Episode 45

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Published on:

13th Sep 2026

Episode 45: disgruntle

Onomatopoeia is a phenomenon where words mimic the sounds they denote: fizz, click, meow. It's the idea underlying the word "disgruntle," which has something to do with the noises made by pigs. In this episode, we consider how the grunting of pigs ended up describing dissatisfied and upset people. Finally, we look at a passage from P.G. Wodehouse's The Code of the Woosters that plays with "disgruntled" and its idiosyncratic features in English.

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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