Words for Granted - An etymology and linguistics podcast

The days of the week are part of the core vocabulary of any language. In English, their etymologies are rooted in ancient pagan mythologies. In this episode, we trace the history of our modern calendar back to ancient Rome. As the seven-day week was transmitted from the Romans to the Germanic tribes that would eventually produce the English language, a series of loan-translations took place.

The Latin verb, secare , meaning 'to cut,' has produced English derivatives such as 'section,' 'sector,' and 'insect,' among others. One root word, many derivatives. So, how exactly can a single root word produce so many offshoots? In attempt to answer to this question as deeply as possible, we discuss linguistic topics such as morphology, semantics, and more.

The word scene has always had close ties to the theater, but it did not always refer to 'subdivisions within in a play.' The meaning of the original Greek skene was 'tent or booth.' It's an odd etymology, and today's episode explores multiple theories that seek to explain where this original sense may have come from.

Today, 'comedy' is a genre of entertainment that makes us laugh. However, this was not always the case. The word derives from a Greek compound that most likely meant 'revel song,' and it's culturally rooted in an ancient festival called the ... penis parade? Yes, the penis parade. Yet humor was not always the main component of comedy as it is today. Exploring topics as disparate as Dante's Divine...

The word 'tragedy' is rooted in ancient Greek theater. It's a dramatic form that stills exists today, but what's the word's etymology? Is it connected to suffering? Despair? Heartache? No, no, and no. It most likely comes from a Greek word meaning 'goat-song.' In today's episode, we look at a few theories that explain this strange etymology.

The word 'tyrant' is steeped in the political history of Ancient Greece. However, it didn't always refer to cruel rulers. Originally, a 'tyrant' was a morally neutral word for someone who usurped the throne and took over leadership on their own terms. Most of the early Greek tyrants were actually lauded by their subjects. Joining me in the historical exploration of tyrants and tyranny is Ryan Stit...

English uses many different suffixes to indicate ethnicities. Each suffix entered the language independently, and each suffix has a story to tell. This episode attempts to elucidate the geopolitical distribution of the four main categories of ethnic suffixation in English: -an (including -ian and -ean), -ish, -ese, and -i.

Today's episode looks at the evolution of the modern sense of the word filibuster. Borrowed from a Dutch word meaning 'pirate,' 'filibuster' originally referred to Americans who organized unauthorized military invasions of Spanish colonies in Central America and the West Indies.

In this episode, we explore the origins of the word 'candidate.' It derives from candidus , the Latin word for 'white,' which describes the typical attire worn by Roman politicians running for office. We also examine some unlikely cognates derived from this same root word. 

The presidential inauguration is a tradition inherited from Ancient Rome. The word 'inauguration' is rooted in augury, the Ancient Roman practice of interpreting omens based on the flight patterns of birds. Over the course of today's episode, we discuss how how this unlikely religious tradition gave us the sense of 'inauguration' used today.

The letter C has split personalities. Sometimes it has a hard K sound, and sometimes it has a soft S sound. Sometimes it's a part of letter combinations whose pronunciations vary from word to word. The causes of these split personalities are rooted in a complicated history that begins in Ancient Phoenicia.

Words for 'tea' in languages around the world fall into one of two etymological categories: te- derived and cha -derived. Both are ultimately derived from different dialects of Chinese. Based on the geolinguistic distribution of these two etymological categories, we can learn a lot about the history of the tea trade itself.

According to literary critic Raymond Williams, culture is 'one of two or three most complicated words in the English language.' Today's narrative traces the word's unexpected origins as a farming term to its social and anthropological senses today. Along the way, we'll explore many different perspectives on what a 'culture' really is is.

The spelling of the word 'two' is un-phonetic. Today's episode explores the origins of its silent W and the circumstances that eroded its pronunciation. Along the way, we explore some less-than-obvious derivatives of the word "two" and the technical characteristics of vowels.   

Men's perfume known as cologne takes its name from the German city in which it was invented. But if Cologne is a German city, why does the perfume named after it have a distinctly French name? Why does the German language spell Köln with a K, while French and English spell 'Cologne' with a C? And where does the name of the city itself ultimately come from? Today's episode tackles the answers to th...

Today's episode explores the etymological and cultural connections between the words 'sinister' and 'left,' as in, 'left-handed.' In the world of Ancient Rome, the left hand was surrounded by an unlucky superstition. Though the superstition has faded away, the original word denoting this connection––sinister––has not. While the evolution of 'sinister' is the focus of today's episode, it fits into...

Calques are words or phrases whose meanings have been literally translated from one language into another, aka 'loan translations.' Words such as flea market, skyscraper, and translation itself all came into English this way. Today's episode looks at a number of words that have been calqued into English and out of English.

What is the 'true' meaning of the expression 'to beg the question?' Well, it depends on what you mean by true . Today, 'to beg the question' is often used as a synonym for 'to raise the question,' but historically, 'to beg the question' had a very different meaning. It involved neither 'begging' nor a 'question,' but rather, a philosophical fallacy of circular reasoning that traces back to Aristot...

The word ostracism can be traced back to Ancient Athens. For the Ancient Athenians, ostracism was not a sociological phenomenon, but an electoral vote that sought to protect the integrity of democracy. Today's episode provides a concise overview of Ancient Athenian society and looks at the details of the ancient ostracism vote.

The professional/amateur dichotomy portrays amateurs as inept and inexperienced, but amateurs haven't always had a bad name. In fact, 'amateur' derived from the Latin word for 'love.' Today's episode explores the negative evolution of the word as a product of capitalist values.

In today's episode, we look at the etymology of mouse, but really, it's a springboard into a far more complicated topic: the word "mice," its irregular plural form. Why do we say "mice" and not "mouses" when referring to more than one mouse? The answer lies in the grammar of an ancient tongue that predates modern English by thousands of years. This is the most linguistic-heavy episode of Words for...

The English language uses the word 'cell' in a handful of contexts. We have prison cells, brain cells, battery cells, and of course, cell phones. At first glance, these various uses of the word 'cell' seem unrelated, yet they're all etymologically connected and can be traced back to a single source: medieval monasteries. In today's episode, we explore the unlikely historical relationship between t...

Today's episode begins a short mini-series that explores the origins of technology-themed words. Although digital technology didn't permeate our culture until the twentieth century, the word 'digital' has ancient roots. Originally, it simply referred to … our fingers and toes!                          

The word 'comfort' once described the spiritual consolation given by God to an individual. Today, it describes commercialized products like air conditioners, tennis shoes, and sofas. A pretty drastic change, to say the least. How did this evolution take place? Today's episode looks at the impact of capitalism and consumerism on our ideas about what 'comfort' is. 

The word 'meat' once referred to all forms of solid food, not just animal flesh. In today's episode, we explore the ambiguities of the word 'meat' as it appears in the King James Bible. We also debunk a popular myth surrounding meat words such as pork, beef, and veal.