Episode 41

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Published on:

7th Aug 2026

Episode 41: accuse

In the board game Clue, we finish the game by making an accusation about who killed Mr. Boddy, where, and with what. This context of a murder mystery is a good entry point for thinking about the English verb "accuse," which has its roots in the legal system of the ancient Romans. It's a verb that appears in the poem "District and Circle" by the acclaimed Irish poet Seamus Heaney, where a commuter and busking musician exchange glances in the London Underground.

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Music: Adapted from Sonatine by Maurice Ravel, performed by Irene Posviatovska (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

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About the Podcast

Original Public Meaning
Exploring the ancient roots of modern words
Where do our modern English words come from? And what do their long histories tell us about our own ideas and the wider world? On Original Public Meaning, we unearth the ancient foundations of our language and consider how its vast, rich literature—fiction, essays, science, and more—can help us savor our words today.
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Charles McNamara

Assistant Professor of Classics, University of Georgia