This week, Kyle and Emily take a slippery step into the world of verglas. A sleek French borrowing with roots in poetry, peril, and absolutely eating it on the pavement. What does it have to do with medieval “Verses of Death”, physics, and the word vitriol? You may want to tread carefully.

Kyle and Emily allow their cups to spilleth over in this cheery, beery, and all around festive dive into the word ‘jorum’. From Hebrew scripture to Arabic pottery to Jesus himself, these biblical vessels are full to the brim with etymological curiosity.

Emily and Kyle enjoy a bit of a break in the weather, and bring you on a journey of a lovesick couple, gods both vengeful and kindhearted, seafaring birds, and the word halcyon.

As dusk falls, Kyle and Emily set out a blanket and do some stargazing, trying to catch a glimpse of that rare and captivating phenomenon: the gegenschein.

Kyle and Emily welcome back the creator of the League of the Lexicon Joshua Blackburn, whose latest work is not a game, but a gorgeously illustrated compendium for the incurably curious, The Language-Lover’s Lexipedia.

Kyle and Emily go back and forth this week with palindromist Barry Duncan, whose masterfully mirrored sentences are more than just clever tricks of language.

This week’s word gets Emily and Kyle one step closer to enlightenment. Well, linguistic enlightenment, if not spiritual. Settle in for a crash course in eastern Buddhism, a ponderous paradox or two, and the history of the word koan.

This week, the Lexiconicon drags Kyle and Emily to Wordition, a hellish realm of scribal errors. Plunging the duo into the fiery margins of medieval manuscripts, the pair must banish an infernal force that now possesses Seth the morally ambiguous word wizard.

Kyle and Emily kick Spooky Season into high gear with a word that is sure to shake you to your core. Come with us, only if you dare, to learn about the spooky, scary, and definitely unsanitary necropants.

This week, Emily and Kyle are joined by Gary Reddin, the creator of the modern-day bestiary Monstrum Obscura, to discuss ‘Blemmyes,’ an etymologically puzzling word that may cause you to lose your head about it.

Kyle’s been burning the midnight oil to show Emily the things that go bump in the night. Turns out the frighteningly named lychnobite isn’t so scary after all!

This week, Kyle and Emily fall into autumn with the warm, withering filemot. From feuille-morte to folium, the journey of this delicate hue reveals a surprising history of paper, pastry, and petals, and flitters freely like a leaf in a fall breeze into much, much more.

This week, Butter No Parsnips welcomes back author, podcaster, and etymological powerhouse Jess Zafarris, whose latest book Useless Etymology proves that it is anything but!

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.