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salamander - word of the day

From: Charles Hodgson
Length: 00:02:45

The story behind the word "salamander" Read the full description.

Default-piece-image-1 Charles Hodgson's "Etymology Moment" is a series of two to three minute pieces exploring the history of common English words. Intended to be played as a series, either daily or less frequently, each episode talks about a single word, the different meanings it might have had through history and related trivia such as an interesting historical character who used the word early on. The series already has hundreds of episodes to choose from and more are being added each week. Listener endorsements for Charles Hodgson's work include: "A staple of my daily listening, always interesting, kind of relaxing and educational to boot! I love it." (Russell Jenkins) "Mr Hodgson's dry wit and gentle delivery entertain, inform, and calm me down a bit after a hard day's work. A treasure I found months ago and it keeps on giving." (Hamilton UCI) "This is a daily must-listen." (Laurence Simon) "We love this program. It is a great way of learning, one word at a time. Charles has a unique way of pronouncing and interpreting the words. And we love his soothing voice." (Roland Popp) In addition to his "Etymology Moment" Charles Hodgson has written a book (publication August 2007) entitled CARNAL KNOWLEDGE - A Navel Gazer's Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia. Richard Lederer, host of NPR's A Way With Words says of the book: "Master etymologist Charles Hodgson offers a passionate lesson...illuminates how just about every part of the amazing human chassis got its name." Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves says: "Delight your friends (or lose them rapidly) with this fabulous new knowledge presented with deftness and wit."

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Piece Description

Charles Hodgson's "Etymology Moment" is a series of two to three minute pieces exploring the history of common English words. Intended to be played as a series, either daily or less frequently, each episode talks about a single word, the different meanings it might have had through history and related trivia such as an interesting historical character who used the word early on. The series already has hundreds of episodes to choose from and more are being added each week. Listener endorsements for Charles Hodgson's work include: "A staple of my daily listening, always interesting, kind of relaxing and educational to boot! I love it." (Russell Jenkins) "Mr Hodgson's dry wit and gentle delivery entertain, inform, and calm me down a bit after a hard day's work. A treasure I found months ago and it keeps on giving." (Hamilton UCI) "This is a daily must-listen." (Laurence Simon) "We love this program. It is a great way of learning, one word at a time. Charles has a unique way of pronouncing and interpreting the words. And we love his soothing voice." (Roland Popp) In addition to his "Etymology Moment" Charles Hodgson has written a book (publication August 2007) entitled CARNAL KNOWLEDGE - A Navel Gazer's Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia. Richard Lederer, host of NPR's A Way With Words says of the book: "Master etymologist Charles Hodgson offers a passionate lesson...illuminates how just about every part of the amazing human chassis got its name." Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves says: "Delight your friends (or lose them rapidly) with this fabulous new knowledge presented with deftness and wit."

Broadcast History

content posted in different format as a podcast

Transcript

This is the etymology moment, and I'm Charles Hodgson. Today we'll hear the story behind the word salamander.
In his play Henry IV, Shakespeare has Falstaff call Bardolph's face a salamander. Why would he do that? A salamander is a kind of slimy lizard and I checked to see that my memory serves me correctly?it does?one notable fact about salamanders is that they can disconnect their tails from their bodies in order to run away, and grow a new tail. There has been a mythology about salamanders that goes back to the ancient Greeks and it is from the ancient Greeks that we get the word salamander too. That myth is that salamanders can walk through fire or even like to live in fire. Because of this myth there is a heraldic device that involves a salamander surrounded by flames, King Francis I of France made it his own. His motto was nutrisco et extinguo which was Latin and supposed t...
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