This week, Susie and Gyles unravel the intricate history of dictionaries, those indispensable guides that serve as gateways to language. From ancient lexicons to modern compendiums, we explore how dictionaries have shaped our understanding of words and the world around us. And Gyles lets us know how his weight lifting is going...
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Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Idioticon : A dialect dictionary.
Limbeck: To rack the brain and exhaust yourself in an effort to come up with a new idea.
Proggle: To poke, prod, or grubble about.
Gyles' poem this week was 'Shakespeare at School' by Wendy Cope
Forty boys on benches with their quills
Six days a week through almost all the year,
Long hours of Latin with relentless drills
And repetition, all enforced by fear.
I picture Shakespeare sitting near the back,
Indulging in a risky bit of fun
By exercising his prodigious knack
Of thinking up an idiotic pun,
And whispering his gem to other boys,
Some of whom could not suppress their mirth –
Behaviour that unfailingly annoys
Any teacher anywhere on earth.
The fun was over when the master spoke:
Will Shakespeare, come up here and share the joke.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Apr 15
33 min
This week Susie and Gyles get lost in the world of nonsensical language, and embrace the weird, wacky and wonderful ways the English language can be.
Your favourite duo also pay homage to the masters of nonsensical language – Dr. Seuss, whose fantastical worlds and playful rhymes have enchanted generations of readers; Spike Milligan, the irreverent genius known for his zany humor and inventive wordplay; and Edward Lear, the Victorian poet and artist renowned for his witty limericks and nonsensical verse.
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Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Spissitude: Thickness or compactness.
Latescent: Slowly becoming hidden.
Gronk: Fluff between your toes.
Gyles' poem this week was 'The Owl and the Pussy-Cat' by Edward Lear
I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"
II
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
III
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Apr 8
45 min
This week Susie and Gyles delve back into a favourite topic, shoes.
Inspired by purple person Kevin, the origins of all manner of footwear are discussed such as Oxford's, Brogue's and Gibson's.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
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Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Obloquy: public condemnation.
Myrmidon: Someone who unscrupulously follows someone more powerful.
Naiad: a nymph of lakes, springs and rivers.
Gyles' poem this week is called 'Life Is Like A Pair Of New Shoes' by Cameron Delaney
Life's like a pair of new shoes
Their sparkling brand-new white hues
The stiff soles and laces
Tied up tightly like braces
That eventually wear down as you use
Life's like a pair of new shoes
They go in directions you choose
Down city street blocks
Wherever you walk
They stride along as you cruise
Lifes like a pair of new sneaks
When you first try to wear 'em they squeak
You run down the court
Of an athletic sport
And you show off your skilled techniques
Life's like a pair of new boots
Some fashionable leather beauts
You strut through the city
And you look real pretty
In your white collar buisness suits
Life's like a pair of new shoes
That wear out from years of good use
But soon they get old
And the insides have mold
And by the trashcan we say our "adieus"
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Apr 1
37 min
Sathnam has written Empireland and more recently Empireworld, two bestselling books which have garnered him critical acclaim, a Channel 4 documentary and which - even more crucially - have changed the national discourse around our colonial past. Without necessarily meaning to, Sathnam has become a historian. But his success has not been uncomplicated: he’s suffered horrendous racist abuse which has changed the way he goes out into the world (sometimes).
On How to Fail Sathnam discusses how he avoids joining in, the importance of saying thank you and why the best teachers can make a lifelong impact. Plus: why nuance in discussion is often ignored but absolutely vital.
How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.
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Mar 28
46 min
This week it's about the birthday boy, as we celebrate all things Gyles Brandreth.
Not only does Gyles spoil us with a plethora of his famous anecdotes, but he becomes the linguistics quizmaster and places Susie in the hot seat to answer questions from his book 'Have You Eaten Grandma'.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GYLES! You are truly one of a kind.
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Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Galere: A coterie of undesirable people.
Chawbacon: One uninterested in culture.
Boulevardier: A lover of boulevards.
Gyles' poem this week was the incredibly emotive 'Counting Backwards' by Linda Pastan.
How did I get so old,
I wonder,
contemplating
my 67th birthday.
Dyslexia smiles:
I’m 76 in fact.
There are places
where at 60 they start
counting backwards;
in Japan
they start again
from one.
But the numbers
hardly matter.
It’s the physics
of acceleration I mind,
the way time speeds up
as if it hasn’t guessed
the destination—
where look!
I see my mother
and father bearing a cake,
waiting for me
at the starting line.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Mar 25
43 min
From the latin word dicere meaning ‘to speak, to tell or to say’. This week Susie and Gyles are looking at the ultimate word bible, the dictionary!
Gyles ponders the difference between a glossary and a dictionary.
And Susie delves into prescriptivism vs descriptivism
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And now for three bite sized words from Susie in her trio:
Thruffable: Open and transparent (through).
Wambliness: An upheaval of the stomach.
Boodyankers: An exclamation of surprise or delight (Northumberland).
Gyles’s poem comes from his friend and neighbour James K Harris and is called ‘I Don’t’
I don't, of course, mean everything I say.
I mean, sometimes, I don't know what I mean.
Sometimes I have a thought which goes astray.
I start describing blue, it turns out green.
The alphabet is very volatile. Its union is hard to bring to heel. It's easy to fall victim to its guile.
You think you're describing what you feel, but then you find the words describing you.
And so one sees oneself in their dark light. One thinks one is describing what is true, then suddenly one sees one isn't right.
In which case, still, it's true that one was wrong.
Well, truth, in some guys, always comes along.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Mar 18
31 min
The 90s was a crazy decade, brimming with pop culture moments that defined Britain. Susie and Gyles discuss words that gained popularity in the post Cold War era, from Cool Britannia, to the Spice Girls, Dianamania to the World Wide Web...
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
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Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Solacious: Soothing or comforting.
Soodle : To linger or dawdle.
Splatherdab: A gossip.
Gyles' poem this week was 'This Boy' by Leigh Lawson, who wrote it upon the birth of his first grandson, Solomon.
He gives me joy, this boy,
Unspeakable, inexpressible.
This boy gives me joy.
Inexplicable, unexplainable.
This boy brings me joy.
Let bells ring, choirs sing,
Chimes chime, poets rhyme,
Trumpets trump, drums drum,
Feet stamp, guitars strum.
Higher than the moon,
Oh, hotter than the sun,
Deeper than the sea,
Is the joy this boy brings to me.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Mar 11
41 min
'A moo point is like a cows opinion, it doesn't matter, it's moo'. This week Gyles and Susie have fun looking at the influence that television has had on language.
Gyles gets nostalgic with some of his and his children's favourite UK and American TV programmes.
And Susie explores the words that were popularised by these household TV shows.
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Why not work one of Susie's trio's into a sentence this week?
Crumpsy: Cranky and irritable from old dialect.
Braggadocio: An idle or empty boaster, all mouth and no trousers.
Apostasise: To abandon a once firmly held promise or principal.
Gyles' poem comes from our listener Chris McAuley and is titled 'Father'
If you find yourself forgetting the small things like keys,
Moments which we spent together feeding the ducks or playing in the park,
I shall remember them for you,
And in those memories be still guided by your hand
As we walk through the town on that cold rainy day.
Someday, I will forget those times.
They will be cast to the wind,
Scattered like leaves caught in the maelstrom of time.
But today, I sit with my cup of tea and think about the small moments
Of those precious days, and how much they mean to me.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Mar 4
27 min
Flow it, show it, grow it! This week Susie and Gyles look at the history and etymology of all things to do with hair.
Gyles takes us down memory lane and tells us about when he used to rock a full facial set (head to our social media pages for pics!)
And Susie does what she does best, by entertaining us with fascinating origin stories behind this luscious topic.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
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Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Tabanca: The pain of unrequited love.
Redamancy: The state of being loved in return.
Gruglede (Norwegian): Happy dread.
Gyles' poem this week was a excerpt from the song 'Hair' by the cast of 'Hair - The Musical'
Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair
Let it fly in the breeze
And get caught in the trees
Give a home to the fleas in my hair
A home for fleas
A hive for bees
A nest for birds
There ain't no words
For the beauty, the splendor, the wonder
Of my...
Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair
I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy
Shining, gleaming, streaming
Flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted
Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled, and spaghettied!
Oh say can you see
My eyes if you can
Then my hair's too short
Down to here
Down to there
I want hair
Down to where
It stops by itself
They'll be ga ga at the go go
When they see me in my toga
My toga made of blond
Brilliantined
Biblical hair
My hair like Jesus wore it
Hallelujah I adore it
Hallelujah Mary loved her son
Why don't my mother love me?
Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Feb 26
35 min
Dive into the groovy world of etymology as we journey back to the vibrant decades of the 70s and 80s in this week's episode. Join Susie and Gyles and get ready to disco through the evolution of language, exploring the funky slang, radical expressions, and iconic phrases that defined these iconic eras.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
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Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Bagasse: A plant residue (as of sugarcane or grapes) left after a product (such as juice) has been extracted.
Ale-conner: A beer tester.
Misslieness: A feeling of solitude that comes from missing a beloved person or thing.
Gyles' poem this week was 'On The Edge' by Jane McCulloch
Staring down at the dark abyss,
I am balanced on a ledge.
Hovering above that thin line which runs between sanity and madness.
And they call the edge.
Some event, some news, some action has propelled me into missile like spin.
While all around they have no idea of the torment, the terror, the struggle coming from within.
A telephone rings. The doorbell goes. People are laughing.
Now I sway.
Should I let go?
Give up and fall?
So much easier to give in.
No. Not this time. Not today.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Feb 19
47 min
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