The Unexpected Origins of the Word ‘Monster’

Words don't pop up fully formed... they evolve over thousands of years. What can we learn about our relationship to monsters by tracking the word down into the distant past?

Season 1 Episode 1 Length 08:00 Premiere: 03/24/21

Recent Episodes

Why Linguists Love What's Happening with K-Pop

S6 E1 Length 07:58 Premiere Date 02/03/26

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

Season 1 Episodes

Show Episodes

Show Clips & Previews

60 Euphemisms for Death!

S1 E6 Length 07:11 Premiere Date 09/20/21

Popular Words Invented by Authors

S1 E5 Length 07:21 Premiere Date 07/28/21

What People Get Wrong About African-American English

S1 E4 Length 11:23 Premiere Date 06/16/21

Can Computers Really Talk? Or Are They Faking It?

S1 E3 Length 11:26 Premiere Date 05/05/21

What's the Longest Word?

S1 E2 Length 06:59 Premiere Date 04/14/21