From whitewash (the paint) we got whitewashing (the covering up of misdeeds) and from there greenwashing, redwashing, bluewashing, purplewashing, pinkwashing - and now rainbow washing, where companies will put Pride flags all over products and posts during the month of June, but behind the scenes will not necessarily be useful - and sometimes they'll be anti-useful. Mitra Kaboli, host of the new podcast Welcome to Provincetown, helps sort the real allyship from the rainbow-washing; and writer Sarah Schulman, who popularised the term 'pinkwashing', explains the more political meaning of that word.

This episode contains some swears.

Find out more information about the topics in this episode at theallusionist.org/rainbow-washing, plus a transcript and the full dictionary entry for the randomly selected word.

Sign up to be a patron at patreon.com/allusionist and not only are you supporting an independent podcast, you get patron-exclusive video livestreams and a Discord community full of language chat, craft pics and word game camaraderie.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow. And come to see the new live show Your Name Here in Australia and New Zealand! Ticket links are at theallusionist.org/events.

The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. The music is composed and sung by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

PEL Presents PMP#27: For the Love of Star Wars