197. Historiaster: …And The Mess Is History

This week, Kyle and Emily finally throw some shade by learning the etymology and history of the word historiaster. They’ll unearth a treasure trove of historical diss-tracks and put-downs harsh enough to make an intellectual cry “mater”.

Turns out, historians had a lot of strong words for their rivals, and Kyle brings the receipts as he serves the tea on their feuds. And while the consequences of poor writing can certainly be catastrophic, Emily learns that these mediocre words are not a disaster, at least linguistically.

But it’s not only the petty historian with a bone to pick – Kyle discovers professions of all shapes and sizes have known to act as critic to their peers using the little known suffix, -aster. Finally, Emily is tickled pink to breathe new life into the dead-word revitalization project formerly known as Save the Words, with its quirky advice and example sentences.