The Allusionist

When Dave Nadelberg of Mortified used to visit his mother’s grave, he would look around at the nearby gravestones and se... Read more

Pavement/sidewalk; football/soccer; bum bag/fanny pack: we know that the English language is different in the UK and the... Read more

If you wince when you hear someone say “a whole nother level”, “hone in on” or “right from the gecko”, here’s some bad n... Read more

Late 2019 will see the biggest apple launch of our lifetimes. 22 years in the making, ripening on millions of trees into... Read more

Words engraved into metal are intended to last, though you don’t know who in the future is going to be reading them - yo... Read more

WARNING: this episode contains lots of swearing and words which some of you may find offensive. If, however, you love of... Read more

Remember when ‘viral’ used to only mean something bad, eg. something that would make you ill or destroy your computer? H... Read more

When you’re feeling unwell, what’s the book you read to make yourself feel better? And why does it work? Clinical psycho... Read more

“Accent is identity. It’s a way of encoding and signaling – almost completely at an unconscious level for most people – ... Read more

Why would you write books or poems or plays with only one vowel? Or in palindromes? Or only using the example sentences ... Read more

Ever misspelled a word or committed a typo? It wasn’t your fault; you were demonically possessed. Ian Chillag from Every... Read more

“Hey.”“Going to the supermarket, want me to get you anything?”“Puppies or ice cream?”“What’s your glasses prescription?”... Read more

Hello! I’m currently in hospital so am having to take a little time off work. Therefore, instead of a new Allusionist ep... Read more

When you’re watching a fantasy or science fiction show, and the characters are speaking a language that does not exist i... Read more

“How are you?”“Oh, fine – and you?”“Yeah, not bad. Nice day today, isn’t it?”“Yes, it was a bit chilly this morning, but... Read more

There’s an ocean between Britain and the USA, but an even wider division between each country’s use of a particular word... Read more

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder wants pe... Read more

Strange or obtuse; a stinging homophobic slur; a radical political rejection of normativity; a broad term encompassing e... Read more

When is cheese not cheese, or crab not crab? When it’s spelled cheez or krab or even ch’eese or cra’b… Novelty spellings... Read more

CONTENT WARNING: there is swearing in this episode. But the happy news is: swearing is good for you! Dr Emma Byrne, auth... Read more