Tag: English
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#168: The New Year’s 2025 Episode
2025 is all but over! For the traditional New Year’s send-off, Ian and Michael look back on the year through the lens of “words of the year” from various dictionaries — and find plenty to be puzzled, amused, and mildly irritated by. From rage bait and parasocial relationships to vibe coding, AI slop, and the strange linguistic inventions of younger generations, the conversation drifts through language, technology, culture, and the growing feeling that everyone might be speaking a slightly different dialect now. Equal parts word nerdery, generational bewilderment, and end-of-year reflection, it’s a fitting way to wave goodbye to the season and stumble into the next one. (This description was created with the help of AI)
AI Unfiltered will return with new episodes in 2026! -
#164: Modals of Obligation is Not a Punk Band
Ian and Michael meander through the quirks, confusions, and small joys of language learning. The conversation ambles across pronunciations, past tenses, and all the little linguistic oddities that trip people up. There’s a healthy dose of nostalgia for how languages used to be taught, musings on what actually helps people learn, and the occasional tangent into dictionary rabbit holes. And yes, somewhere along the way, the perfect name for a punk band is discovered. (This description was written with the help of AI; this episode contains AI-generated speech)
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#163: The Mistake-Doing Episode: A Tale of L1 Interference
In this harrowing instalment of AI Unfiltered, Ian and Michael venture deep into the treacherous world of L1 interference: the subtle, sinister force that causes second-language mishaps, awkward phrasing, and, in Michael’s case, one truly unforgivable linguistic blunder committed live on air. The consequences? Tragic. Catastrophic. Entirely self-inflicted.
From grammar gremlins to cross-lingual chaos, the hosts unpack how native-language patterns sneak into speech — and why some mistakes echo far beyond the recording studio. Listener discretion advised: contains scenes of grammatical violence. (This description was written with the help of AI) -
#158: Word Games
In this episode, Ian and Michael get tangled up in word games: from guessing connections and spelling oddities to debating what words really mean and where they come from. It’s part linguistics, part confusion, and part infotainment as they wander through language quirks, cultural mix-ups, and the occasional AI twist. Proof, perhaps, that even words can be unfiltered. (This description was generated with the help of AI; this episode contains AI-generated speech)
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#144: Dating Dates and Standardising Standards
Ian and Michael discuss date formats and dialectal differences in English, health and diet, and standards organisations, inventing a podcasting standards organisation in the process!
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#141: AI and Authorship, Social Media Diatribes
Ian and Michael discuss AI-generated books and its impact on literature and reading, before going off a rant on the negative effects of social media on our attention spans.
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#135: SAT Words
Ian and Michael discuss SAT words and their meaning - and usefulness! Plus, our AI-generated contributor Emma returns with another Emma's Artificial Reflections! (This episode features AI-generated content and speech)
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#132: 200 Dollar Words, Custom Calendars, The Price of Coffee
Ian and Michael tackle a cavalcade of topics, including having fun with 200 dollar words (or 157 pounds sterling words as far as Ian is concerned), inventing new holidays, and the skyrocketing price of coffee.
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#131: Pronunciation Oddities
You write hiccup, I write hiccough? Ian and Michael discuss the joys of learning to pronounce and spell English. Plus, has the use of "gotten" as a past participle gotten out of hand?
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#130: Expressions of French and Latin Origins, Pumpkin Spice
Ian and Michael explore the wonder that is the English language with a deep dive into the shallow end of the pool in expressions of French and Latin origins. Also, is pumpkin spice made of pumpkin?