

Something Rhymes with Purple
Sony Music Entertainment
Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth invite you to enhance your vocabulary, uncover the hidden origins of language and share their love of words in this award-winning podcast.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us here: purple@somethinelse.com
Want more Purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or by heading to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms for ad-free listening, and not 1 but 2 episodes of the show every week.
You can buy our branded mugs, tote bags and T-shirts here: https://bit.ly/37huhqs
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us here: purple@somethinelse.com
Want more Purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or by heading to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms for ad-free listening, and not 1 but 2 episodes of the show every week.
You can buy our branded mugs, tote bags and T-shirts here: https://bit.ly/37huhqs
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 8, 2023 • 35min
Camelopard
In this week’s wild episode, Susie & Gyles explore the hidden etymological meanings and origins behind the names from our animal kingdom. So join us as we take a linguistic safari around creatures from all over planet Earth!
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Don’t forget that you can join us in person at our upcoming tour, tap the link to find tickets: www.somethingrhymeswithpurple.com
Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
1. Peregrinate: To travel or wander from place to place.
2. Sippet: A small piece of bread or toast, used to dip into soup or sauce or as a garnish.
3. Sciolist: A person who pretends to be knowledgeable and well informed.
Gyles' poem this week was 'A Flea and a Fly in a Flue' by Ogden Nash
A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “let us flee!”
“Let us fly!” said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Aug 1, 2023 • 48min
A Cat’s Whisker
This week’s episode explores the rich world of radio & television. Tune in for a linguistic journey with Susie & Gyles, that'll leave you 'channel'-ing your curiosity and
'wave'-ing hello to the fascinating origins of these media marvels."
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email
address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
1. Crinkum-crankum: Full of twists and turns
2. Eftsoons: Soon after
3. Lethophobia: A fear of oblivion
Gyles' poem this week was ‘I Had A Dove’ by John Keats
I had a dove and the sweet dove died;
And I have thought it died of grieving:
O, what could it grieve for? Its feet were tied,
With a silken thread of my own hand's weaving;
Sweet little red feet! why should you die -
Why should you leave me, sweet bird! why?
You liv'd alone in the forest-tree,
Why, pretty thing! would you not live with me?
I kiss'd you oft and gave you white peas;
Why not live sweetly, as in the green trees?
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Jul 25, 2023 • 35min
Green Fingers
This week, we delve into the world of gardening. Susie and Gyles take us around their linguistic garden and introduce us to some of the words that have interesting
stories behind them.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email
address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Dumple: To make something into a dumpling shape (back-formation, 1827)
Earth-apple: First a cucumber (11th century), then a potato
Hardy-dardy: A rash or silly dare
Gyles' poem this week was ‘My Cat Major’ by Stevie Smith
Major is a fine cat
What is he at?
He hunts birds in the hydrangea
And in the tree
Major was ever a ranger
He ranges where no one can see.
Sometimes he goes up to the attic
With a hooped back
His paws hit the iron rungs
Of the ladder in a quick kick
How can this be done?
It is a knack.
Oh Major is a fine cat
He walks cleverly
And what is he at, my fine cat?
No one can see.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
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Jul 18, 2023 • 41min
Bazooka
This week, we traverse the lexicon landscape of the Second World War, unearthing the hidden treasures of word origins. Join us as Susie & Gyles unveil the remarkable tales behind wartime vocabulary, and reveal the extraordinary evolution of words shaped by the tumultuous era.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Niminy piminy: Feeble
Scringe: To screw up the face
Slapsauce: A glutton
Gyles' poem this week was 'Slough' by John Betjeman
Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!
Come, bombs and blow to smithereens
Those air -conditioned, bright canteens,
Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans,
Tinned minds, tinned breath.
Mess up the mess they call a town-
A house for ninety-seven down
And once a week a half a crown
For twenty years.
And get that man with double chin
Who'll always cheat and always win,
Who washes his repulsive skin
In women's tears:
And smash his desk of polished oak
And smash his hands so used to stroke
And stop his boring dirty joke
And make him yell.
But spare the bald young clerks who add
The profits of the stinking cad;
It's not their fault that they are mad,
They've tasted Hell.
It's not their fault they do not know
The birdsong from the radio,
It's not their fault they often go
To Maidenhead
And talk of sport and makes of cars
In various bogus-Tudor bars
And daren't look up and see the stars
But belch instead.
In labour-saving homes, with care
Their wives frizz out peroxide hair
And dry it in synthetic air
And paint their nails.
Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough
To get it ready for the plough.
The cabbages are coming now;
The earth exhales.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
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Jul 11, 2023 • 31min
The Heavens Opened
We are live and direct from Salisbury Playhouse!
Join Susie & Gyles as they go on an illuminating voyage through the intricate web of etymology, uncover the untold tales lurking beneath our everyday words. In this week's episode, we immerse ourselves in the fluid world of water, tracing its linguistic currents and unearthing the surprising stories that ebb and flow through its etymology.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Don’t forget that you can join us in person at our upcoming tour, tap the link to find tickets: www.somethingrhymeswithpurple.com
Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
1.Supervacaneous: over the top
2.Spissid: thick
3.Splurgundy : a sparkling red wine from Australia
Gyles' replaces his weekly poem with funny epitaphs that he has come across:
1. Here lies the body of our Anna,
Done to death by a banana.
It wasn't the fruit that laid her low,
But the skin of the thing that made her go.
2. Here Lies Lester Moore,
Four Slugs from a 44,
No Les, No More
3. Here lies my wife: here let her lie!
Now she’s at rest, and so am I.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
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Jul 4, 2023 • 45min
Flizzoms
This week Gyles and Susie share tea and crumpets as they tuck into some typically British words and phrases. From amazing etymologies to amusing anecdotes, join us as we explore the wonderful world of language.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Don’t forget that you can join us in person at our upcoming tour, tap the link to find tickets: www.somethingrhymeswithpurple.com
Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Brabble: to argue stubbornly with another person often over trivial matters
Lychnobite: a person who works at night and sleeps all day
Shirpings: the overgrown plants that grow at the side of a lake or river
Gyles' poem this week was by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester.
‘God bless our good and gracious king
Whose promise none relies on;
He never said a foolish thing,
Nor ever did a wise one.’
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 27, 2023 • 37min
Porky pies
This week Susie and Gyles unravel the amusing language of Cockney rhyming slang, from making calls on the dog and bone (phone), to drinking a cup of Rosie Lee (tea).
You wouldn’t Adam and Eve (believe) how much fun we have learning about the origins of this fascinating collection of words and phrases.
And we love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms.
Don’t forget that you can join us in person at our upcoming tour, tap the link to find tickets: www.somethingrhymeswithpurple.com
Susie’s Trio for the week:
Wamblecropt - overcome with indigestion
Banloca - a bone-locker, the body
Snecklifter - the person who turns up to the pub hoping someone else will buy them a drink
Gyles' poem this week was ‘The Pleasures of Friendship’ by Stevie Smith
‘The pleasures of friendship are exquisite,
How pleasant to go to a friend on a visit!
I go to my friend, we walk on the grass,
And the hours and moments like minutes pass.’
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 20, 2023 • 40min
Scotch on the Rocks
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Don’t forget that you can join us in person at our upcoming tour, tap the link to find tickets: www.somethingrhymeswithpurple.com
Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
1. Malifuff: Feckless and entirely incapable of doing anything capable.
2. Nasalating: Difficulty breathing through the nose.
3. Scrittle-scrattle - Difficulty in making ends meet.
Gyles' poem this week is Poor Little Rich Girl by Noel Coward
Poor little rich girl, you're a bewitched girl
Better take care
Laughing at danger, virtue a stranger
Better beware
The life you lead sets all your nerves a-jangle
You love affairs are in a hopeless tangle
Though you're a child, dear
Your life's a wild typhoon
In lives of leisure, the craze for pleasure
Steadily grows
Cocktails and laughter, but what comes after?
Nobody knows
You're weaving love into a mad jazz pattern
Ruled by pantaloon
Poor little rich girl
Don't drop a stitch too soon
You're only a baby
You're lonely, and maybe
Someday soon you'll know
The tears you are tasting
Are years you are wasting
Life's a bitter foe
With fate it's no use competing
Youth is so terribly fleeting
By dancing much faster
You're chancing disaster
Time alone will show
In lives of leisure, the craze for pleasure
Steadily grows
Cocktails and laughter, but what comes after?
Nobody knows
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 13, 2023 • 38min
Kismet
This week, Susie & Gyles delve into the enigmatic realm of ‘kismet’, a word that dances on the fine line between fate and chance.
So purple people, whether you believe in destiny or rather just enjoy a good linguistic twist, let’s unravel the threads of fate together.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Don’t forget that you can join us in person at our upcoming tour, tap the link to find tickets: www.somethingrhymeswithpurple.com
Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:
Gastrolater: A lover of food. A glutton.
Estivate - To spend the summer.
Eye chatter - A flirtatious glance.
Gyles' poem this week was ‘Two Dead Boys’ by Anon:
One fine day in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys got up to fight,
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other.
One was blind and the other couldn't see,
So they chose a dummy for referee,
A blind went to see the fair play,
A dumb man went to shout "hooray".
A paralysed donkey passing by,
Kicked the blind man in the eye,
Knocked him trough a nine inch wall,
Into a dry ditch and drowned them all.
A deaf police man heard the noise,
And came to arrest the two dead boys,
If you do’t believe my story, it's true,
Ask the blind man he saw it too!
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 6, 2023 • 40min
Pang Wangle
Step into the time machine of linguistics and embark on a journey through the graveyard of forgotten words. In this week's episode of our Something Rhymes With Purple, Susie and Gyles unearth the most uproarious relics from the linguistic abyss. From "snollygoster" to “pang wangle,” prepare to find yourself in a linguistic oblivion.
We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our NEW email address here: purplepeople@somethingrhymes.com
Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms'
Don’t forget that you can join us in person at our upcoming tour, tap the link to find tickets: www.somethingrhymeswithpurple.com
Enjoy Susie’s (trendy) Trio for the week:
Cheugy:The opposite of trendy.
Yeet: To forcefully throw something, or, an expression of excitement.
Sliving: Living your best life.
Gyles' poem this week was ‘When ‘You Are Old’ by W.B. Yeats
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices