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You'd think you could trust dictionaries, but it turns out, they are riddled with LIES. Visit theallusionist.org/mountweazel to find out more about this episode. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow.

You'd think you could trust dictionaries, but it turns out, they are riddled with LIES.

Delivering this upsetting news is Eley Williams, who is just finishing up her PhD about mountweazels, esquivalience and other hoax words that lexicographers have snuck into dictionaries.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL:

In 2009 a Dublin art gallery held an exhibition called 'The Life and Times of Lilian Virginia Mountweazel'.
Here's the process by which a real word gets into a dictionary.
And here's how they rooted out 'esquivalience'.
Cryptozoological hoaxes!
I love Eley's sister Catherine Williams's illustration of the made-up bird jungftak:

RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
osculum

Say hi at facebook.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, and come back in a fortnight for the next episode.

- HZ

CREDITS

Eley Williams's website is giantratofsumatra.com and she is on Twitter as @giantratsumatra.
This episode was presented and produced by me, Helen Zaltzman.

MUSIC:

'Allusionist Theme' - Martin Austwick
'Would I Lie To You' - Charles and Eddie
'Little Lies' - Fleetwood Mac
'Suspicious Minds' - Elvis Presley

Open up a dictionary, and you'll find the history of human behaviour, the key to your own psychological state, and a lot of fun words about cats.

Dictionary.com's Renae Hurlbutt and Jane Solomon lead the way.