Etymoleon - Word History, the etymology podcast.

This episode explores lesser known words that are useful in conversations about reputation, considering their origins and recognisable words from the same root. Words highlighted include perfidious, calumny, susurration, ignominy, opprobrium, obloquy and flagitious. 

Listen to the history of how a derailed train helped shape the beginnings of the modern public relations industry. 

Sources:  

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1857-08-18/debates/4642f51a-ffe6-4eee-a43e-9276e7fc81ac/CompensationForTheSufferersByTheIndianMutiny 

https://www.audible.com/blog/quotes-theodore-roosevelt 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qn-XatSQaA&t=404s 

https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/irish-legal-heritage-richard-pigott-and-the-forgeries-commission 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-history-spin-doctor 

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This episode investigates obscure words for discussions about error, tracing their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words examined include solecism, lapsus calami, amphibology, defalcation, misfeasance and mea culpa. 

Discover the mistaken beliefs that gave us the names West Indies, malaria and platinum. 

Sources: 

https://www.rd.com/article/malapropism-examples/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOU0eA03S2c 

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/quarterly-bulletin/2015/desperate-adventures-and-men-of-straw-the-failure-of-city-of-glasgow.pdf 

https://www.taylor-rose.co.uk/posts/misfeasance 

https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/library-archive-open-research-services/archives/sir-ronald-ross-collections 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anJKMZCVjxs 

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This episode considers unusual words for conversations about happiness, examining their origins and recognisable words from the same root. Words featured include gaiety, delectation, sangfroid, equanimity, ananda and rapturous. 

Hear the history of Jeremy Bentham's attempt to systematically assess pleasure and pain as a guide for moral action. 

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/eudaimonia

https://blogs.library.mcgill.ca/osler-library/aequanimitas/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqfjUTqDGRw

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This episode gets into unusual words for conversations about eating, exploring their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words discussed include voracious, pantagruelian, temulent, alimentation, deglutition and abstemious. 

Plus, discover the history of how three daily meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, became the norm. 

Sources:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/caterpillar-mcmaster-1.5605825

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/gourmet-vs-gourmand-usage-difference

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1877-06-05/debates/119d4165-514d-4018-bd66-f6b96f695261/PrisonsBill%E2%80%94Bill121

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243692

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/28/breakfast-health-america-kellog-food-lifestyle

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/hard-chews-why-mastication-played-crucial-role-in-evolution/

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This podcast returns on February 22nd 2026. This episode examines lesser-known words for discussions about Precision, looking at their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words explored include punctilious, ad litteram, cavilling, facsimile, pettifogging and fastidious.

Find out when systems of measurement moved from regional variation to global uniformity.

Sources:
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/20686987-candelabra-selected-essays-and-addresses 

https://wordhistories.net/2018/02/04/scruple-origin/ 

https://kmbs.konicaminolta.us/blog/new-facts-about-fax-in-healthcare/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bUVjJWA6Vw 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51198666 

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