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The Allusionist

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A PODCAST ABOUT LANGUAGE
BY HELEN ZALTZMAN

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The Allusionist

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Allusionist 186. Ravels

December 12, 2023 The Allusionist
a boggle grid spelling out the word 'ravels'

We’ve got knitting! We’ve got eponyms!! We’ve got knitting eponyms!!! Which come with a whole load of battles, f-boys, duels, baseball, scandals - and socks, lots of socks.

Fibre artist and Yarn Stories podcaster Miriam Felton discusses why grafting should ditch the name 'kitchener stitch'; we learn about the eponymous cardigan; and three towns in Ontario take pretty different approaches to having problematic namesakes.

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In episodes, Telling Other Stories, eponyms Tags etymology, vocabulary, history, denaming, renaming, Telling Other Stories, Miriam Felton, Canada, Canadian, Canadian history, UK, British, Britain, British history, wars, war, battles, Second Boer War, Africa, South Africa, concentration camps, Crimean War, Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Battle of Balaclava, World War One, First World War, WW1, 19th century, 20th century, Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill, knitting, knitwear, knit, terminology, crafts, stitches, graft, grafting, Lord Kitchener, Lord Cardigan, Lord Raglan, Ceredigion, eponyms, Ontario, Russell, towns, military, army, conflict, campaigns, yachts, horse, cardigan, socks, raglan sleeve, seams, balaclava, Ravelry, King County, German, Germany, Berlin, House of Windsor, royals, monarchy, dachshunds, buns, lawsuits, schisms, criminal conversation, duels, referendums, politics, patriotism, garments, innovation, baseball, codes, spies, espionage, Vogue, knitting patterns, namesakes, Martin Luther King Jr, cachalot

Allusionist 69. How the Dickens Stole Christmas

December 8, 2017 The Allusionist
A69 Dickens Xmas logo.jpg

Charles Dickens wrote about the plight of the impoverished and destitute members of British society. So how come his name is a synonym for rosy-cheeked, full-stomached, fattened-goose, hearty merry "God bless us every one" Christmas?

Avery Trufelman and Katie Mingle of 99% Invisible report from the streets of Victorian London at the annual Dickens Christmas Fair in Daly City, California, while historian Greg Jenner explains the origins of the festive traditions for which Dickens gets the credit, without even wanting the credit - in fact, his motivation for writing A Christmas Carol was far from a cash-in on Christmas.

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In call to action, episodes Tags literature, literary, Charles Dickens, books, novels, fiction, novellas, poverty, Victorians, Queen Victoria, history, English history, Britain, British, San Francisco, Daly City, California, Renaissance Fair, Dickens Fair, Greg Jenner, Avery Trufelman, Katie Mingle, London, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, social justice, children, child poverty, festive, customs, traditions, Christmas
Allusionist Patreon
Featured
Allusionist 210: 4x4x4 Quiz
Allusionist 210: 4x4x4 Quiz
queer playlist
Allusionist 209: Serving C-Bomb
Allusionist 209: Serving C-Bomb
feed bullshit
Allusionist 208: Ffff
Allusionist 208: Ffff
WhatsApp Image 2025-04-27 at 23.06.37.jpeg
several bits of news! (nothing bad)
Allusionist 207: Randomly Selected Words from the Dictionary
Allusionist 207: Randomly Selected Words from the Dictionary
Allusionist 206. Bonus 2024
Allusionist 206. Bonus 2024
A Christmas Carollusionist
A Christmas Carollusionist
Allusionist 205. Lexicat, part 2: now with added Dog
Allusionist 205. Lexicat, part 2: now with added Dog
Festivelusionists
Allusionist 204. Lexicat, part 1
Allusionist 204. Lexicat, part 1
Allusionist 203. Flyting
Allusionist 203. Flyting
Allusionist 202: Singlish Singlish
Allusionist 202: Singlish Singlish
Allusionist 201: Singlish
Allusionist 201: Singlish
Creative Commons Licence
The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.