Etymoleon - Word History, the etymology podcast.
Word History is a podcast for people who enjoy words and history.
Each episode takes a small set of words linked to a theme. You'll hear what they mean, where they come from and which familiar words share the same linguistic roots, along with stories from the past related to their use.
Listen for words that sharpen expression, and brief histories that show how ideas and practices, as well as language, took shape. Across an archive of more than a hundred episodes, you'll find explanations of word, name and phrase origins.
The majority of etymologies featured return to Old English, Ancient Greek, Latin and Old French, providing a look into languages of the past that underpin English.
New episodes on Sundays.
Play the daily word game Derivety: https://derivety.com
Get in touch: https://etymoleon.com
Etymoleon - Word History, the etymology podcast.
88. Espionage
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This time we're uncovering the origins of espionage-related terms, from bug, alias, and surveillance to eavesdrop and secret, tracing how they entered the English language (and words they are related to). Staying under the radar is a classic spy skill - the word radar began as an acronym for radio detecting and ranging. Discover why James Bond's watch of choice is named Omega, and learn about the earlier names and organisations that eventually became MI5 and the CIA, the British and American intelligence services. Also explored are the English terms that shares linguistic roots with the French jeu de cache-cache and the Spanish el escondite, both names for the childhood game hide and seek.