Step into the time machine of linguistics and embark on a journey through the graveyard of forgotten words. In this week's episode of our Something Rhymes With Purple, Susie and Gyles unearth the most uproarious relics from the linguistic abyss. From "snollygoster" to “pang wangle,” prepare to find yourself in a linguistic oblivion. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purp...
Jun 06, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 218
This week Susie and Gyles delve into the spellbinding world of folklore and unravel the intricate tapestry of its etymology. Together, they cover mystical creatures, elements and charms of this fictional realm. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: [email protected] Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcas...
May 30, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 217
In this week’s episode, Susie and Gyles dish out a generous serving of all things to do with crockery! So gather round the table and feast upon a large helping of etymology, poems, obscure words and origins. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: [email protected] Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts ...
May 23, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 216
This week we are dipping our ink quills into the decadent world of calligraphy. Gyles’ spills all on the Royal Coronation invitation he received from The Palace, and Susie shares her pen-sational etymological knowledge on all things handwriting. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: [email protected] Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by ...
May 16, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 215
In this week’s dazzling episode, Susie and Gyles illuminate the fascinating etymological roots of everything to do with natural light phenomena. So, join us as we shine the spotlight on rainbows to supernovas! We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on: [email protected] Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to l...
May 09, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 214
This episode was recorded live at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. Have you ever felt an emotion that you know is universal, but come to realise there’s no word for it? Well Susie & Gyles have you covered in this week’s episode, as we dive into the world of untranslatable words and idioms. You’re in for a treat Purple People! Where else would you find out what ‘grief bacon’ or ‘electric brain’ means and how these phenomenons are so relatable to our own lives. We love hearing from you, find us ...
May 02, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 213
Strap into your hiking boots purple people! In this episode, we’re going to climb to new linguistic heights and explore the world of climbing. Gyles walks us through his Mount Snowdon expedition and Susie rocks our etymological world as usual, giving us a peak into the wonderful ways of word evolutions. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us here: [email protected] Want even more purple, people? Join...
Apr 25, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 212
In this weeks’ episode, we zero in on the exponential world of mathematics. Come and join us as Susie discusses the solitary life of odd numbers and whether or not there’s an official order to words of magnitude, plus Gyles tells us about Lewis Carroll’s surprising connection to maths and logics. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us here: [email protected] Want even more purple, people? Join the Pu...
Apr 18, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 211
Gyles is fresh back from Jamaica and after visiting the spiritual home of James Bond, he’s channeling his 007 spirit and taking Susie to the casino for a touch of Gambling. In our trip to 'the little casa', we will find out why trumps are so triumphant, why a gimmick at the gaming table might be magic and how your poker face is connected to your bragging rights and - as so often happens in English - we encounter ‘Jack’ in the form of the 'Jackpot' and 'Blackjack'. We love hearing from you, find ...
Apr 11, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 210
Come join Susie and Gyles for Part 2 of ‘The Purple People’s Linguistic Gaps’. To celebrate our 200th episode, we asked the Purple People for moments or experiences when they wished there was a specific word to describe it. Go listen back to our first instalment, ‘200 Today!’, and enjoy today’s follow up episode which is packed full of even more brilliant suggestions… We’ll explore that sensation of believing there’s an extra step at the top of the stairs only to have your foot slam down onto th...
Apr 04, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 209
It’s going to be an episode full of tittle-tattle today as Gyles and Susie sit down for a good gossip as we excavate the words and idioms associated with this favourite hobby. We’ll have a good blather but stopping short of becoming a ‘blatherskite’ due to its distasteful meaning, we’ll bloviate at length with a certain ex-PM in mind as we uncover the links between this type of gossip and the stuffing in your clothes, before we discover that there are many origin stories for the phrase ‘Cock and...
Mar 28, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 208
In today’s ‘mane’ episode, there’s no horsing around as we take gallop through the etymological equine world. Susie explains what the name Duncan and donkeys might have in common, why we might have ‘walloped’ instead of ‘galloped’, how ponies are linked to chickens and why we need to take a trip to Canterbury to uncover the origin of the canter. Gyles serenade us with a stallion of a song before - of course – treating us to a rather decadent name drop about the Italian jockey, Frankie Dettori. S...
Mar 21, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 207
Today we are celebrating Women’s History Month and looking at the pioneering writer, Toni Morrison. From her poem, ‘Someone leans near’ to her debut novel, ‘The Bluest Eye’, Susie and Gyles delve into the books, poetry, and legacy of the Nobel Literary Prize winner. We encounter Levi Roots, a trip to Princeton and a recount of the time Gyles met her (of course!) as we look at her life, work, and the impact that she has had on the English language. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhym...
Mar 14, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 206
Today’s show was recorded live at the Fortune Theatre in London. Gyles’ title of European Monopoly Champion comes into play (literally) today as he - alongside Susie Dent - take us on an etymological tour of the world of Property. Come discover what the Bungalow has to do with Bengal, the connection between villas and villains, why Peppercorns were so important for renting before we ascend the hill of Palatine for a palatial revelation. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitt...
Mar 07, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 205
The Purple postman has been and Gyles and Susie are eagerly digging into all the letters that we’ve had from the Purple People from all around the world! Come discover why you are reduced to nothing in an annihilation, what prats and bottoms have in common, how avatars have been around long before computers and that Susie and Gyles are no where near their parcme. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us here...
Feb 28, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 204
It’s the final stop on our North American road trip and we have reached the city of technology, coffee and Frasier; it’s Seattle! Susie and Gyles will take us on our final etymological tour in this series where we will literally skid down ‘Skid Row’, discover how Moby Dick is connected to one of the biggest coffee chains in the world and what dead bodies had to do with a very well known tech company… We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith...
Feb 21, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 203
Love is in the air(waves) as Susie and Gyles get to the heart of the many different types of love in their special Valentine’s day episode on Something Rhymes with Purple. Susie and Gyles will explore what the cabbage has to do with reviving romance in Italy (hint: ‘cavoli riscaldiati’), how feeling a touch lusty in the spring has its own word, as well as a call out to the Purple People for a word that describes the love you have for your pet. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes o...
Feb 14, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 202
We are diving beneath the surface today as we undress all the words related to your Undergarments at our live show at the Fortune Theatre. Come learn how your undergarments are linked to garnish, why the bra used to be exclusively worn by men, what your stockings have in common with a murderous medieval contraption and which style of underwear is connected to the violin. Susie will keep us in suspense whilst she divulges the origin of suspenders and Gyles shares his affinity for chest wigs in hi...
Feb 07, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 201
We have reached 200! That’s 200 episodes of Something Rhymes with Purple consisting of topics such as Drinking, Theatre, Death, Hair, Biscuits, School, Sex, Board Games, Fish, Cricket, Water Vessels.. The list is 200 items long! To celebrate our 200th birthday, Susie and Gyles will dedicate it to the Purple People and spend the episode riffling through the dictionary as they seek to find the perfect word for those moments in life when the Purple People exclaim ‘there must be a word for that!?’. ...
Jan 31, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 200
We are on the 4th leg of our North America road trip where we are visiting Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Susie and Gyles will take us to the meadows of Las Vegas and the snowy capped mountains of Nevada before we hit the casinos and Gyles reveals he has a booking at a church in Las Vegas ready and waiting for him. We’ll continue on to Queen Calafia’s California to visit San Francisco where we’ll etymologically encounter the Pelicans of Alcatraz before our final destination where we m...
Jan 24, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 199
Discover how Tailors and Tagliatelle pasta are connected, why a large nail gave its name to the technique of ‘tacking’ and the treacherous origin story of the sewing machine. It’s going to be a *Singer* of an episode today as Susie and Gyles stitch, hem and thread their way through the world of sewing where all is not as it seams… We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us here: [email protected] We curr...
Jan 17, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 198
As a lover of words, we know you’ll be a lover of this comedy podcast all about story telling… Omid tells his story to Abi. Abi tells Omid’s story to Sean, then Sean to Kai, Kai to Sikisa and Sikisa to Helen… each time with hilarious misrememberings, improvisations, stumbles, fumbles and laughs. Six comedians have a funny story to tell. Can they pass the story along the chain without completely twisting the tale? But this isn’t like the game you play at school where you only whisper short senten...
Jan 16, 2023•1 min
Susie and Gyles are guiding us out of etymological darkness as they the light way to better understanding the world of light! We’ll have many light bulb moments as we discover how extortion and contortion are twisted into the intriguing language of torches, what’s hiding in the sconce and why candles are candid. Gyles shares his schoolboy days as a lighting technician of sorts whilst Susie continues to pull the plug on linguistic myths when answering this week’s Purple Peoples’ post. Susie and G...
Jan 10, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 197
It’s a smokin’ hot episode today people as we delve into the world of Smoking. We’ll run into Colombos, Hamlet and Charles Dickens as we uncover why we have pipe dreams, why stogie cigars are linked to wagons, how pipes and musical instruments are connected and that the original meaning of blowing smoke up someone’s arse is very different from today’s.. Susie will make sure our understanding of smoking idioms is up to snuff and Gyles shares tales of an icon of his that is synonymous with the pip...
Jan 03, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 196
Recorded live at the Fortune Theatre on Sunday 20th November 2022. Tis’ that peculiar time between Christmas and New Year when we might find ourselves overindulging and spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Therefore, Susie and Gyles are here to make you feel that little bit more informed about the methods of cooking that have come to create that mince pie you might be eating whilst you get your Purple fix this week. We’ll discover what stews, steamed baths and typhoid have in common, why getti...
Dec 27, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 195
Come discover what the $10 note might have to do with Dixieland, why the city of Orleans was ‘made new’ and what ‘Mile High Ice Cream Pie’ is as we arrive at the city of New Orleans for our 3rd stop on our North America road trip. Susie and Gyles explore the food, the language and the Jazz Culture of one of Gyles’ favourite places in the world and he makes sure that Susie has put the city of New Orleans on her bucket list by the end of the episode. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhy...
Dec 20, 2022•36 min•Season 1Ep. 194
It’s a knit and natter kind of episode today Purple People, as we unravel the words and phrases that are woven throughout the world of knitting. We’ll unstitch the mystery of what frogs have to do with knitting mistakes, how a lawyer’s wig pulled the wool over our eyes, what stitches and sticks have in common and Susie advises Gyles to avoid knitted underwear as she is certain it will cause him shivviness - the feeling of roughness caused by a new undergarment. We love hearing from you, find us ...
Dec 13, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 193
It’s the real deal today Purple People as we enter the palace courtesy of Tour Guide Gyles for a Royal episode. Come discover why Sovereign is ‘super’, how the King was a family man, why real tennis isn’t royal at all and how elevation was the key to prominence in the monarchy. Gyles seems in need of a pizza delivery service during our correspondence section thanks to Purple Person, Quentin Lotte and Susie’s trio takes us down the pub to meet the Knight of the Sprigot but make sure you don’t hav...
Dec 06, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 192
It’s a chock-a-block episode today as we dive into the chocolate box to discover how our favourite fillings got their names. We’ll hear the ‘sweet’ story that gave us the Praline, what a horse's lower jaw and Ganache have in common and why the strong smelling fungus and the lovely truffle filling are etymological twins. Susie takes us back to university in search for the origin of being ’Toffee nosed’ and Gyles shares an extract from a recent book purchase which adds a purr-fect addition to this...
Nov 29, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 191
Come discover which Italian explorer gave his name to the continent of America, why Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love and why you “Take the T” when in Boston as we travel down the East Coast of America. Susie shares further adventures from her time in Princeton and Gyles gives us a healthy dose of name-drops with an American flavour. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us here: purple@somethinelse...
Nov 22, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 190
