Show overview
Word Mall has published 21 episodes during 2026. That works out to roughly 4 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a several-times-a-week cadence.
Episodes typically run under ten minutes — most land between 4 min and 8 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Education show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed yesterday, with 21 episodes already out so far this year. Published by Michael J Sheehan at [email protected].
From the publisher
Purchase the third edition of my Word Parts Dictionary.My blog: verbmall.blogspot.comThe limits of my language are the limits of my world. [Ludwig Wittgenstein]· Do you wish that you had a richer vocabulary?· Are you curious about where certain words and phrases came from?· Is your spelling so bad that even spellcheck seems confusing?· Does; punctuation! drive (you] -- crazy?Then you need Word Mall.Word Mall is a podcast about the English language. In a fun way, without being preachy, it covers vocabulary, grammar, spelling, punctuation, language history, pronunciation -- all the things that make you cringe and make you wish that you had paid more attention to Mrs. McNally back in elementary school.
Latest Episodes
View all 21 episodesNames that suit their profession
Small Change -- idioms involving coins
EPIPHANY and its opposite, EPICALYPTRY
Language Myths 8: The Whole Nine Yards
LANGUAGE MYTHS 7: Son of a Gun, Spud, Throw the Baby out with the Bathwater, Tip, Turn the Tables, Wallop
Language Myths # 6: Saved by the bell, Shit, Sincere, Skins, Sleep tight, Snob
Language Myths 5: Not Enough Room to Swing a Dead Cat, Not Playing with a Full Deck, Not Worth a Tinker's Damn, Posh, Rule of Thumb
Language Myths #4: Keep your nose to the grindstone, Let the cat out of the bag, Losing face, Mind your own beeswax, News
Language Myths #3 -- The Devil to Pay, Frog in One's Throat, Golf, Gossip, Hunky Dory
Language Myths #2: Cold Enough to Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monkey, Giving the Cold Shoulder, Cop, Costing an Arm and a Leg, Crack a Smile
Language Myths #1: Above Board, amazon, Bigwig, Chairman, Chew the Fat
DOUBT and REDOUBT
Words to the Wise final episode April 7, 2026
Words to the Wise radio show--Pun show 2026
ACRONYMS and INITIALISMS: the long and the short of it
S1 Ep 6Silent Letters: I see you, but I can't hear you
For historical reasons, many words contain letters that are no longer pronounced. They are as useful as a cat with three tails, but we are stuck with them.
S1 Ep 5PORT and STARBOARD
Sailors don't use the words right and left for a good reason.
Hidden Farts: Silent But Deadly
While the word fart is a word all by itself, it hides in other words.
S1 Ep 3Word Parts
Word parts, letter combinations that always stay the same, can greatly improve your vocabulary.
S1 Ep 2Context: Pay Attention to Your Surroundings
The words and ideas that surround an unknown word can help you figure out what that word means. But you have to know how to find the clues.