210. Four Letter Words: 4x4x4 Quiz

Jun 7, 2025

Dive into a playful quiz on four-letter words, exploring their quirky meanings and historical origins. Discover the legacy of John Venn beyond the diagram and the significance of the term 'nepo baby.' Learn about the acronym GOAT and the fascinating tale of the Petri dish. The lively format combines trivia with delightful anecdotes, ensuring a fun challenge for language lovers. Engage with unique cultural references and join in on the interactive experience, all while enjoying humorous commentary!

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INSIGHT

Light Means Lung

The word "light" was an old alternative term for lung due to lungs being light in weight.
The original meaning of lung itself is related to "not heavy."

INSIGHT

Many Meanings of Foot

The word "foot" has multiple meanings beyond the body part, including a person, a unit for weighing lead, and genitals.
Kombucha scoby is not known as a foot and is an acronym for symbiotic culture of bacteria yeast.

INSIGHT

Nepo Is Nephew

The 'nepo' in nepotism originates from the Italian word for nephew, reflecting favoritism toward nephews in the church.
Popes gave offices to nephews since celibacy vows prevented them from having sons openly.

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Four Letter Word season continues with a quiz (which is a four-letter word itself) about four letter words. Test your etymological knowledge, and hear about the original nepo baby, John Venn's invention that wasn't the venn diagram, brat, gunk, rube, the time(s) Led Zeppelin changed their name, and plenty more.

Play along while you listen - there's an interactive scoresheet at theallusionist.org/444, where there's also a transcript of this episode, plus links to more information about topics therein, and to the rest of Four Letter Word season and the previous Allusionist quizzes.

Also check theallusionist.org/events for upcoming live shows, including a special collab with Material Girls podcast, and an event with Samin Nosrat for her new book Good Things.

Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses about every episode, livestreams with me and my collection of dictionaries, and the charming and supportive Allusioverse Discord community.

This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, on the unceded ancestral and traditional territory of the of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. The music is by Martin Austwick. Download his songs at palebirdmusic.com and listen to his podcasts Song By Song and Neutrino Watch.

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