Welcome to the Illusionist, a show for radio-topia from PRX, in which I, Helen Zoltzman,

pull up languages skirt and laugh at its underpants.

Coming up in today's show, to lift and separate.

You're suddenly shaped like this.

Sort of.

To warm up his some word history, let's learn why ladies busts are called busts.

It's not because they're busted, it's a reference to the sculpture of the same name, you know,

head on top of a fraction of chest.

The bust stopped tactfully before the sculptor had to contend with any nipples.

These busts were often found on tunes to commemorate the occupants, so they got their name

from Bustum, a Latin word that meant tomb or corpse, which itself descended from the Latin

for funeral pyre or the place where bodies are burnt.

So now, my mind's eye keeps picturing a woman's bust with a miniature cremation ceremony

taking place on it.

Nice a bunch, eh, homology, yet again, you ruined everything.

Come with the show.

There are loads of synonyms for underwear, undergarments, foundation garments, scanties,

intamits, unmentionables, lingerie, skivis, smolves, and there are lots of synonyms for underpants,

knickers, undercrackers, grandies, drawers, panties, loomers, briefs, banana hammock.

If you're getting turned on by this list, please switch off this podcast immediately and

go for a brisk walk.

There's also a huge variety of terms, slang, medical and otherwise, for the body parts contained

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