Etymoleon - Word History, the etymology podcast.

This podcast returns on June 28th 2026. An experiment suggests most people would rather give themselves an electric shock than sit alone with boredom. Excavations reveal students were being punished with the monotony of writing lines thousands of years ago. The computer game millions of office workers have used to kill time was created by an intern.

Alongside these histories, this episode traces the origins of words such as monotony, ennui, onychophagy, ad nauseam, flâneur, meander and cliché.

Transition sound by https://audionautix.com  

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orQKfIXMiA8

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/60360466

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/a-noble-experiment-how-solitary-came-to-america/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20191027-the-word-that-encapsulates-frenchness

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/guy-wrote-windows-solitaire-did-231250280.html

A Hollywood actress's workout helped drive sales of VCRs. A video rental chain laughed at the chance to buy a future streaming giant. Video replay transformed how NFL referees judged the game.

Alongside these histories, this episode traces the origins of words such as betamax, footage, record, kinescope, bootleg, blockbuster and leotard.

Transition sound by https://audionautix.com  

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https://www.wipo.int/en/web/wipo-magazine/articles/50-years-of-the-video-cassette-recorder-35495

https://janefonda.com/the-workout/

https://www.oed.com/discover/revision-bootleg

https://time.com/5776406/blockbuster-meaning/

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/14/netflix-marc-randolph-founder-blockbuster

https://operations.nfl.com/officiating/instant-replay/history-of-instant-replay

A queen travelled with her dead husband's corpse, reportedly opening the coffin along the journey to kiss his feet. The rejection of repeated marriage proposals may have helped shape some of a poet's best work. Studies suggest pheromones can influence how discerning people are when judging the attractiveness of others.

Alongside these histories, this episode traces the origins of words such as callipygian, panache, olfactophilia, limerence, pulchritude, uxorious and sillage.

Transition sound by https://audionautix.com  

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3oCuFRk09w

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligo/lifestyle/yeats-and-gonne-a-love-story/40066934.html

https://www.tutor2u.net/psychology/reference/relationships-physical-attractiveness

This podcast returns on May 31st 2026. A rejected advance gives rise to a false accusation. Twins are born, each to a different father. A king kills his nephews and serves them at a feast. Greek mythology is full of controversial tales. 

Alongside these mythological stories, this episode traces the origins of words such as oppugn, vitriol, infandous, cannibal, inveigh, lurid and obscene. 

Transition sound by https://audionautix.com 
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https://www.greekmythology.com/ 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2018/dec/11/one-set-twins-two-fathers-how-common-is-superfecundation 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHY1HxWadeo

Morphine was first drawn out of opium in 1806 and is named after a god of dreams. Egyptian remedies recorded ingredients that seem hard to take seriously, though some echo ideas later seen in aspirin and penicillin. A gunshot wound would go on to help a 19th century surgeon understand how the body digests food. 

Alongside these histories, this episode traces the origins of words such as analgesic, febrifuge, hospital, accoucheur, PRN and clinic. 

Transition sound by https://audionautix.com 

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https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/41595/pg41595-images.html

https://www.geriwalton.com/bonesetters-joint-manipulators-and-musculoskeletal-fixers/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-19012179

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/21/magazine/the-lives-they-lived-dana-raphael.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772609624000261

https://becker.wustl.edu/news/william-beaumonts-momentous-and-unethical-experiments/