Hot For Words http://hotforwords.com/
I was looking for something in the video/educational genre when I stumbled across this breezy gem. On each of these short videos, the blond philologist Marina Orlova, aka Hot For Words, tackles the origin of an English word or phrase in a way that is informative and fun. As her slogan proclaims, “Intelligence Is Sexy”. And, Hot For Words sure is.
The show’s production is simple. Hot For Words sits on a couch in front of what appears to be a webcam in some cute cleavage baring outfit and addresses the viewers whom she likes to refer to as her “students”. Her topic usually comes from a question that has been submitted to her website about our crazy language. Marina speaks with what sounds like a Russian accent, but her website says she is from the “Capital of the Republic of Lexicon”. Recent podcasts that I viewed covered words like Butterfly, Naked and Nuclear (President Bush’s pronunciation turned out to not be that far off the mark) and the phrase Drink the Koolaid (which I learned was actually not the brand of fruit drink that was used at the Jonestown tragedy).
The shows use some visual additives such as cute little animated animals and sometimes
we get a glimpse of Marina’s Evil Twin in negative image. The episodes are usually peppered with scantily clad still shots of the gorgeous Hot For Words. And they all end with her blowing us a kiss and asking us to rate the episode via her website (which is very popular. People of all walks are posting video questions). Afterwards there is often some extra material with bloopers featuring Hot For Words making funny self deprecating faces when she mispronounces a word or just screws up.
I was looking for something in the video/educational genre when I stumbled across this breezy gem. On each of these short videos, the blond philologist Marina Orlova, aka Hot For Words, tackles the origin of an English word or phrase in a way that is informative and fun. As her slogan proclaims, “Intelligence Is Sexy”. And, Hot For Words sure is.
The show’s production is simple. Hot For Words sits on a couch in front of what appears to be a webcam in some cute cleavage baring outfit and addresses the viewers whom she likes to refer to as her “students”. Her topic usually comes from a question that has been submitted to her website about our crazy language. Marina speaks with what sounds like a Russian accent, but her website says she is from the “Capital of the Republic of Lexicon”. Recent podcasts that I viewed covered words like Butterfly, Naked and Nuclear (President Bush’s pronunciation turned out to not be that far off the mark) and the phrase Drink the Koolaid (which I learned was actually not the brand of fruit drink that was used at the Jonestown tragedy).
The shows use some visual additives such as cute little animated animals and sometimes
we get a glimpse of Marina’s Evil Twin in negative image. The episodes are usually peppered with scantily clad still shots of the gorgeous Hot For Words. And they all end with her blowing us a kiss and asking us to rate the episode via her website (which is very popular. People of all walks are posting video questions). Afterwards there is often some extra material with bloopers featuring Hot For Words making funny self deprecating faces when she mispronounces a word or just screws up. Yes, the podcast has enormous eye candy value and yes it is somewhat of a guilty pleasure but when our “trusty Hot For Words investigates” it can lead to anywhere. She definitely has charisma and a natural rapport with the audience. I, for one, am happy to be included in her student body. Give her show a try and see why more and more people are getting Hot For Words.
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