"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…

DID YOU KNOW: Before we settled on minutes and seconds, an hour was broken up into points, moments, ounces and atoms. One of many timely facts in the latest Words Unravelled. youtu.be/-nhPlHrJDsQ

A time-sensitive edition of Words Unravelled will be landing in podcast feeds/on YouTube next week. Subscribe here: podfollow.com/words-unrave... or here: youtube.com/@wordsunravelled

A wonderful thing I learned this week is that a "clock" gets its name from the fact it has a bell, not from the fact it shows the time. It's related to 🇩🇪Glocke and 🇫🇷cloche, both of which mean 🔔 Thanks @jesszafarris.bsky.social

Some would call it "a lack of structure". We would call it "the element of surprise".

@footballcliches.bsky.social I'd be interested in the panel's view of the word "winningest". British football coverage seems to survive without it, yet Americans will insist that it fills a genuine niche in the sporting lexicon. I think they're right, but the word simply doesn't sit (or look) right.

Cann yu red thiss? 👆This is what English would look like now, had a medieval monk called Orrmin got his way. He was the first of many people who have tried – and failed – to reform English spelling. In my latest video, I explore the best and worst attempts. PL6Z W5TCH: youtu.be/Orz_TEK7O7k?...

Our cats, Wolf and Vasilisa, made their Words Unravelled debut in our new 🐜 entomological 🐛 etymology episode! Watch to find out why they made such an appropriate visual aid. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw3n...

This happens in our latest episode. But why are we flaunting our pussies in an episode about bugs? Watch to find out: youtu.be/Iw3nl9Xyjik?...

Think PAKE. Essential mug usage advice. youtu.be/ipfVaHoakqc?...

New episode of my fav YouTube channel is up. Yay! Oh, @robwords.bsky.social , @jesszafarris.bsky.social , that handwriting's interpretation was "you have been weighed in the balance & found wanting" & was used in the end scene of KNIGHT'S TALE with Heath Ledger

One of my favorite thing about the days when a new episode of Words Unravelled drops is that @robwords.bsky.social and I have already shared all our fun research with each other, and then we get to learn from even more knowledgeable people in the YouTube comments! www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9B1...

This is so far up my street I've invited it in for dinner. Lovely stuff. Thanks, Jay.

I have a second-hand copy of The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, and every time it falls open at this definition: LOBCOCK: a large relaxed penis; also a dumb inanimate fellow.

What do we reckon? Is "cellar door" objectively beautiful? youtube.com/shorts/lBbw_...

Here's one of the more disturbing frames from my NEW VIDEO exploring the ugliest and prettiest words. Give it a watch: youtu.be/hh5yEKPNEtM?...

SPECIALTY and SPECIALITY. I can't think of another instance where adding a single letter adds *two* syllables. Anyone?

There's a grim reason why Brits prefer to use "transport" instead of "transportation" when talking about cars. Find out what it is in the latest episode of Words Unravelled with me and @jesszafarris.bsky.social youtu.be/kf81cdpXteA?...

Let's settle this! Prettiest word shortlist: 🌹 Mellifluous 🌹 Ethereal 🌹 Serenity 🌹 Luminescence VOTE HERE: youtube.com/post/UgkxsHc... Ugliest word shortlist: 🤮 Moist 🤮 Pulchritudinous 🤮 Rural 🤮 Phlegm VOTE HERE: youtube.com/post/Ugkxy-y...

Help me out with a video. What are the ugliest and loveliest words in the English language?

Are we really having "winningest"?