The word 'travel' is an offshoot of 'travail', meaning 'trouble' or 'torment'. Both are descendants of the Latin 'trepalium', which was an instrument of torture. Travel in the Middle Ages (and beyond) was often arduous and long.

A short piece on names in the dictionary, from Quentin Tarantino to Jack the Lad: inews.co.uk/opinion/eyonce…

Yes, for that we have the Italian ‘sprezzatura’: a casual nonchalance that hides the effort going on behind the scenes.

A snapshot of my current list of situations and emotions that we surely need a word for (I’d welcome your suggestions too): greatbigstory.com/susie-dents-to…

Word of the day is ‘fudgel’ (18th century): to make a big show of working hard whilst actually doing very little.

I love this idea.

It was a treat to chat on BBC Breakfast this morning about local dialects and the words that define us, from barm cakes to chuggy pigs. Which words or expressions transport you immediately back home?

I love how the word 'atone' wears its heart on its sleeve. It began as 'at one', because to atone is to bring back unity. Atonement is really 'at-one-ment'.

In the same way, 'alone' began as 'all one'.

I can give you one of my favourite words from Scots: 'flenched', used for weather that promises to improve but never actually does.

...and I'd be delighted to do personal dedications should anyone fancy one.

Etymology of the day: the name of the Canary Islands didn’t begin with the canary bird. Instead it’s thought that the Latin ‘canaria insula’ described the ‘island of dogs’, because one of the islands had a large population of wild dogs. Which would mean that the archipelago’s…

In Old English, the ampersand, '&', was considered the 27th letter of the alphabet. Children reciting the alphabet in school would chant 'per se', Latin for 'by itself', after letters that were words in themselves: 'A per se A, I per se I', etc, and also '& per se &'. This 'and…

81% of guide dog owners have experienced an access refusal in the past. This should not be the reality for guide dog owners. Can you help us get to 60,000 signatures on our Open Doors petition before we hand it in to Downing Street next week?

Sign here 👉 bit.ly/3U0BaB9

Etymology of the day is ‘bumf’: a shortening of ‘bumfodder’, 19th-century slang for toilet paper. It was later applied to any throwaway material or paperwork.

Word fact of the day (with apologies to those who knew it already): the terms 'upper case' and 'lower case' began with the two type cases or trays that were used in the printing trade to hold the movable type. Each was positioned on an angled stand, and the case containing the…

Congratulations to you both Greg Jenner Dr Campbell Price!

An interesting article about endangered languages, their value, and the efforts to document them.

theguardian.com/science/2024/a…

This was discombobulatingly fun. And just a reminder: this is a comedy podcast!

Word of the day is ‘fling-brand’ (17th century): one who takes pleasure in breeding dissent and argument, purely for the sake of it.