Interstellar Song Contest & Fictional Languages

Next week we are talking about r-dropping accents - accents that say cah for car and so on, often found in British accents, and so we hunted down a real live British person to talk to about the British accent. That person is Matt from the podcast Pick a Disc. On Matt's podcast, each episode a guest tells Matt about an album they love, and they have a nice chat about it that is insightful, funny, and highly listenable. I love this podcast. I know you will too. Check it out where you listen to podcasts or at this link: ⁠https://pod.link/pickadisc⁠ You can also follow Pick a Disc on instagram here: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/pickadisc/⁠ Find us on instagram here: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/⁠ And email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠ Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week's promoted podcast is Jack Billings Presents. Their new season is King of the Bighouse. Find them wherever you get podcasts or at this link: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jack-billings-presents/id1701071750⁠⁠ Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network ⁠podmoth.network⁠

Happy Hanukkah listeners! We're discussing apartheid, the Israel Palestine conflict, and parallels to the history of Hanukkah. To do that, we chose Dave Matthews, a man from South Africa who has spoken out against Palestinian genocide, and his song "Last Stop" about the topic. For Eurovision, we talk about Israel's 2024 entry "Hurricane" by Eden Golan and the controversy surrounding it. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Beyond the Shadows. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://open.spotify.com/show/6hgfTsx24MjcxaopQNURyX?si=b7679e12b5a0417f Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

This Thanksgiving we are diving into the slang phrase "It's giving" which is used to describe something's vibes or je ne se quoix or . . . Just listen to the podcast, we explain it. We also talk about the etymology of the word give itself. We talk about Latto, a rapper named after a racial slur? And we'll tell you who she is and how she came to be famous. And it's Thanksgiving, so we're talking about some Thanksgiving stuff, including the origin of the phrase "Indian giver". For Eurovision, we discuss Germany's 2024 offering, "Always on the Run" by Isaak. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Freaky Fridays. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://linktr.ee/freakyfridayspod Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

Today we are joined by Heddwen Newton. Heddwen is half Dutch, half British, and writes two entertaining newsletters about language.  English and the Dutch is about how Dutch people speak English (hint: sometimes badly), and also dives into interesting etymologies that link the two languages.  Heddwen has been writing about difficult-to-translate Dutch words and idioms since 2017 on her blog HoezegjeinhetEngels.nl. English in Progress lists neologisms and Gen Z slang in a way that is funny but also lexicographically sound. And we are talking about the Dutch influence on English including loan words and cultural intersections. Obviously we're pairing this with Tyler the Creator because, well, he made a song with a Dutch title, Yonkers. Find out what Yonkers means in the podcast. For Eurovision this week we talk about the Netherlands' 2024 performer Joost Klein (and also learn how to say Joost Klein), and we talk about the aftermath and resolution to the controversy that happened with him during Eurovision. Find Heddwen and her content at these links: https://englishandthedutch.substack.com/ https://englishinprogress.substack.com/ https://hoezegjeinhetengels.nl/ Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Thick Thighs & Creepy Vibes. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thick-thighs-and-creepy-vibes/id1736179086 Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

With the diabetes and the tooth decay and so on, what's scarier than sugary sweetness? Waking up early, according to Hozier! We talk about how to say Hozier, and other things about this artist such as his penchant for activism. And we discuss the word sweet, its origins and etymology. In Eurovision, we discuss Portugal's 2024 entry "Grito" by Iolanda, because it's Halloween, and grito means scream, sort of. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Crime & Spirits. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://linktr.ee/crimeandspiritspodcast Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

We discuss the Bruce Springsteen of Vermont, Noah Kahan, and that one song he has that really sticks in your head. Also, what is stick season anyway? We talk about the word stick and related words. And, no spoilers, but there are a lot of related words. We also look at some stick-based idioms like "more than you can shake a stick at", "the short end of the stick", "stuck up", and "sticks and stones". For Eurovision, we discuss Georgia's 2024 song "Firefighter" by Nutsa Buzaladze. And we discuss the months of the Georgian calendar. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Speak of the Devil. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://linktr.ee/speakofthedevilFind them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

Sacre Bleu, it's the return of Billie Eilish, and she's singing in French! Oh wait she's not, just the song title is in French. Well anyway! C'est la vie. We talk about the rise of queerness in music. And then we talk about French, the language of love. Why is it thought of as the most romantic language? For Eurovision, we discuss Luxembourg's 2024 song "Fighter" by TALI, and the Luxembourgian language's word for love. Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Brutal, Bizarre, and Boozy. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://open.spotify.com/show/44Z9VDxjEVGpbPBkYzQorh?si=0556a1a9b65048bd&nd=1&dlsi=44ebdc801f444221Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

Today we're talking about a super sunny song and the darkness that lies within. And we're pairing that with the topic of covert hate speech, basically. A lot of numbers. Bigots seem to really like numbers. Kind of good to know what the tainted numbers are so you don't accidentally use them, just saying. For Eurovision, we are finally talking about the winner of Eurovision, Switzerland's Nemo, and their song "The Code". Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Haunted Moonlight. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/haunted-moonlight/id1703911242Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network

We're talking about perhaps the greatest Metallica song, probably the most listened to now that it got the Stranger Things bump. And we're talking about "puppet". The word, the history, the creep factor, the surprising relevance and popularity of puppets today. If anything, they're more popular than ever before. For Eurovision, we talk about Estonia's 2024 entry 5MIINUST and Puuluup ‘(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi.’ Definitely in my (Russell's) top 3 favorite songs of the competition. This is also the last episode we recorded pre-Eurovision so after this one we'll finally know what the rest of the world has known for months regarding the winner, the controversies, etc. This is of course our second episode on the topic of puppets. If you haven't listened to our interview with Matt Sandbank the puppeteer yet, go back and give that a listen before or after this one. You can find Matt Sandbank at these links: His instagram here: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/sandbank_shadow_factory/⁠ Or his website: ⁠http://www.sandbankshadowfactory.com/⁠ Find us on instagram here: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/⁠ And email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠ Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Bad Acts. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-acts-a-true-crime-podcast/id1538464479 Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network ⁠podmoth.network

Next week's episode will be about the word "puppet", the etymology, history, and cultural stuff surrounding the word. So this week, I am interviewing my favorite puppeteer, Matt Sandbank. Matt Sandbank does lightbox shadow puppetry. His shows are clever, poignant, and hilarious. He is based in North Carolina, but he does shows around the country. We talk about his puppet work, and his ideas and views of puppetry. You can find Matt Sandbank on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/sandbank_shadow_factory/ Or at his website: http://www.sandbankshadowfactory.com/ Find us on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gettingdownandwordy/ And email us at [email protected] Huge thanks to Patsy Walker for the use of our theme song “Who’s Wordy Now”! This week’s promoted podcast is Anything Bones. Find them anywhere you get podcasts or at this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anything-bones/id1536352309 Find them, us, and lots of other great podcasts on our podcast network podmoth.network