99 episodios
Butter No Parsnips Butter No Parsnips
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- Comedia
Every week on Butter No Parsnips, your hosts Emily Moyers and Kyle Imperatore take you on an adventure through the weird, wacky, wonderful, and sometimes wicked history of one wayside word. Strange characters, delightful bits, and general joyousness abound, join them as they test each other's etymological expertise!
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96. Hoyden
What might Eloise Bridgerton and Eloise at the Plaza have in common? Aside from a name, Emily and Kyle learn that both can be described by this week’s word, hoyden!
Our hosts discuss the many theories surrounding this word: a Dutch origin, a connection to pagan heathens and unkempt heaths, and even a religious connotation. Emily talks about the history of “hoity-toity,” while Kyle tells us why we should all be “flebbin’ with the boys.”
Returning to hoyden, our hosts delve into exactly why this is a word for tomboy girls and rowdy women. They talk about snobs telling rebel women to watch their manners, and some female characters with distinctly on-the-nose names.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore -
95. Privign
This week, our hosts chat about families of all kinds--biological and marital, real and mythical, loving and… strained, as they explore the history of the word privign.
Kyle reveals some little-known Latin words that came before modern words like “stepson” and “stepdaughter.” He talks about how these step- words became common, and what a “stepmom” or “stepdad” might have once meant. But to show us the history of privign, he treats Emily to a bit of theatre!
They look at something called a masque, which is something between a musical and a pantomime. Their theater trip takes Kyle and Emily through some classic Greek mythology, some drama between playwrights, and a surprising connection between Hercules and the Milky Way.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore -
94. Umquhile
This week, Emily stumps Kyle with a word whose spelling and pronunciation defy all expectations… umquhile.
Emily reveals umquhile’s many definitions, including everything from “late” to “sometimes” to “eventually.” She keeps Kyle in suspense about the word’s spelling for a while, starting with a dive into the um- prefix and its use in British mythology.
After a brief quest with a knight from King Arthur’s court, and several former synonyms for “surround,” at last the question of umquhile’s pronunciation is addressed. This leads our hosts to discuss linguistics, Scottish history, and the American Southern drawl.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us!
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore -
93. Vlei
Kyle and Emily trek around the world, and through the wetlands, as they wade into the history of the word vlei.
Our hosts begin with this word’s journey through valleys in the Netherlands and swamps in South Africa. They talk about some of the impacts of Dutch colonialism, and the formation of the South African language Afrikaans.
Kyle spins beautiful tales about places where there’s a lake for half the year and a desert the other half. But his stories don’t only cover the geography of Africa. Kyle also takes Emily across the sea to New York, discussing some Dutch influence in the Hudson Valley and beyond.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore -
92. Dunsel
Emily takes Kyle from the ocean to the sky this week with the seafaring (and spacefaring) word dunsel.
With three potential etymologies, the duo takes a brief stay in a Dutch origin before expanding ever outward to those glorious and historical ships of yore, paintings of which have left viewers with eternal questions such as, “What do all those sails even do?” Which lead to completely indecipherable answers like “main’sle” and “top’sle” and “foc’s’le”, and more still.
Ever upward, Emily takes to the stars with a surprisingly science fiction origin. We get television writing, we get Ray Bradbury, heck, we even get Emily doing one of the best known Spock impressions ever done in the history of podcasting. From nautical to Nemoy, this word is an enormously adventurous one for how it’s defined
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore -
91. Fomite
Kyle grabs the doorknob with his tongue this week to let Emily into the world of the word fomite.
And if you’re still around after reading that sentence, then you’ll have no fear of what follows as Kyle decides to plunge us all head first into the subject of disease transmission. Not before, of course, introducing us to that household name Girolamo Fracastoro who was among the first to fathom the concept of transmission in any modern way.
Fomite brings us from atomism to the early days of germ theory to the recent pandemic (or epidemic for the more colloquial type). And while you might hope the disease talk is over, Kyle makes sure Emily is good and ill by the time he’s wrapping up by touching on infections, syphilis, and worst of all, back-formations.
Join us every week as we explore the fascinating origins and meanings of words, uncovering the hidden stories behind language and how it evolves over time, for language enthusiasts and etymology buffs alike.
Like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ButterNoParsnipsPodcast
Follow us on TikTok @ButterNoParsnips
Support us
www.patreon.com/ButterNoParsnips
Produced by Seth Gliksman, Kyle Imperatore, and Emily Moyers
Main theme and accompanying themes by Kyle Imperatore