Dead Air
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Dead Air
Learn about the English language, culture, history and traditions with the Bulldogz team of native teachers and special guests!
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Need to know - Saint George
The patron Saint of England, although he was not an English man and it
is highly unlikely he even ever went to England. George is in fact a

Need to Know: Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, although he was not Irish. He is celebrated on March 17th , known as Saint Patrick's Day, which has beco...

Interesting Etymoliges Series One Finale
"Hello again word lovers!"
A finale to our first series of Interesting Etymologies as Charly dives into a hotch-potch, a mish-mash of his fav...

Soundbook: The Bet by Anton Chekhov
Short story The Bet, part of our Soundbook collection.
The tale sees a banker recalling a dinner party some 15 years previous in which he en...

Interesting Etymologies Opposites
"Hello again word lovers!" Some interesting examples of curious opposites in English in this penultimate episode of series one of Interesting Etymolo...

Interesting Etymologies African
"Hello again Word Lovers!"
In this episode we examine some words that have come into English from African. This is not as distinct from PIE root...

Soundbook: Moon-face by Jack London
A short story by Jack London published in 1902 explores the protagonist and how he is consumed with his irrational hatred of another man, John Claverh...

Dead Air: Strange Christmas Traditions
Dead Air - Strange Christmas Traditions
We return at Christmas time to look at some strange traditions across the world. We discover what the Ja...

Interesting Etymologies Scottish
"Hello again word lovers!"
As we near the end of the Interesting Etymology series Charly takes a whirlwind tour of Scottish words that have tran...

Interesting Etymologies: Flowers
"Hello again Word Lovers!"
In this episode we are going to look at the names of flowers. There are different categories to consider, with words...

Need to Know: Saint Nicholas
The 6th of December is the feast day of Saint Nicholas, better known to you and me as Santa Claus. The story of this man's journey from Greek/Turkis...

Interesting Etymologies The Alphabet
"Hello again Word Lovers!"
Rather than investigate the origin of words this episode, we discover the original meaning of the letters of the alph...

Need to know Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew the Patron Saint of Scotland, fisherman and a host of other places and people is celebrated on his feast day 30th November.

Interesting Etymologies: Hybrids
"Hello again word lovers"
A brief by-water of etymological discussion, hybrid words. Mixing words from Latin and Greek roots.
<...

Need to know Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia, the Saint of musicians amongst many others, celebrates her feast day on the 22nd of November.
For the article ve...

Interesting Etymologies: Greek 3
"Hello again word lovers"
We continue our exploration of Greek with more prefixes and some interesting nods to mythology.
Associated a...

Interesting Etymologies: Greek 2
"Hello again Word Lovers!"
We continue our exploration of Greek as we delve into the words for people and relationships between people, numbers,...

Interesting Etymologies: Greek 1
"Hello again word lovers" We begin our dive into Ancient Greek with some prefixes and parts of the body. There is a huge amount of material to cover...

Need to know Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot
Remember, Remember the 5th of November: A cultural touchstone in Britain, Guy Fawkes night, Bonfire night or Fireworks night is celebrated every Novem...

Interesting Etymologies - The Bible
"Hello word lovers!"
We deviate from our usual path this episode to investigate some translation from the Bible. The word of God can be tricky a...

Interesting Etymologies - Old Norse 3
"Hello again Word Lovers"
This is the third installment of words that come into English through Old Norse. We cover some basic nouns, adjecti...

Interesting Etymologies - Old Norse 2
"Hello again Word Lovers"
We continue with our journey through the word horde of Old Norse that feeds into Modern English.
<...

Interesting Etymologies - Old Norse
"Hello again word lovers!"
Today we will begin the first of a three part exploration of one of the major repositories of English,...

Interesting Etymologies - Philosophy
"Hello again word lovers!"
Charly thinks that perhaps this should have been the first edition of Interesting Etymologies because e...

Interesting Etymologies - Irish
"Hello again word lovers!"
In this instalment, we head west across the Irish sea to look at words that have come to English from I...

Interesting Etymologies - Etymologists
"Hello again Word Lovers!"
A little diversion today as we are going to look at Etymologists rather than Etymology! How many etymo...

Interesting Etymologies - Heraldry
"Hello again word lovers!" Today we are exploring the vocabulary surrounding the topic of heraldry. There are some genuinely interesting etymologies p...

Interesting Etymologies - People
"Hello again word lovers!"
And today we will be looking at words that come from the names of people. We are not going to delve int...

Need to know - Cincomarzada
Once again we here in Zaragoza get to enjoy a local bank holiday this Monday. Let us explain all you need to know about this wonderful break from the...

Need to know - Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine! A story of massacres and certainly no bed of roses. How did a third-century priest in Rome become the patron saint of flower sellers...

Interesting Etymologies - Persian
"Hello again word lovers!"
In this show we are going to look at words that have merged from Persian. This is a relative mystery to...

Need to know - Santa Agueda
Have you noticed cakes in shop windows that look like, ahem, well, boobs?
Have you wanted to know what this was all about but too terrified to a...

Interesting Etymologies - Political correctness
PLEASE BE ADVISED: This episode involves discussion of some terms that may cause offence.
"Hello again word lovers!" In this episo...

Interesting Etymologies - Dead Languages
"Hello again word lovers!" We have looked at words that have come to English from very far flung roots and some of the languages they have travelled t...

Need to know - San Valero
San Valero, Rosconero y ventolero! All you need to know about this celebration of Saint Valero, the Patron Saint of Zaragoza, is right here.

Interesting Etymologies - Non-PIE
"Hello again word lovers!" In this episode we are looking for words in English that have come from a non PIE root. A packed epsiode with a plentiful s...

Interesting Etymologies - Mythical beasts
"Hello again word lovers!" Today we are going into the realms of myth, particulalry that of mythical beasts.
From the Phoenix to t...

Interesting Etymologies - Acronyms
"Hello again word lovers!" and in this instalment we are going to look at words formed from initial letters, known as acronyms. These are not to be co...

Need to know - Three Kings
Need to know : The Three Kings
Bearing gifts we travel afar....The Spanish tradition of "Reyes" that extends the magic of the Chri...

Interesting Etymologies - Ebonics
"Hello again Word Lovers!" - In this week we are taking a slight diversion as we look at words developed within English but influenced by other langua...