast of America. Susie shares further adventures from her time in Princeton and Gyles gives us a healthy dose of name-drops with an American flavour. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on T...

Discover what your hands have to do with manners, how the typesetters minded their p’s and q’s, why Gyles wasn’t allowed to issue the Royal Pardon and why some greetings comes at face value.    Today, Susie and Gyles will be dissecting the language of formalities and etiquette where we will be taking a trip to court, making a few phone calls and wassailing throughout the evening.    Toodle Pip, Ci...

Recorded live at the Oxford Playhouse on Sunday 9th October 2021.   Gyles and Susie explore the wordy world of Universities as they return to their University home of Oxford.    Come discover what seminars have in common with semen, how gold tassels gave us the term ’Toff’, why the mortarboard and the pestle & mortar are linked and Susie shares the ultimate excuse for bunking off class early to go...

It’s a spooky one for you Purple People as we transcend to the world of the supernatural for an etymological seance with ghosts and poltergeists.    Discover what blazing fires and the ethereal have in common, why we climb to 7th heaven and why the mystics are so close to their secrets.  Susie will tell us why our faulty applicants give up the ghost and Gyles shares a story that packs a punch..of...

This is one for your sweet tooth (or is it sweet teeth?!) because we are heading to the pick’n’mix store for some sweet talk from Susie and Gyles.   We’ll discover the link between bread and pastilles, what gyles’ favourite word lallygagging and lollipops have in common and what festivity the candy cane has to thank for its distinctive shape.   Susie will hit the sweet spot each time as she gives...

Time to don your toque and get cozy in your bunnyhug Purple People because today we are beginning our North American tour and our first destination is Canada, Ey!  We’ll warm up with a steaming bowl of Poutine followed by a double-double and a few Timbits as we get on the (etymological) road stopping along the way at Newfoundland and the ‘Capcity’, Ottawa.  Talks of Newfoundland lead Gyles to shar...

Hello Purple People, have you ever found yourself experiencing a particular feeling or emotion and wondering, ‘there must be a word for that’? Well luckily for us, so has our very own Susie Dent! From the way to describe those blues you get on a Sunday evening at the prospect of work the next day - the Mubblefubbles - to that irresistible desire to do something unwise - cacoethes. Susie will take...

Welcome back to Something Rhymes with Purple for our first show in our Autumn tour! Recorded live at the Fortune Theatre in London, Susie and Gyles arrived with bells and whistles on for an etymological exploration into the world of bells, specifically the Capital’s Big Ben. There was much tintinnabulation (as much as Gyles tried to derail this) and our lovely audience of Purple People got to disc...

Don your armour and grab your steed, Purple people because today we are galloping onto the battle field to uncover the etymological treasures of Weaponry.    From biting bullets to smoking guns, Susie will guide us through the link between rainbows and archery, what the Armadillo has to do with armoury and why freelancers weren’t always that friendly. Gyles shares some further behind-the-scenes de...

You heard it here first - we’re expanding our horizons here on Something Rhymes with Purple and welcome you to join us for not just 1, but 2 episodes every week.  If you’re an Apple Purple Person, tap the banner in the app to enjoy a 7-day free trial or head to purpleplusclub.com to join us on all other platforms.  As if that wasn’t enough, you will also get all episodes completely ad-free.   Spea...

It’s time to take a trip to the bakery Purple People where we will run into Lords and Ladies, horses and testicles as we explore the shelves of bread.    Come discover why the upper crust really is better, what bread rolls and parchment have in common, how lumps and humps gave name to Nubbys and Cobs and why having butter with your chip butty is essential.   Gyles shares his latest ‘Oh Crumbs!’ mo...

We’ve spoken before about Susie’s, often fancy, water glasses that she sips on throughout the recordings… so this week we are pouring our thoughts into the vessels that we use to hold our drinks and have done for many centuries.  Eavesdrop on us, with your favourite drink as we spill what we know about water vessels.  We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @Som...