If you’re looking for some gentle Christmas viewing, here’s @jesszafarris.bsky.social and me going through some festive word origins: youtu.be/9A0hAxeFyo4

I am tremendously excited about this. Join me for evening of word-nerdery at London's Bloomsbury Theatre. Tickets just went on sale here: www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-t...

Some very literal German names for animals. From my latest newsletter: open.substack.com/pub/robwords...

Wait, what? From 1586.

@colmoregan.bsky.social Colm! I'm excitedly awaiting a copy of Galivanting with Words, but are there any plans for an audiobook? I fear the dorky English voice in my head is going to make a hash of the words.

I've just published another newsletter brimming with wordy nerdy curiosities. Did you know there's a word for "shaped like a turnip"? Read the whole thing for free below.

What’s turkey got to do with the country of Turkey? Why doesn’t the bird have a Native American name since it’s indigenous to the Americas? @robwords.bsky.social has your answers in this deep dive into the etymology of the word “turkey”. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJJs...

English has Germanic DNA, but with most of its words having been pilfered from French and Latin, is it still technically a Germanic language? @jesszafarris.bsky.social and I put that question to bed in the latest episode of Words Unravelled. youtu.be/DSD_kMu1INk?...

Watching James Lewis pick up charming bits and bobs at a French market is immensely relaxing. youtu.be/YT-dNGbH0lA?...

And Mr. Hieber's newsletter is a must for updates and thoughtful commentary from the world of linguistics. I never miss it. Here: LinguisticDiscovery.Substack.com

The first 'satellite' was neither an orbiting space gizmo nor a hunk of cosmic rock. It was a person. Read about it in my latest newsletter:

This handsome pair interrupted filming this afternoon. The theme of the video? The origin of the word 'dog'.

Who's on Substack? I've just started publishing my wordy nerdy newsletter and other bits and bobs over there. There are 10 editions for you to read already. Come join me: substack.com/@robwords

Give me 10 seconds of your time and I'll tell you the origins of our days of the week. youtube.com/shorts/JVQfU...

Did you know that "noon" never used to be at 12? Or that a "second" is actually the second of something? These are just a couple of the revelations in my latest wordy nerdy video. Do please give it a watch: youtu.be/TK-8gfqmFNo?...

Picked up something special on my way through London. Courtesy of @jayforeman.bsky.social & @markcooperjones.bsky.social

3 years ago, I shook the military establishment to its core by rearranging its ranks by literal meaning. It was great news for captains ("heads") but miserable for field marshals ("horse servants"). Now @jonnelledge.bsky.social has taken on the subject: open.substack.com/pub/jonn/p/h...

On today's episode of Words Unravelled, @robwords.bsky.social and I celebrated 100K YouTube subscribers ✨ in person ✨ with 100 quick-fire word facts. Thank you to everyone who tunes in each week, and major thanks to our editor @martynmnw.bsky.social. Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPfb...

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet (ALFA, BRAVO, CHARLIE etc.) is neither a phonetic alphabet, nor a product of NATO. I've sifted through loads of old documents to find its true origins and, OSCAR MIKE GOLF, is it fascinating. Check out my video here (2 million people already have!): youtu.be/UAT-eOzeY4M

THE PRINTING PRESS (Palindrome) Repaper: I snap, my tone placid. A rare vellum knits art, no coil of fires.... Midst no felt tome, we gape, we gage, we page, we mottle fonts. Dim serif, folio, contrast, ink, mull ever a radical pen.... O, tympans! I repaper.

"If you like, I will hot it." I'm going to enjoy watching Daniel read this silly, silly book.

W[h]AT [p)SYC[h]O DESI[g]NED OUR TONG[ue]?? English has a major silent letter problem. How did it end up this way? Wa[t]ch my new video to find out: youtu.be/NXVqZpHY5R8

SPOILER: Yours truly.

Word Unravelled just hit 100k subscribers on YouTube! For such a geeky little channel, that is fabulous. Thank you if you subscribed. And thanks to @jesszafarris.bsky.social & @martynmnw.bsky.social for making it all so fun.

As of last week, Words Unravelled was BOTH a finalist for Best New Podcast in the British Podcast Awards AND ranked among the Top 10 for Listeners' Choice! Big thanks to everyone who voted, and if you haven't, @robwords.bsky.social, @martynmnw.bsky.social and I would be mighty grateful if you did.

This video has a million views now, which is just silly.

We’re doing another idiom-themed episode of Words Unravelled, and I would love suggestions for terms to research.

Lovely stuff from @ericabrozovsky.bsky.social on dodgy word origins. youtu.be/2kYr8wdJLdo?...

BEHOLD my latest video, in which a sweaty man tries to teach you hieroglyphs. youtu.be/90An1dnvwyc Please watch. Cheers, 𓂋𓃀𓏏 Rebet

New alleged podcast comes amid reports of knobbly monsters.

just voted for the show “Words Unravelled” featuring @jesszafarris.bsky.social & @robwords.bsky.social for www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting it is sincerely a bright light in this dark world of ours. thanks for making the show 🙏❤️

Blimey, little old us? Thanks if you already voted. If you haven't, please do as Zafarris says.

Avgeeks! I just thoroughly enjoyed watching "Aviation Words" on the Words Unravelled YouTube channel by @robwords.bsky.social & @jesszafarris.bsky.social. If you are interested in learning about the word origins of your favourite aviation terminology, this is for you. 🛩️🔗 youtu.be/v2pWWECvdvc?...

Entertaining episode of Robwords, in which @robwords.bsky.social explores the origin of units of measurement. Furlongs, perches and barleycorns, anyone? (I am so glad Australia dumped imperial measurements before I started high school physics!) youtu.be/pM3c328VifA?...

@ianbetteridge.com Hey Ian. In five hours I'm recording a podcast about journalistic language and your name is certain to come up. After over a decade of eponymy, how do you feel about your "Law"? Got a favourite example of a breach?

I enjoy this bit so much. Our recent weather episode contained a classic: youtu.be/JC79Go-MmaE?...

Pure brilliance.

🏋🏻‍♀️ OUNCE and 📏 INCH both trace back to the exact same Latin word: UNCIA meaning "twelfth". That's why there are 12 inches to the foot and... 16 ounces to the pound (blame the French). For all manner of measurement etymology madness, do please give my NEW VIDEO a watch: youtu.be/pM3c328VifA

Join my Patreon where the fun never stops.

FLIPPIN' HECK!! Words Unravelled has been nominated for a BRITISH PODCAST AWARD! How's about that @jesszafarris.bsky.social ? Thank you so much if you have listened or watched. And extra thanks to our third word nerd, editor @martynmnw.bsky.social

In French, to point out that a word is feminine you have to use the masculine form of the word feminine.

Is “funnest” wrong? Why does “cheese and macaroni” sound cursed? Is “drive slow” bad grammar? @robwords.bsky.social and I grilled @grammargirl.bsky.social on common grammar gripes, from flat adverbs to the Oxford comma. New Words Unravelled episode out now! www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C9n...

Is it "on accident" or "by accident"? Is "10 items or less" okay? Are road signs wrong to tell us to "drive slow"? 'Grammar Girl' Mignon Fogarty joined us to expose some grammar myths and mistakes on Words Unravelled. It was a blast. Thanks, @grammargirl.bsky.social WATCH: youtu.be/9C9nvVUEuOI

Want to know the entire history of the English language but have only 22 minutes (and 21 seconds) to spare? My NEW VIDEO has you covered. It's all there: 🥧 P-I-E 🗡 Old English 👅 Great Vowel Shift 🎭 Shakespeare and loads besides. WATCH HERE: youtu.be/0gHE9blt0mQ

I was looking up whether 🇬🇧 MUNCH and 🇫🇷 MANGER are related (answer: maybe) and now can't get this 1530 quote out of my head. "Are you not ashamed to munch your meat like a carter?"

Very cool to get a mention in today's @1440daily.bsky.social newsletter. If you haven't seen my video about the pseudo-magical way babies learn language, it's here: youtu.be/Frosv3oBa6Y?...

You can often swap the É at the start of a French word with an S and get closer to the English equivalent: 🇫🇷 État 🇬🇧 State 🇫🇷 Étude 🇬🇧 Study 🇫🇷 Étrange 🇬🇧 Strange 🇫🇷 Écoute 🇬🇧 Scout (seriously, they're related) But why? @jesszafarris.bsky.social and I have been talking it out. youtu.be/PfK6C7NASqQ

👩‍🍼Why do so many words for mother begin with M? 🍌Why do kids call bananas "nanas" and computers "puters?" The fascinating answers to both these questions are in my NEW VIDEO: youtu.be/Frosv3oBa6Y?... Please share with anyone you know who has/was a baby.

early childhood development is fascinating, especially (imho) language acquisition. also @robwords.bsky.social makes great linguistics videos. y'all should check him out! youtu.be/Frosv3oBa6Y?...

Recently on a musical etymology episode of Words Unravelled, @robwords.bsky.social and I were discussing the origins of the words violin and fiddle when…