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The Allusionist

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A PODCAST ABOUT LANGUAGE
BY HELEN ZALTZMAN

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The Allusionist

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Allusionist 187. Bonus 2023

December 24, 2023 The Allusionist

It's our annual end of year parade of all the extra good stuff this year's podguests talked about, including a mythical disappearing island, geese, human dictionaries, the dubious history of the Body Mass Index, Victorian death department stores, and much more.

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In episodes Tags etymology, vocabulary, history, Caetano Galindo, Susie Dent, Lindsay Rose Russell, Aubrey Gordon, Dean Vuletic, Evie King, Cariad Lloyd, Griefcast, Hy-Brasil, myths, legends, islands, Ireland, Victorians, Georgians, death, 19th century, funerals, mourning, grief, grieving, posthumous, dead bodies, bodies, fat, anti-fatness, anti-fat, bias, medical, BMI, Body Mass Index, body positivity, eugenics, families, family, estrangement, Brazilian, brasileiros, Portuguese, wood, brazilwood, trees, dictionaries, walking dictionary, sleeping dictionary, gender, geese, goose, weaving, renaming, denaming, cremation, aquamation, ashes, burial, composting, graves, clothes, shopping, Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey, five stages of grief, Jay’s, Regent Street, London, jet, jewelry, Elizabeth Kubler Ross, street names, school names, John La Rose, Richmond, Virginia, Australia, K’Gari, Hobart, Macquarie Street, Tasmania, petitions, Toronto, Rob Ford, Michaelmas, Alfred Hitchcock, Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca, rebeca, cardigan, turtlenecks, lexicography, Adolphe Quetelet, Quetelet’s Index, Ancel Keys, Francis Galton, drapetomania, hysteria, Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision, nul points, zero, French, Brazil, Brasil, gossamer, pavage, text, textile, clothing, bonus, bonus episode

Allusionist 182. Siblings of Chaos

September 24, 2023 The Allusionist

Lexicographer, author and Dictionary Corner resident Susie Dent has been studying words to make us feel happy. She brings etymologies concerning cows, gas, guts and fat, of bellies and breathing and bonanzas. And some that came from the high seas and aren't made up!

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In episodes Tags etymology, words, language, lexicography, lexicon, vocabulary, history, dictionaries, dictionary, Susie Dent, nitwit, breathing, respiration, Paracelsus, JB Van Helmont, Dutch, JR Tolkien, reversal, semantic bleaching, maritime, false etymology, sea, sailors, fat, tallow, cows, cattle, meat, animals, organs, mining, mines, may, ruthless, discombobulate, recombobulation, deep dives, emotional granularity, mubblefubbles, belly, bellies, nits, rivers, hibernation, heart, guts, intestines, divination, plagues, religion, Paganism, Christianity, augers, auspex, JRR Tolkien, susurrus, fellow, cheap, Cheapside, trade, market, Romans, Ancient Rome, Egypt, posh, CANOE, dote, auspicious, bellycheer, bonanza, catastrophe, courage, derelict, derive, digs, dismay, eucatastrophe, flotsam, fond, gas, hibernacle, inauguration, inspire, inwit, jetsam, lagan, latibulate, nice, outwit, panning out, perspire, pluck, rival, silly, slush fund, spifflicate, spirit, suspire, taghaelm, vegetable

Allusionist 92. To Err is Human

January 23, 2019 The Allusionist
A92 logo To Err is Human.jpg

If you wince when you hear someone say “a whole nother level”, “hone in on” or “right from the gecko”, here’s some bad news: you might have to get used to it. The English language is full of words and expressions that were mistakes that stuck around. Countdown’s Susie Dent holds our hands and takes us on a tour of misspellings, mishearings, scrambled letters, and bear cubs.

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In episodes Tags words, language, linguistics, education, comedy, entertainment, society & culture, arts, literature, Helen Zaltzman, etymology, lexicography, Susie Dent, Countdown, history, lexicographers, anagrams, mistakes, jerusalem artichokes, curry favour, favor, expressions, sayings, malaphors, eggcorns, bears, swearing, swears, cusses, euphemisms, zounds, gadzooks, jeepers creepers, Jiminy Cricket, arse ropes, English, errors, debt, doubt, dord, plumber, umpire, nickname, cherries, jerusalem artichoke, freelance, lick into shape, secretary, hangnail, buttonholing, shamefaced, Latin, Old English, Middle English, profanity, liripipe, liripoop
Allusionist Patreon
Featured
Allusionist 208: Ffff
Allusionist 208: Ffff
WhatsApp Image 2025-04-27 at 23.06.37.jpeg
several bits of news! (nothing bad)
queer playlist
Allusionist 207: Randomly Selected Words from the Dictionary
Allusionist 207: Randomly Selected Words from the Dictionary
Allusionist 206. Bonus 2024
Allusionist 206. Bonus 2024
A Christmas Carollusionist
A Christmas Carollusionist
Allusionist 205. Lexicat, part 2: now with added Dog
Allusionist 205. Lexicat, part 2: now with added Dog
Festivelusionists
Allusionist 204. Lexicat, part 1
Allusionist 204. Lexicat, part 1
Allusionist 203. Flyting
Allusionist 203. Flyting
Allusionist 202: Singlish Singlish
Allusionist 202: Singlish Singlish
Allusionist 201: Singlish
Allusionist 201: Singlish
Tranquillusionist: Ex-Constellations
Tranquillusionist: Ex-Constellations
Allusionist 200: 200th episode celebratory quiz!
Allusionist 200: 200th episode celebratory quiz!
Allusionist 199: 199 ideas that I hadn't made into podcasts yet
Allusionist 199: 199 ideas that I hadn't made into podcasts yet
Creative Commons Licence
The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.