Humour

What do the words companion and mate have in common with food? What is a Calque? Listen to this episode to find out! Sources: https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/history-of-word-companion https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/companion#:~:text=companion%20(plural%20companions),accompany%20or%20travel%20with%20another. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mate https://www.smh.com.au/national/mate-what-s-the-history-of-our-most-treasured-salutation-20210513-p57rhk.html https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comrade

What do ancient theatre goers of Rome and the word explode have in common? Listen to the episode to find out! Sources: https://mashedradish.com/2017/03/28/the-dramatic-roots-of-explode/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/explode

What are words which contradict themselves called? Fast means to go fast, but, to stand fast means to not move at all. Listen to this episode to understand such words! Sources:  https://medium.com/@jackashepherd/these-extremely-cool-words-mean-the-opposite-of-themselves-8e4f5fd63cd3 https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/words-own-opposites#:~:text=A%20'Janus%20word'%20is%20a,antagonyms%2C%20or%20auto%2Dantonyms. https://blog.maltalingua.com/what-are-janus-words/ https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/09/08/some-words-have-two-opposite-meanings-why https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus#:~:text=In%20ancient%20Roman%20religion%20and,named%20for%20Janus%20(Ianuarius). https://www.andersonlock.com/blog/god-doors/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym#:~:text=An%20auto%2Dantonym%20or%20autantonym,or%20%22to%20bind%20together%22.

What is the difference between a pirate and a privateer? What link has the pirate William Dampier has to guacomole, mango chutney, and to Charles Darwin? Listen to the episode to find out! Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dampier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Selkirk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Hatley https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/eat-like-a-pirate https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/first-food-writer https://ocean.si.edu/human-connections/exploration/william-dampier-pirate-who-collected-plants https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/arrival-of-english-explorer-william-dampier https://www.britannica.com/story/pirates-privateers-corsairs-buccaneers-whats-the-difference#:~:text=A%20privateer%20was%20a%20pirate,belonging%20to%20a%20rival%20country. https://blog.marinersmuseum.org/2012/09/the-difference-between-pirates-privateers-and-buccaneers-pt-1/

What does the word cereal and panic have to do with Greek mythology? Listen to the episode to find out! Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(dwarf_planet) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cereal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(god) https://drhoffman.com/article/the-origin-of-panic-3/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-mythological-origin-of-panic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronos https://www.etymonline.com/word/victory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(mythology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_(mythology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanus

Are the words humid and humour related? What does the word melancholy have to do with bile? Listen to the episode to find out! Sources:  https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-origin-of-the-word-humor/ https://www.britannica.com/science/humor-ancient-physiology https://uselessetymology.com/2017/11/29/the-etymology-of-humor/ https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/112655/how-did-the-word-humor-which-originally-represented-bodily-fluids-end-up-rep https://www.thecolourworks.com/hippocrates-galen-the-four-humours/

What does the word 'ado' mean in the phrase much ado about nothing? Why do we say fast food and not quick food? Listen to the episode to find out! Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_word https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/fossil-words/shod-in-slipshod-and-roughshod https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreversible_binomial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_collocations https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/collocations.htm http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/Malkiel1959.pdf

What does pandemic and pandemonium have in common? Listen to the episode to find out! Sources: https://letsproofread.com/text/124/ https://wordhistories.net/2016/08/25/pandemonium/ https://blog.oup.com/2008/10/pandemonium/ https://www.etymonline.com/word/pandemonium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pand%C3%A6monium_(Paradise_Lost) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost

Was the animal sloth named after the Cardinal sin or was it the other way around? Listen to this episode to find out! Sources: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/sloth https://mashedradish.com/2016/02/26/sloth/ https://www.etymonline.com/word/sloth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth_(deadly_sin) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acedia

What does the Goddess of love have to do with the etymology of the word venom? Listen to find out! Sources: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/venom-and-the-goddess-of-love https://www.etymonline.com/word/poison https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/o4x247/the_revered_deadly_beasts_loved_gonorrhea_venus/ https://www.etymonline.com/word/*wen-?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_52678 https://www.etymonline.com/word/venom