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The Allusionist
The Allusionist
Helen Zaltzman

Adventures in language with Helen Zaltzman. TheAllusionist.org

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Episodes

205. Lexicat, part 2: now with added Dog

In Lexicat part 1, we met the author Mary Robinette Kowal and her cat Elsie, and learned about how they... more

06 Dec 2024 · 53 minutes
204. Lexicat, part 1

Elsie the cat has a set of 120 buttons programmed with words. She uses them to lie, swear, apologise, express... more

24 Nov 2024 · 51 minutes
203. Flyting

In 15th and 16th century Scotland, in the highest courts of the land, you'd find esteemed poets hurling insults at... more

09 Nov 2024 · 49 minutes
202. Singlish Singlish

There's so much more to say about Singlish after last episode that we're saying some more of it this episode.... more

29 Oct 2024 · 42 minutes
201. Singlish

"If you grow up being told that one of your first languages, Singlish, is actually a bad version of an... more

12 Oct 2024 · 35 minutes
Tranquillusionist: Ex-Constellations

This is the Tranquillusionist, in which I, Helen Zaltzman, give your brain a break by temporarily supplanting your interior monologue... more

28 Sep 2024 · 30 minutes
200. 200th episode celebratory quiz!

I can scarce believe that I've made 200 episodes of this show, but here we are! To celebrate, here is... more

13 Sep 2024 · 45 minutes
199. 199 ideas that I hadn't made into podcasts yet

Next episode is the 200th, therefore this is the 199th. I raid the 66 pages of ideas for episodes I... more

30 Aug 2024 · 35 minutes
198. Queer Arab Glossary

Since 2019, Marwan Kaabour has been collecting Arabic slang words used by and about queer people, first for the online... more

12 Aug 2024 · 38 minutes
197. Word Play 7: Word Sport

At the Scripps National Spelling Bee, behind the spectacle of kids vying to be champion spellers, a whole lot of... more

30 Jun 2024 · 40 minutes
196. Word Play 6: Beeing

I went to the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee, to marvel at kids spelling words I had mostly never even... more

10 Jun 2024 · 58 minutes
195. Word Play 5: 100 Pages of Solvitude

Cain's Jawbone, a murder mystery cryptic puzzle novella in the form of 100 pages presented in the wrong order, has... more

28 May 2024 · 33 minutes
194. Word Play 4: Good Grids

Exciting things have been happening with crossword puzzles in the US: more constructors, more outlets to get puzzles published, clues... more

13 May 2024 · 46 minutes
193. Word Play 3: Lemon Demon

AJ Jacobs makes The Puzzler podcast, wrote The Puzzler book, and sometimes turns his whole life into a puzzle. He... more

23 Apr 2024 · 51 minutes
192. Word Play part 2

This episode, and the next couple of episodes, are about word games! Today, Joshua Blackburn recounts how his sons' uninspiring... more

09 Apr 2024 · 42 minutes
191. Hypochondria

The word 'hypochondria' has travelled from meaning physical ailments in a particular region of your body, to ones that are... more

23 Mar 2024 · 49 minutes
190. Craters

"It's quite a big undertaking going through every named feature in the whole solar system and trying to find out... more

11 Mar 2024 · 37 minutes
Tranquillusionist: Person In Scene

This is the Tranquillusionist, in which I, Helen Zaltzman, soothe your brain by saying a load of words that don’t... more

26 Feb 2024 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
189. Mouthful of Fortune

At Lunar New Year, certain foods are particularly lucky to eat. Why? Because in Chinese, their names are puns on... more

10 Feb 2024 · 25 minutes
188. Lipread

Lipreading has been in the news this month, thanks to gossip-stoking mouth movements at the Golden Globes that the amateur... more

28 Jan 2024 · 42 minutes
187. Bonus 2023

It's our annual end of year parade of all the extra good stuff this year's podguests talked about, including a... more

24 Dec 2023 · 56 minutes
186. Ravels

We’ve got knitting! We’ve got eponyms!! We’ve got knitting eponyms!!! Which come with a whole load of battles, f-boys, duels,... more

12 Dec 2023 · 29 minutes
185. Gems and Patties

We’re returning to the theme of renaming, for two food-related renamings: the first one that mostly happened, the second that... more

20 Nov 2023 · 32 minutes
184. Misophonia

The word 'misophonia' describes a condition that statistically, 20 per cent of you have: an extreme reaction to certain sounds.... more

06 Nov 2023 · 48 minutes
Apple Fest!

All aboard, we're off to the 2023 Apple Festival at the University of British Columbia, to taste some apples and,... more

22 Oct 2023 · 36 minutes
183. Timucua

When Spanish missionaries arrived in what is now called Florida, there were 100,000-200,000 Timucua people in the region. Just two... more

09 Oct 2023 · 30 minutes
182. Siblings of Chaos

Lexicographer, author and Dictionary Corner resident Susie Dent has been studying words to make us feel happy. She brings etymologies... more

24 Sep 2023 · 31 minutes
181. Cairns

There's an abiding myth that the landmark dictionaries are the work of one man, in a dusty paper-filled garrett tirelessly... more

13 Sep 2023 · 32 minutes
180. Project ENABLE

Sterling Martin was in grad school, studying C. elegans worms, when COVID19 hit and suddenly he found himself in lexicography,... more

25 Aug 2023 · 25 minutes
179. Andy Quiz

It's the annual etymology quizlusionist! I’m on a family holiday for the first time since 1988, so enlisted my brother... more

12 Aug 2023 · 26 minutes
178. Uranus

Have you ever wondered why the planets in our solar system are all named after Roman deities, except two of... more

24 Jun 2023 · 22 minutes
Tranquillusionist: Gay Animals

This is the Tranquillusionist, in which I, Helen Zaltzman, say a load of words which aren’t really about anything, so... more

09 Jun 2023 · 23 minutes
177. Fat part 2

“The starting point is, and the research questions are all framed by: 'We know it's terrible to be fat, but... more

25 May 2023 · 42 minutes
176. Fat part 1

It should just be an accurate descriptor of my body, but the word 'fat' has shaped so much more of... more

12 May 2023 · 26 minutes
175. Eurovision part 2

Oh, you thought the Eurovision Song Contest was about songs? Or a fun international TV event that brings people together... more

21 Apr 2023 · 29 minutes
174. Eurovision part 1

There aren't many multilingual, multinational television shows that have been running for nearly seven decades. But what makes the Eurovision... more

07 Apr 2023 · 29 minutes
173. Death

"You can't redead the dead by you saying something shit," says Cariad Lloyd of Griefcast and author of You Are... more

24 Mar 2023 · 44 minutes
172. A Brief History of Brazilian Portuguese

"The myths, or the received wisdom, about Portuguese language in Brazil is that, of course we know we speak a... more

10 Mar 2023 · 36 minutes
171. Supplantation

Last episode, I mentioned that in London, Ontario, in 2019 a 9-year-old named Lyla Wheeler had launched a petition to... more

24 Feb 2023 · 26 minutes
170. Actively Passive

Over the past few years, numerous products and places with the word 'plantation' in their names have rebranded. As for... more

10 Feb 2023 · 24 minutes
The Allusionist
178. Uranus
The Allusionist
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Description

Have you ever wondered why the planets in our solar system are all named after Roman deities, except two of them? One of... more