Category Archives: English

Was an orange ever a “norange”? | PORTMANTEAUS & WORD MASHUPS

Hello and welcome (or should that be hellcome?) to another Words Unravelled. In this episode, Rob and Jess discuss word mash-ups. – 🍊Was an orange ever a norange? – 🍔 Why do cheeseburgers make no sense? – ❓Is it okay … Continue reading

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What’s poopy about a poop deck? | NAUTICAL ETYMOLOGY

Welcome, me hearties, to another episode of Words Unravelled. In this edition, Rob and Jess discuss nautical terms and pirate slang. 💩 What’s so poopy about a poop deck? 🏴‍☠️ What does it mean to “shiver” someone’s timbers? ⚓️ Which … Continue reading

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This ruined English spelling

Oh the Great Vowel Shift. What a mess you made. In this video, let’s explore what the GVS was and why it screwed up English spelling forever. ⭐️PATREON COMMUNITY: patreon.com/robwords 📝FREE NEWSLETTER: http://www.robwords.com/newsletter More excellent GVS videos: • What Was … Continue reading

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…here are the strange stories behind 12 incredibly normal words…

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The Year That Killed Received Pronunciation (RP)

[…] Practically the moment the familiar vowel symbols for British English were published, they plummeted drastically out of fashion. This video explains how and why. 0:00 Introduction 1:04 MyHeritage 2:45 A. C. Gimson’s book 5:33 The 1960’s 10:30 Advanced RP … Continue reading

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Can you be gormful, wistless or ert?

oin word nerds Jess and Rob as they uncover English’s unpaired words, lost positives and orphaned negatives. Why can you be “nonchalant” but not “chalant”? If something perfect is “immaculate”, what does it mean to be “maculate”? And if you’re … Continue reading

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Why Do Experts Always Defend Language Mistakes

Practice critical thinking and become a smarter news consumer by subscribing through my link https://ground.news/drgeofflindsey to get 40% off unlimited access with the Vantage Plan. So often linguists seem to be defending language errors simply because they’re all ‘woke’. In … Continue reading

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Why is it a “murder” of crows?

From a ‘business (or ‘busyness’) of ferrets’ to a ‘drunkship of cobblers’: join Jess and Rob to collectively explore the weird world of collective nouns. Hear all about the bizarre book that coined scores of these terms, which are also … Continue reading

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Are you getting these wrong too?

Join word nerds Jess Zafarris and Rob Watts (aka RobWords) as they discuss amusing mis-heard phrases and vocabulary snafus known as “eggcorns,” “malapropisms,” and “mondegreens.” 👂LISTEN: https://podfollow.com/words-unravelle… or search for “Words Unravelled” wherever you get your podcasts. […]

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Why do we say “hello”?

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