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Grab your stake and crucifix pendant, we're going vampire-hunting! Well, vampire-etymology-hunting. The podcast Buffering the Vampire Slayer, which recaps the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode by episode, invited me to answer their listeners' questions of language that the show had provoked. Together with BVTS hosts Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs, I tackle the etymology of coven, vampire/vampyre, wigging out, the name Buffy and Bovril; as well as google as a verb, conlang on TV, and why Latin is so often the language of spells and spookiness.
Note: there are some swears in this episode.
You can hear the original XL version - nearly twice as long! - on the Buffering podfeed; search for ‘Welcome to the Helenmouth’.
Look at these cool illustrations Tara did of the live show Your Name Here in Wellington! There’s one more chance to catch the full theatrical form of the pictures: Auckland Writers’ Festival, 27 August 2022. Then the show will be packed up and stuffed into the cupboard next to the box of Christmas decorations until who knows when.
EXTRA MATERIALS:
Otherlusionists: in Verisimilitude, it’s so interesting and intense to hear David J. Peterson talk about how he goes about constructing languages for fictional worlds, like Game of Thrones. Technobabble covers some words that entered the lexicon from science fiction. And in Nightmare, there are etymologies of other scary things, like the bogeyman, demons, Satan and haunting.
A sociolinguistic study of intensifiers as used by the main characters in Buffy.
Slayage: The International Journal of Buffy is free to access and includes numerous papers about linguistics in the show.
The connection between Latin and magic.
The trope of ominous Latin chanting.
As well as being an author and politician, Edward Bulwer-Lytton turned down the throne of Greece, and dramaturged the ending of Great Expectations?! Busy man!
Ten things you probably didn’t know about Bovril.
“Bovril was an inspired name marrying together meat, myth and magic… a drink that was alcohol-free and yet not namby-pamby.”
I’m on a new episode of Six Months Later, a show where the host Matthew interviews you twice - the second time was seven months later in my case. Here's the me of January vs the me of last week.
YOUR RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
grilse, noun: a salmon that has returned to fresh water after a single winter at sea.
CREDITS:
This episode was originally produced by Kristin Russo for Buffering the Vampire Slayer. Listen to Buffering on your pod app and at bufferingthevampireslayer.com, where you can also hear the original XL version of this episode, and get tickets for their upcoming live and livestreamed grand finale. You can also hear Jenny’s songs for every episode of the TV show on Spotify and Bandcamp. My personal favourite is ‘Enemies’.
The Allusionist music is by Martin Austwick. Download his songs at palebirdmusic.com and listen to his podcasts Song By Song and Neutrino Watch.
Find the Allusionist at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/helenzaltzman and instagram.com/allusionistshow.
Sign up to be a patron at patreon.com/allusionist and not only are you supporting independent podcast, you get fortnightly patron-exclusive video livestreams and a Discord community full of language chat, craft pics and word game camaraderie!
