Kyle and Emily enter the arena this week for a word of derision, spectacle, and ancient sport: ludibrious.

Emily and Kyle learn what the average Steve does for a living, what makes shipping so expensive, and who swears like a sailor (aside from a sailor), as they explore the history of the word stevedore.

Kyle and Emily get a little impolite, discussing the meaning and origin of churlish—a word you might’ve heard before but has plenty to surprise you!

This week, Emily and Kyle are tackling the great panjandrum himself, exploring the humorous origins and unexpected usage of this decidedly impressive word.

EPICnyms are back! In this, the fifth (third?) installment of the EPICnyms series, Emily and Seth take you on a ride from phooey to philosophy.

This week, Kyle and Emily are joined by special guest Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, as they take a deep dive into catachresis, a word that stretches the very concept of meaning and walks the line between metaphor and malfunction.

Emily and Kyle take a look through their calendar… and through the history of the calendar, as they discuss the meaning and origin of the word calends.

This week, Kyle and Emily are shaking things up! They discuss the meaning and origin of the word quagswagging, a quivering, swaggering word with a delightful ring to it.

Emily’s feeling generous this week, so she’s gifted Kyle a word with a delightful meaning and fascinating origin, lagniappe.

Kyle and Emily get to work at their favorite side hustle, separating “work” from “bywork” and unpacking the meaning and origin of the word parergon.

This week, Emily and Kyle get their vacation time approved and finally take that holiday to France, exploring the meaning and origin of the word congé along the way.

Kyle and Emily look at the meaning and origin of vignette, a word which gives them snapshots of life in everything from illuminated manuscripts to early photography, and from book illustrations to theatrical tableaus.

Emily and Kyle put on their warmest coats and travel up North, braving cold weather and accent challenges to discuss the meaning and origin of the word nesh.

Kyle and Emily brave the terrifying, technical world of math, and get to know a wonderful wizard of a man along the way, as they discuss the meaning and origin of logarithmotechny.

Emily and Kyle look at some whimsical poems and delightful nonsense, as they try—perhaps in vain—to ascertain the meaning and origin of the word runcible.

Kyle and Emily wax nostalgic, poetic, and wode over a deceptively familiar word, looking through Middle English and modern fantasy for the history of the word wroth.

Emily and Kyle get away from the hustle and bustle, and take a linguistic drive to the countryside--discussing suburbs, cemeteries, and the history of the word exurb.

In this very special guest episode, Kyle, Emily, and Seth are all joined by author Gabe Henry who’s been walking in the particularly large shoes of Teddy Roosevelt lately with the recent release of his book Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell.

Kyle and Emily are embroiled once more in Seth’s conjurations of the Lexiconicon when he introduces them to this week’s word: bizarro. Seth traces this word’s tangled roots from French to Italian to Spanish (and maybe Basque?) only as a courtesy to what lies ahead.

Kyle really gets Emily itching for a word this week, but don’t worry, it’s probably just formication. From medieval pustules to meth mites, this week's word scurries through centuries of medical language and insect-inspired metaphors.