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Popular Word Origins That Are Totally Wrong

Sometimes misunderstandings and made-up origins get popular enough to stick around... we call these "folk etymologies"!
Season 5 Episode 8 Length 07:03 Premiere: 08/21/25

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Season 5 Episodes

The Hidden Linguistic Messages in Brand Names
S5 E10 Length 09:13 Premiere Date 10/28/25

Punctuation's Weird Backstory
S5 E9 Length 09:19 Premiere Date 09/30/25

Popular Word Origins That Are Totally Wrong
S5 E8 Length 07:03 Premiere Date 08/21/25

Is Social Media Censorship Unaliving Language?
S5 E7 Length 07:18 Premiere Date 07/24/25

The Mysterious Origins of Abracadabra and Other Magic Words
S5 E6 Length 07:21 Premiere Date 06/26/25

Where Did Cringey Corporate Jargon Come From?
S5 E5 Length 05:51 Premiere Date 05/22/25

Inside the Fiercest Debate in Linguistics
S5 E4 Length 12:22 Premiere Date 04/24/25

Why A.I. Struggles with Negative Words
S5 E3 Length 07:05 Premiere Date 04/03/25

The Ancient Origins of Body Words
S5 E1 Length 08:36 Premiere Date 01/30/25

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