Random[idiom]

About Random[idiom]

Exploring history through the origins of idioms.

Publisher

Nick Deitrich

Category

history

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 May 2025

Latest episode

25 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

4 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   25 Aug 2026

   Big Bob [Things Went Pear-Shaped]

   Sometimes things don’t go as planned—sometimes they go sideways, downhill, or ... pear-shaped! In this episode of Randomidiom, we dive into the origin of the expression "things went pear-shaped." Guided by linguists Dr. Lynne Murphy and Ben Yagoda, we track how RAF aerobatic jargon crossed the Atlantic to become a mainstream American idiom. Woven throughout is the dramatic true story of RAF Squadron Leader Bob Iveson during the 1982 Falklands War. Shot down during the Battle for Goose Green, Iveson’s mid-air ejection and survival in the freezing South Atlantic yielded the first recorded use of the phrase. Jeremy John Pook Oral History Interview - Imperial War Museums (https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80030369) Central News (24.06.1982): Bob Iveson - MACE Archive (https://www.macearchive.org/films/central-news-24061982-bob-iveson) Rescue for British Pilot Who Ejected - UPI Archives (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/05/30/Rescue-for-British-pilot-who-ejected/9517391579200/) Harrier GR.3 XZ997: The Journey of a Falklands Veteran - RAF Museum Blog (https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/harrier-gr3-xz997-the-journey-of-a-falklands-veteran/) Harriers over the Falklands - RAF Museum Blog (https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/harriers-over-falklands/) Mk 10 Immersion Suit - RAF Museum Story Vault (https://www.rafm.guide/h6-mobilitycase/mk-10-immersion-suit-31549) "Very Quickly the Aircraft Started Falling Apart Around Me" - RAF Museum Story Vault (https://www.rafm.guide/h6-mobilitycase/very-quickly-the-aircraft-started-falling-apart-around-me-31120) RAF Remembers End of Falklands Conflict - Royal Air Force (https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-remembers-end-of-falklands-conflict/) Falklands 35: Big Bob - Falklands 35 Blog (https://falklands35blog.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/falklands-35-big-bob/) Air War South Atlantic - Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/air-war-south-atlantic/page/162/mode/2up) The Falklands War: The Full Story - Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/falklandswar0000eddy) The Last 100 Yards: LSCO Volume 9 - Army University Press (https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/the-last-100-yards-lsco-volume-9.pdf) British Aircraft Lost: 1982 Falklands War - Naval-History.Net (https://www.naval-history.net/F63braircraftlost.htm) Diario de Operaciones: Teniente Jorge Squire - Radar Malvinas Archive (https://www.radarmalvinas.com.ar/relatos/diario%20squire%20traba.pdf) The Falklands War 1982 - British Empire History Project (https://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/southamerica/falklands/falklandswar.htm) Ben Yagoda on "Go Pear-Shaped" - Not One-Off Britishisms (https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/2012/11/09/go-pear-shaped/) Lynne Murphy on "Go West / Go South" - Separated by a Common Language (https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2022/12/go-westsouth.html) Google Ngram Viewer (https://books.google.com/ngrams) Origins of "Everything's Gone Pear-Shaped" - English Language & Usage (https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/30948/the-meaning-and-the-origins-of-everythings-gone-pear-shaped) Referenced Sources & Further Reading

2. 

   9 Nov 2025

   The Rise of The Failure [Born Loser]

   Why do we call people "born losers?" Where did this idiom come from? Join us as we explore how the rise of capitalism in America impacts our language today. We will learn about the The Market Revolution, Henry David Thoreau, and the history of "born Loser." We talk to Dr. Scott Sandage, Author of Born Losers: A History of Failure in America, and Dr. Samuel West of the museum of Failure. Thanks for listening! References Browne, P. E. (1909). A fool there was. The Hampton Magazine, 22(4), 259. Crèvecœur, J. H. St. J. (1998). Letters from an American farmer. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4666/pg4666-images.html (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4666/pg4666-images.html) EBSCO. (n.d.). Hamilton’s report on public credit. EBSCO Research Starters. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/hamiltons-report-public-credit (https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/hamiltons-report-public-credit) Farm Bureau. (n.d.). Fast facts. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.fb.org/newsroom/fast-facts (https://www.fb.org/newsroom/fast-facts) Family’s ‘winner’ becomes a ‘loser’ and ‘loser’ a ‘winner’. (2002, August 1). The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/world/familys-winner-becomes-a-loser-and-loser-a-winner-20020801-gdfi5p.html (https://www.smh.com.au/world/familys-winner-becomes-a-loser-and-loser-a-winner-20020801-gdfi5p.html) Green, J. (2013, April 26). The Market Revolution: Crash Course US History #12 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNftCCwAol0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNftCCwAol0) Horton, R. R. (2014, November 27). “A fool there was” by Porter Emerson Browne. R.R. Horton’s Blog. https://rrhorton.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-fool-there-was-by-porter-emerson_27.html (https://rrhorton.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-fool-there-was-by-porter-emerson_27.html) Levitt, S. D., & Dubner, S. J. (2009). Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. Pombo Free. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from http://pombo.free.fr/freakonomics.pdf (http://pombo.free.fr/freakonomics.pdf) Lockley, S., & Grivno, K. (Eds.). (2019). The Market Revolution. In The American Yawp (Vol. 1). Stanford University Press. http://www.americanyawp.com/text/08-the-market-revolution/ (http://www.americanyawp.com/text/08-the-market-revolution/) Martineau, H. (n.d.). Society in America, Vol. 1 (of 3). Project Gutenberg. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/52685/pg52685-images.html (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/52685/pg52685-images.html) Niles, H. (n.d.). Niles’ Weekly Register. Early US History. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://earlyushistory.net/niles-register/#v1 (https://earlyushistory.net/niles-register/#v1) Pilgrim Institute. (n.d.). Noah Webster: Founding father of American scholarship and education. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://pilgriminstitute.org/blog/noah-webster-founding-father-of-american-scholarship-and-education/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAs%20an%20independent%20nation%2C%20our,Dissertations%20on%20the%20English%20Language (https://pilgriminstitute.org/blog/noah-webster-founding-father-of-american-scholarship-and-education/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAs%20an%20independent%20nation%2C%20our,Dissertations%20on%20the%20English%20Language) Sandage, S. A. (2006). Born losers: A history of failure in America. Harvard University Press. U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). 1790-1890: Urban and rural population. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/005/#:~:text=This%20reflected%20a%20shift%20from,rose%20to%2035.1%20by%201890 (https://www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/005/#:~:text=This%20reflected%20a%20shift%20from,rose%20to%2035.1%20by%201890). University of Illinois. (n.d.). Noah Webster. University of Illinois Blogs. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/5344#:~:text=A%20lawyer%20and%20schoolmaster%20who,speech%20of%20its%20former%20masters (https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/5344#:~:text=A%20lawyer%20and%20schoolmaster%20who,speech%20of%20its%20former%20masters). University of Washington. (2016, May 26). Documents that changed the world: Noah Webster’s dictionary (1828). UW News. https://www.washington.edu/news/2016/05/26/documents-that-changed-the-world-noah-websters-dictionary-1828/#:~:text= (https://www.google.com/search?q=https://www.washington.edu/news/2016/05/26/documents-that-changed-the-world-noah-websters-dictionary-1828/%23:~:text%3D)“He%20had%20more%20luck%20there,'” Vance, L. J. (n.d.). The bandbox. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6305/pg6305-images.html (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6305/pg6305-images.html) Webster, N. (1783). A grammatical institute of the English language, Part I: Containing a plain and comprehensive system of English grammar. D. Potter. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from http://www.donpotter.net/pdf/webster-1783.pdf (http://www.donpotter.net/pdf/webster-1783.pdf) Webster, N. (1906). Webster’s practical dictionary: A book of reference for the American people (G. V. N. Dearborn, Ed.). New York: Hinds, Noble & Eldredge. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://archive.org/details/websterspractica00web/page/232/mode/2up (https://archive.org/details/websterspractica00web/page/232/mode/2up)

3. 

   29 Jul 2025

   The Segway [A Flash In The Pan]

   This episode explores the idiom "flash in the pan." We are talking about Segway's, muskets, and failure! Guests: Don N. Hagist, author – Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution, Editor of The Journal of The American Revolution Dr Samuel West, founder and curator – Museum of Failure Sources: EF Tours Blog – Dean Kamen: Inventions and Opportunities in Failure https://blog.eftours.com/article/dean-kamen-inventions-and-opportunities-in-failure/ (https://blog.eftours.com/article/dean-kamen-inventions-and-opportunities-in-failure/) CNN – How the Segway Became a Joke and a Blueprint for the Future https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/30/tech/segway-history (https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/30/tech/segway-history) Emerging Tech Brew – How the Segway Paved the Way for Micromobility Startups https://www.emergingtechbrew.com/stories/2025/03/21/segway-micromobility-startups (https://www.emergingtechbrew.com/stories/2025/03/21/segway-micromobility-startups) TIME Archive – Reinventing the Wheel https://time.com/archive/6905012/reinventing-the-wheel-3/ (https://time.com/archive/6905012/reinventing-the-wheel-3/) Journal of the American Revolution – About AllThingsLiberty.com https://allthingsliberty.com/about/ (https://allthingsliberty.com/about/) Early English Books Online (EEBO) – Flash in historical texts (A59339) https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?q1=Flash&type=simple&rgn=full+text&c=eebo&cc=eebo&idno=A59339.0001.001 (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?q1=Flash&type=simple&rgn=full+text&c=eebo&cc=eebo&idno=A59339.0001.001) WIRED (2015) – Why the Segway Was a Technological Marvel That Didn't Work https://www.wired.com/2015/01/well-didnt-work-segway-technological-marvel-bad-doesnt-make-sense/ (https://www.wired.com/2015/01/well-didnt-work-segway-technological-marvel-bad-doesnt-make-sense/) WIRED (2006) – Glitch Leads to Segway Recall https://www.wired.com/2006/09/glitch-leads-to-segway-recall/ (https://www.wired.com/2006/09/glitch-leads-to-segway-recall/) Archive.org – The Flintlock: Its Origin, Development, and Use by Torsten Lenk, translated by J.F. Hayward https://archive.org/details/Flintlock_The/page/n127/mode/2up?q=Marin (https://archive.org/details/Flintlock_The/page/n127/mode/2up?q=Marin) Topics: flash in the pan, Segway, Museum of Failure, innovation, failure, idioms, history, personal growth, technology, expectations, muskets, flintlock

4. 

   1 May 2025

   RANDOMiDiOM Teaser

   RANDOMiDiOM is a story-filled history podcast. Learn about intriguing events and fascinating people as we explore expressions like "let the cat out of the bag" and "bite the bullet." We talk to historians, linguists, authors, scholars and other special guests! The stories are waiting. All we need is a random idiom! randomidiom.com Instagram: @randomidiom X: @randomidiompod email: randomidiompodcast@gmail.com Thanks to everyone who recorded and sent in an idiom! (Amelia, Anthony, Asher, Dave, Josh, Jovie, Kristin, Marc, Mary, Mike, Seth, Titus, Zane) Edited and produced: Nick Deitrich, RANDOMiDiOM, LLC Theme music by wav.loom Logo by Josh Taylor

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

28

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.