They say that time flies when you’re having fun, so this week’s episode should whizz by in a jiffy. Gyles and Susie tackle all things horological from clepsydras to obelisks and they reveal the musical history of the grandfather clock. They also chat about how best to use one’s time and the frustrating accuracy of Parkinson’s Law alongside the usual Trio and Poetry to finish on. A Somethin’ Else production. We love answering your wordy questions on the show so please do keep sending them in to p...
Apr 19, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 159
Today, Susie and Gyles are blasting into outer space as they take a voyage into the linguistical world of extraterrestrial life. Rock bands and conspiracy theories will be involved in this episode’s lexical discovery as we fly by UFO’s, Crop Circles and Area 51. Also Susie and Gyles share their own run-ins with alien life before Gyles serenades us with a rather Saucy song. A Somethin’ Else production This episode features “The Saucer Song” from the musical, Salad Days written by Julian Slade and...
Apr 12, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 158
Susie and Gyles are in high spirits today as they lead us on a discovery to the essence of our souls…at least etymologically! We are delving into the world of spirits but not the religious or ghostly type… the alcoholic kind. This exploration will take us across the globe as we visit Geneva for our gin followed by a jaunt to Japan to discover why ordering “Sake” might not get you what you want. Susie will take us on a trip to Germany for a mouthful of Schnapps before she escorts us to India for ...
Apr 05, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 157
Recorded in front of a live audience at London’s Cadogan Hall we’re talking all things April Fools. Expect pranks aplenty as Susie and Gyles put a whoopee cushion under the jesters and hoaxters of times gone by, unpick the foolish history of Little Witham, and are unasinous in their pursuit of the perfect saddle-goose. A Somethin’ Else production We love answering your wordy questions on the show so please do keep sending them into purple@somethinelse.com To buy SRWP mugs and more head to. ... h...
Mar 29, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 156
Today, Gyles compares us to a Summer’s day as he takes us on exploration of one of his favourite subjects: Poetry, and specifically, the Sonnet. Together, Susie and Gyles will uncover the A’s and B’s of this ‘little song’, deciphering the iambic from the pentameter, and encountering the greats from Shakespeare to Petrarch to Milton. 14 lines later, we’ll have what Gyles teaches us can be a companion for life as there is always a poem for an occasion that can provide comfort and company. We’ll be...
Mar 22, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 155
For those Purple People among us who refrain from walking under ladders, avoid social engagements on the 13th or live in fear of a broken mirror than this is the episode for you, as Susie and Gyles will be discussing superstitions. From Saluting magpies to knocking on wood, Susie will take us on an exploration encompassing the biblical and mythical in an attempt to find the origins of these compulsions. We get a double helping of poetry today as Gyles celebrates the birthday of Einstein. However...
Mar 15, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 154
Recorded live in front of a sell-out crowd at Newcastle’s Northern Stage theatre we’re celebrating International Women’s Day and taking a close look at how the vocabulary we use changes when talking about women as opposed to men. After delving into some canny Geordie phrases and highlighting the historic work of a local unsung linguistic hero, we discover why some words, such as bubbly and airhead, are only ever used when describing women. And we look at the journeys of words like harlot, buxom,...
Mar 08, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 153
Did you know that every time you galvanise yourself to pick up the saxophone, or pop on a cardigan before sipping a glass of pasteurised milk, or you enjoy a Caesar salad and a play on a Rubik’s Cube you have someone in particular to thank for the pleasure? This week we’re returning to the ever-rich world of eponyms. Join us to find out how everything from the Cyrillic alphabet to chauvinism can be traced back to one man or woman in history. A Somethin’ Else production. We love answering your wo...
Mar 01, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 152
Whether you’ve had a ruff day and need a Puple style re-leash, or you have dug out a paw-fect podcast listening moment, come hear about a man’s best friend on today’s episode of the podcast. Today we will be laying low with the basset hound and paddling with the poodle as we hear the fascinating etymology of dog breeds. We will find out why Saint Bernards are so saintly and what we have to thank Mr. Doberman and Mr. Russell for. Gyles’ expertise in English etiquette help answer your corresponden...
Feb 22, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 151
Put your seatbelt on and relax in the passenger seat as we chauffeur you through the highways and byways of the language of the road. After easing the car out of the garage, we’ll cruise over the tarmac and the cats eyes, and try to avoid mounting the pavement before a well-earned stop at a Service Station. To pass the time en route, Gyles and Susie will discuss highway robberies, swap chicken jokes, and discover their unique CB radio handles. 10-4, looks like we’ve got ourselves a convoy. A Som...
Feb 15, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 150
Good Afternoon, Purple People! This is the follow up to Episode 144, AM, where Susie took us from morning to just before lunch delivering some perfect words to get us through the day. Now it’s time for the afternoon so let’s sit down for some luncheon as Susie helps us to identify the parasites, groakers, pinglers and guttlers amongst us before Gyles leads us into a post-perennial snooze. After our rizzle, it may be time for some expert fudgeling before a fit-of-the-clevers takes us to the end o...
Feb 08, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 149
Recorded live at the first of our London shows at the Cadogan Hall, Susie and Gyles focus on the lost language of positivity. Susie is on a mission to bring back the orphaned partners of uncouth, unkempt, and ruthless, and she also has some wonderful words to keep you thinking positively throughout 2022. Elsewhere Gyles reveals his secrets to happiness, there are lots of questions and suggestions from the audience, a few script mishaps, a trio, and a poem. It’s jam-packed with upbeat goodness. A...
Feb 01, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 148
Pop your dirtiest salopettes on and join us as we race both on-piste and off-piste through the exciting language of winter sports. Separate your luge from your skeleton, your skates from your skis, and find out who put the bob in bobsleigh. Elsewhere Gyles interrogates Susie on the “ask gap” and they’re in danger of melting the ice with a long chat about psychometric tests and dating profiles. A Somethin’ Else production. We love answering your wordy questions on the show so please do keep sendi...
Jan 25, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 147
This week we’re having a much-needed sift through all your fabulous emails that came in over the Christmas period and dedicating the whole episode to your linguistic head-scratchers. We find out why lumbago no longer has our backing, the sharper origins of the phrase ‘can’t hold a light to’, and what a fugitive has to do with an explosion between your legs. Plus we go hunting for Dudgeon and Low Dudgeon and discover an interesting link between the different seasons. The work goes on! A Somethin’...
Jan 18, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 146
It’s the second instalment from our live show at the Chichester Festival Theatre and in this episode Susie and Gyles take us through the revolving doors of the language of hotels. Gyles re-visits his days as an MP as we uncover the origin of the word ‘lobby’ and Susie reveals the icy reason why at 15, she aspired to be a hotel manager! Fortunately for us, Susie instead decided to become a lexicographer and takes us on a few further visits to hostels and chamber chums with detours to pickets and ...
Jan 11, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 145
Rise and shine Purple People. We’re kicking off the new year with a whole host of wonderful words to carry you through every moment of the day. From getting out of bed with an expurger or a jobblyjock we’ll help cure your dysania and clinomania and make the very best of the morning to come. Plus Susie spins some poetry out of all the different words we’ve invented over the years for time-wasting. If your new year’s resolution is to widen your vocabulary then this is the episode for you. Warning:...
Jan 04, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 144
Join us as we pop a few corks and drink deeply from various bottles of linguistic libation. Feel free to plunge your nose into the glass and discover the link between claret and clear, blackbirds and merlot, and gen up on the difference between a Nebuchadnezzar and a Balthazar. In vino veritas and please listen responsibly. A Somethin’ Else production. To buy SRWP mugs and more head to. ... https://kontraband.shop/collections/something-rhymes-with-purple If you would like to sign up to Apple Sub...
Dec 28, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 143
This week we’re separating the wheat from the chaff and paying tribute to those hard-working folk who will be working the land over the Christmas season. So roll up your sleeves and dig in with us as we uncover the origins of a ploughman’s lunch, learn of the debt that the financial world owes the lexicon of agriculture, and we get under the linguistic bonnet of the combine harvester. A Somethin’ Else production To buy SRWP mugs and more head to. ... https://kontraband.shop/collections/something...
Dec 21, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 142
Recorded live in front of 1000 Purple People at the Chichester Festival Theatre, in this episode we get our claws into the rich language of the 1920s. From sipping gimlets in speakeasys to getting a shingle to go with our plus fours we skip through a decade that gave so many unique phrases to the English language. No hokum, it really is the bees-knees. There are lots of theatrical anecdotes from Gyles as he’s in a theatre very close to his heart and our lovely audience come up with some very inv...
Dec 14, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 141
A very special episode of the show this week as we bring you highlights of the first live show of our 2021/2022 tour. We’re in Bath where, appropriately, we were discussing the language of baths and bathing. Discover the equestrian links to a bidet and the unpleasant origin of ‘bumf’ in a show full of Eureka moments… just make sure you get out before you become quibbled. A Somethin' Else production. To buy SRWP mugs and more head to. ... https://kontraband.shop/collections/something-rhymes-with-...
Dec 07, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 140
It's time to reboot your systems as we surf the web and probe around the intricate world of computers. Join us as we discover the origins of Google (and what the founders nearly called themselves instead), what digital mediums have to do with our fingers, and why you might not want to be invited to a computer 'picnic'. We also answer a brilliant email about the origins and uses of monitors, plus to help Gyles tell the difference between uploads and downloads there's a very special appearance fro...
Nov 30, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 139
*This episode contains language that some listeners might find offensive* Today we are looking inwards and taking a linguistic journey through the world of mental health; how our attitudes towards it have changed over the years and how language has adapted to reflect this. Discover the connection between barmy and beer, the effect of the moon on our wellbeing, and why being bananas or nuts has nothing to do with anything that you eat. A Somethin’ Else production. To buy SRWP mugs and more head t...
Nov 23, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 138
This week we’re having a rummage through the postbag and dedicating the whole episode to questions that you, the marvellous Purple People, send in each out. We help people find out where all the different meanings of ‘mandarin’ came from, ponder whether there’s a word for the twilight of the morning, and we get to the bottom of a rather tricksy wordy riddle. Also up for discussion are cauliflowers, rumours, ducks, and meadows. If you have a question that you’d like us to look into then please em...
Nov 16, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 137
Purple People! We're so excited to be kicking off our live tour on Saturday 20th November at 3pm in BATH. We'll have all the podcast favourites as we record an extra special live episode of the show, they'll be lots of interactive wordy elements AND a live Q&A. Tickets are available from tiltedco.com/somethingrhymeswithpurple We can't wait to see you there! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Nov 11, 2021•41 sec
All aboard Purple People because today, Susie and Gyles will be taking you on a trip on the railways! As our locomotive pulls the carriages along, we’ll see how freight trains are fraught, why university book sellers were also at the station and how a stop-off at a small town became insulting. The Purple People will of course be receiving the red carpet treatment from Susie and Gyles will be making sure the timing on our schedules all align. What are you waiting for? Let’s get on the (gravy) tra...
Nov 09, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 136
This week we’re full of chutzpah as we schmooze our way through the fabulous words that Yiddish has given to the English language. While our resident mensches don’t pretend to be mavens, they swell with kvelling as they revel in this rich and unique vocabulary covering everything from they smutty schmucks to the new Purple favourite ‘firgun’. Elsewhere Susie explains what ‘relexicalisation’ is, there’s a discussion on political correctness, and as always, three brilliant words to take into your ...
Nov 02, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 135
Happy 175th birthday to Auguste Escoffier! In honour of the founding father of the modern restaurant we invite you Purple People, to join us in some fine dining today. Please let maitre d’hotel Brandreth sit you at your table (with its impeccably white table cloth) and waitron Dent will soon be here to serve you today’s finest offering of delectable culinary language. Soup is definitely off the menu (as are brown shoes…Gyles will explain!) and let’s hope you don’t order anything that is an ‘86’....
Oct 26, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 134
It’s time for fake tan, sequins and your dancing shoes today, Purple People because Susie and Gyles are waltzing into the world of Ballroom Dancing…. One, two, three, One, two, three… We’ll be tripping the light fantastic as we explore the Waltz’s scandalous origin, cha-cha-cha-ing into the latin dances where Susie and Gyles prove it takes two to tango as we explore the Paso Doble and Charleston. Gyles will jitterbug us into the days of his school disco despair whilst Susie shares times of being...
Oct 19, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 133
Testing, testing… one-two, one-two. Turn your wireless to the correct frequency and then turn it up as this week we bring you the terminology behind the world of radio. Discover the agricultural origins of the word ‘broadcast’, learn the difference between wet and dry audio, and find out why a bed is not for sleeping in and a disco isn’t an opportunity to dance. Elsewhere Susie’s got a fantastic trio of words to add to your vocabulary, we learn about Gyles’ first job in radio, and we’ve got a ve...
Oct 12, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 132
This week we abandon our mufty and don our finest khaki dungarees to set off from Blighty in search of the rich influence of Indian on the English language. We go doolally for juggernauts, repeat some mantras to reach nirvana, and we discover why ‘stadium’ might be your new favourite insult. And there was so much to cover that there is an extended version of this episode with an extra ten minutes of content for Purple Plus members available on Apple Subscriptions. To find access this, please fol...
Oct 05, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 131
