28 posts tagged with theallusionist.
Displaying 1 through 28 of 28. Subscribe:
Podcast: The Allusionist: 29. WLTM part II
You're looking for your perfect partner, but dating sites keep matching you with duds. So what do you do? Conduct an elaborate linguistic experiment, of course!
At least, that was futurist Amy Webb's response to the situation. But did it work? [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 28. WLTM part I
Your online dating profile is the latest spin on a 300-year-old tradition of advertising yourself in order to find a spouse, a sexual partner, or someone to take care of your pigs. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 26. Xmas Man
Historian Greg Jenner traces the origins of that mythical beardy man who turns up in December with gifts. Helen Zaltzman also ensures her permanent removal from everybody’s Christmas card lists. CONTENT WARNING: Be wary of listening to this episode around young children, as there may be life spoilers. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 25. Toki Pona
There's a language which is said to be the smallest language in the world. It has around 123 words, five vowels, nine consonants, and apparently you can become fluent in it with around 30 hours' study. It was invented by linguist Sonja Lang in 2001, and it's called Toki Pona. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 24. Spill Your Guts
It’s cathartic; it’s useful historical records; and it might help you behave better on public transport. Neil Katcher and Dave Nadelberg from Mortified discuss the art and practice of keeping a diary. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 23. Criminallusionist
Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer from the podcast Criminal stop by to talk about the linguistic challenges of crime reporting. They also share their episode ‘Pants on Fire’, about lying. It’s an extremely useful handbook if you fancy becoming either a human polygraph, or an excellent liar. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 22. Vocables
La la la, dum di di dum, a wop bop a loo bop a wop bom bom – why are songs riddled with non-words masquerading as words? Hrishikesh Hirway from Song Exploder and songwriter Tony Hazzard explain. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 21. Eponyms I: The Ballad of Bic and Biro
Naming something after yourself: a grand display of egomania, or the humble willingness to be overshadowed by your own product? Stationery expert James Ward tells the tale of the people who begat the eponymous ballpoint pens Bic and Biro, because ... [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 20. Baby Talk
Why do we all sound like idiots when we talk to babies? Don’t be embarrassed, we’re helping them acquire language. Child psychologist Ben Jeffes explains. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 19. Architecting About Dance
"Talking about music is like dancing about architecture" is a problematic statement: not just because nobody can agree on who came up with it, but because dancing about architecture doesn't seem particularly far-fetched. Talking about dance, however – that’s really difficult. How do you put a wordless form of communication into words?
Audio describer Alice Sanders and choreographer Steven Hoggett take the issue for a twirl. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 18. Fix part II
The messiness of English is the price of its success. It is the most widely spoken language in the world, geographically, being an official language in 88 different countries, and there are countless different versions of it all over the world. With so many speakers in so many places, it would be impossible to establish a single 'correct' form of English; and, as became evident in Fix part I, to try to do so is a losing game. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 17. Fix part I
The English language is a mess. And if you don’t like it, what are you going to do about it – fix it? Good luck with that. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 16. Word Play
Words are all over the place. So how do you turn them into fun games? Here to show the way is Leslie Scott, founder of Oxford Games and inventor of more than forty games – including word games such as Ex Libris, Anagram and Flummoxed, and the non-word game Jenga. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 15. Step Away
‘Step-‘, as in stepparents or stepchildren, originated in grief. Family structures have evolved, but are stepmothers now so tainted by fairytale associations with the word ‘wicked’ that we need new terminology? Lore’s Aaron Mahnke stops by to describe the lovelessness, literary tropes and life expectancy around ‘step-‘. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 14. Behave
Sometimes words can become your worst enemy. Clinical psychologist Jane Gregory tells how to defuse their power. This episode concerns mental health, and the discussion nudges some topics which may not be comfortable for everybody. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 13. Mixed Emojions
Emoji allow communication without words. Could emoji be the universal language of the 21st century? Matt Gray and Tom Scott, founders of the emoji-only messaging platform emoj.li, talk through the pitfalls; and History Today’s Dr Kate Wiles finds the 500- and 5,000-year-old precedents for emoji. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 12. Pride
“The poison is shame. The antidote is pride.” It's June; the President of the USA has officially designated it LGBT Pride Month, and there'll be Pride events around the world. But how did the word 'pride' came to be the banner word for demonstrations and celebrations of LGBT rights and culture? There’s more about this … [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 11. Brunchtime
What does brunch have to do with Lewis Carroll? Fall down the rabbit hole of brunch semantics with Dan Pashman of the Sporkful podcast. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 10. Election Lexicon
On the eve of the 2015 General Election in the UK, take a jaunt through the etymology of election-related words. Find out why casting a vote should be more like basketball, and why polling is hairy. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 9. The Space Between
Helen Zaltzman explores the spaces between the words, and why they are important to language. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 8. Crosswords
Cryptic crosswords: delightful brain exercise, or the infernal taunting of the incomprehensible? Either way, crossword setter John Feetenby explains how they’re made and how to solve them. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 7. Mountweazel
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. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 6. The Writing On The Wall
Those words on museum walls that you can’t be bothered to read? They’re more important than you think… Exhibition-maker Rachel Souhami explains why. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 5. Latin Lives!
Every week since September 1989, a radio station in Finland has broadcast a weekly news bulletin…in Latin. WHY? Let’s find out! [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 4. Detonating the C-Bomb
WARNING: this episode contains lots of swearing and words which some of you may find offensive. If, however, you love offensive words, you will enjoy this episode, which is all about how the C-word doesn't deserve to be the pariah of cusses. Warning, swear words ahead! [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 3: Going Viral
Remember when ‘viral’ used to only mean something bad, IE something that would make you ill or destroy your computer? How things have changed. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 2. Bosom holder
There are many synonyms for ‘underwear’. There are many synonyms for the body parts you keep in your underwear. But there’s only one word for ‘bra’. [more inside]
Podcast: The Allusionist: 1. Ban The Pun
NEW PODCAST ALERT! In late 2014, China announced it was to ban puns. Helen Zaltzman wishes she could ban puns in her own family. Warning: this episode features some hideous incidences of wordplay. [more inside]
Page:
1