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Getting Down & Wordy

Humorous Etymological Research Probing English Songs - A moderately researched, moderately funny chat show about popular music and language. We are a Podmoth Network podcast.

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Ghost & Metal

In honor of Halloween we decided to talk about the Swedish metal band Ghost and the etymology of metal, both as a word for the substance and as a word for the music. In Eurovision, we talk about Azerbaijan's 2022 song Fade to Black by Nadir Rustamli.

1hr 33mins

30 Oct 2022

Rank #1

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Eiffel 65 "Blue" & the Color Blue

We talk about the Eiffel 65 song "Blue", the etymology of the word blue and some common idioms and expressions using the word blue. And for Eurovision, this week we discuss Switzerland's 2022 song "Boys Do Cry" by Marius Bear.

1hr 35mins

16 Oct 2022

Rank #2

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Lil Uzi Vert "Glock in my Purse" & the Gender-fication of the Purse

We talk about Lil Uzi Vert. Are they a Dr. Seuss character? Also the history of the purse and how it became pointlessly gendered. And from Eurovision, we discuss Tiktok phenomenon song "Snap" by Rosa Linn, and a little about the Armenian language.

1hr 31mins

2 Oct 2022

Rank #3

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Die Toten Hosen "Kein Alkohol" & Beer with Paisley from Learn German Through Music

Special guest Paisely from the podcast Learn German Through Music joins us to talk about Die Toten Hosen, the etymology of beer and alcohol, and Oktoberfest. And we discuss 2022 Eurovision German entry, "Rockstar" by Malik Harris. Listen to Learn German Through Music on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3JpaBUaBBb9JWk2djk533g?si=55b0eba0fa6b4a30

1hr 28mins

18 Sep 2022

Rank #4

Most Popular Podcasts

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Rebecca Black "Friday" & The Weekend

We talk about Rebecca Black's meteoric super hit song "Friday" and the history and etymology of the weekend. As for Eurovision, we discuss Sam Ryder's "Spaceman".

1hr 58mins

4 Sep 2022

Rank #5

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Beyonce "Break My Soul" & Contractions

We talk about Beyonce's "Break My Soul", contractions, particularly "won't" and why we it isn't "willn't". In Eurovision we talk about Moldova's "Trenuleţul" by Zdob şi Zdub & Advahov Brothers and the cedilla and the comma below in Romanian.

1hr 36mins

21 Aug 2022

Rank #6

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That's Not My Name by The Ting Tings & Nicknames and Pet Names

We talk about the etymology of the words nickname and pet name, why some nicknames don't look much like the name they're shortened from (like Robert -> Bob). Honorifics. Pet names through history. And for Eurovision we talk about Give That Wolf a Banana by Subwoolfer.

1hr 43mins

7 Aug 2022

Rank #7

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Lizzo & Overstand

We talk about Lizzo and her use of the word "overstand" in a statement she made apologizing for using ableist language. We look at the history and meanings of overstand and also ableist language and words you may not have realized are ableist. For Eurovision, we do Slo Mo by Chanel and discuss a few of the differences between the Spanish of Spain and the Spanish of Latin America.

1hr 34mins

24 Jul 2022

Rank #8

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Super Gremlin by Kodak Black & Gremlins

We discuss the etymology of the word gremlin from its origins in fighter pilot culture to the Chris Columbus movie, which . . is it racist? I mean, besides the Asian culture racism. Are gremlins a racist caricature of African Americans? Then we talk about some other country's weirdly specific monsters. And we discuss our first Eurovision song of the 2022 contest - Romania's Llamame by Wrs, plus Romanian idioms! . . Which are quite possibly the best idioms, it turns out. Other stuff . . . for some reason we talk about how gold is calcified Jesus pee. We explain the slang 'no cap' and half explain 'ops'. The origin of the word 'glitch' and 'bug'. As usual, we did a lot of research and incorporated like 10% of it into the episode very ineffectually. We do say the F word a few times here so I'm marking it explicit, but it's otherwise really tame and nice. 

1hr 24mins

10 Jul 2022

Rank #9

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Have an abortion . . songs episode

We talk about pop songs about abortion and the etymology and history surrounding the word abortion. Also we play a game we're calling Kinkshame Abort Cancel. And we talk about other healthcare procedures which would make good pop songs. This episode is bound to be offensive to many. Don't @ us. Sum 41's doctor said your mom should've had an abortion, and we support that.

1hr 33mins

26 Jun 2022

Rank #10