Words Unravelled with RobWords and Jess Zafarris

Rob and Jess are joined by the brilliant John McWhorter to discuss words you're not allowed to use. Professor McWhorter has written extensively about taboos, slurs and profanities and brings his unparalleled expertise on the English language. 🤬 Is "the R word" becoming even more taboo?🤐 Are we "unaliving" our way to a new era of self-censorship?🔄 Can a slur ever be truly "reclaimed"?These questions answered, and many more, in a fascinatingly frank episode of Words Unravelled.More about John: https://johnmcwhorter.org/📕 Nine Nasty Words: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624619/nine-nasty-words-by-john-mcwhorter/👕 OUR MERCH 👚US SHOP: https://wordsunravelledshop.myspreadshop.com/EU/UK SHOP: https://wordsunravelledshop.myspreadshop.net/Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/6JYqGa_-UZE

A lively tour of famous brand-name origins and the strange stories behind them. Short histories reveal why IKEA names products by category and how LEGO’s name means "play well" in Danish. Learn why Häagen‑Dazs sounds European but was made up, how Adidas and Aldi arose from founders' names, and why Pepsi, Google, Shell and Rolex have surprising naming backstories.

A lively dive into the Greek roots of philosophy, from philo and sophia to Socratic questioning and aporia. They trace sophism, rhetorical tricks, and how ideas like stoicism, Epicureanism, cynicism, and platonic love got their names. Etymologies of belief, logos/ethos/pathos, political philosophy labels, and playful takes on parody religions round out the conversation.

They trace dozens of historic and modern sexual terms, from bawdy medieval slang to Victorian euphemisms. They unpack playful phrases like "shaking of the sheets" and Mole Pratley’s jig. They compare how English handles love versus sex, survey oral‑sex and genital slang, and dig into etymologies including Polari, German metaphors, and surprising roots like fornix and fascinum.

They hunt for words English never made, from a simple noun for someone alive to collective aunt/uncle terms. They invent playful fill-ins, compare precise kinship vocabularies, and dive into untranslatable emotional and cultural words like kummerspeck and hiraeth. They trace lost Old English terms, quirky dialect fixes like groke, and how borrowings or coinages plug lexical holes.

They trace words for wheels, mills and ploughs back to ancient roots. They wonder whether sliced bread arrived before the bread-slicer and tell the real story of the ballpoint pen. They unpack trademarked names like zipper, Band-Aid and Xerox and explain how escalate came from escalator. They dig into odd patents, ancient automata and surprising origins of elevator and invention.

A whirlwind tour of how city names reveal history, language contact, and migration. Stories range from Chicago’s garlicky roots to New York’s link with York and Roman-to-Viking name changes. Learn about English suffixes like -ham and -chester, mysterious London origins, Norse and Welsh influences, and surprising name swaps like Austin’s Waterloo and Boston’s transatlantic copy.

They dig into the linguistic roots of spycraft vocabulary, from 'espionage' and 'spy' to reconnaissance and recognizance. Stories include the Chevalier d'Eon, wartime deception like Ultra and Boniface, and famous ciphers such as the Caesar shift and Rossignol's great cipher. Jargon and tradecraft are unpacked, plus origins of surveillance, clandestine terms, and agency naming like MI divisions.

Dive into the fascinating world of tech language! Discover the origins of 'robot' and why it connects to Czech for 'forced labor.' Uncover the infamous line of the first internet troll and how 'spam' links back to Monty Python. Learn the correct pronunciation of 'meme' and trace its roots from Richard Dawkins. Plus, explore the meanings behind 'Jedi' and other iconic sci-fi terms. It's a tech-themed journey packed with quirky etymology and cultural insights!

Rob and Jess are taking a surgical look at words from the world of medicine.💊 What is the Nocebo Effect?🩺 Are doctors named after leeches (or the other way round)?🚑 What does "ambulance" literally mean?These questions answered, and many more, in another wordy nerdy episode of Words Unravelled.👕 OUR MERCH 👚US SHOP: https://wordsunravelledshop.myspreadshop.com/EU/UK SHOP: https://wordsunravelledshop.myspreadshop.net/👀 WATCH THIS EPISODE: https://youtu.be/KVFMuOBPjNs