Words Unravelled with RobWords and Jess Zafarris Getting quizzed on the quirks of English (with Joshua Blackburn)
Nov 19, 2025
Join Joshua Blackburn, creator of the board game League of the Lexicon and author of The Language-Lover's Lexipedia, as he dives into quirky linguistic discussions. Discover the fascinating Baader-Meinhof effect and the only country named after a woman—Saint Lucia. Joshua reveals the peculiarities of convict slang and misquotes like those wrongly attributed to Churchill. With laughter, he quizzes the hosts on unique words and their meanings, while sharing enlightening and humorous language tidbits that will spark your curiosity!
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Game Born From Lockdown Curiosity
- Joshua Blackburn created language games during COVID lockdown to make his sons' English homework interesting.
- He launched League of the Lexicon on Kickstarter and it became the most backed word game in its category within weeks.
Swashbuckler Means Noisy Shield-Brandishing
- 'Swashbuckler' breaks into swash (noisy display) and buckler (small shield), implying swaggering showmanship.
- The term originally described bombastic, swaggering fighters, not just sailors.
St. Lucia Is Named For A Woman
- Joshua quizzes hosts that St. Lucia is the only country named after a woman.
- The hosts express surprise and discuss other place-name myths.
