What's in a Name?

Anna and James return to investigate the uncanny world of cryptozoology - at least, in linguistic terms, we're not doing anything that might actually put us in danger or need actual work. In this episode we learn what Yetis eat, find a better name for Stonehenge, and find out that the words beast, animal and deer all derive from the same idea - but which language do we struggle to pronounce more, Cornish or Amharic? And can we finally fix the Loch Ness Monster's branding problem?

Crabcast - Episode 389 April 1st 2021 Opening Music: Deep And Dirty by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5045-deep-and-dirty License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Cover Art Crab photo by Fiatlux Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiatlux/12687848894/ License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Back for a second season (ahem) of etymological excitement, James and Anna have been playing Hades and that's why this month's episode digs into Greek myths to discover everything there is to know about the universal antidote, tricking your way out of the underworld and being given a permanent but useless erection because someone else chose the wrong winner in a beauty contest.

It's time to get technical as James and Anna look at the language of architecture. What has brutalism got to do with being smart? What distinguishes a gargoyle from a grotesque? Can James correctly answer ten questions about castles with no preparation? And will Anna let James coin a new Greek/Latin monstrosity without making a big deal of it?

This week Anna and James use their mutual love of sport (and more specifically, the not playing of it) as a springboard for their etymological enquiries. What does boxing have to do with boxes? What has fencing got to do with fences? And what has snooker got to do with snooks? Discover the answers to these questions and more on this episode.

Yahtzee! And indeed, chess. That's right, in this episode we investigate the origins of the oldest game. No, not that one, board games only. Anna digs into exactly why it is that Monopoly is so dull, James finds out what mahjong has to do with sparrows, and later on we propose a change the name of Scrabble that would, at least, make it easier to score higher with.

What's up, dog? Anna, James and special guest Katie investigate the strange world of dog breeds. Who was St. Bernard? What have puppies got to do with butterflies? And can we possibly track down the person who named the Olde English Bull Dogge and give them a stern talking to?

It's a social isolation special as, in the midst of a global coronavirus pandemic, we take a look at the etymology of disease names. That's right, we're redefining the concept of being a social media influenza, unpicking what COVID-19 really means, and talking too much about things... flowing.