Lexicon Valley

Society EN ↓ 311 episodes

A podcast about language, with hosts Mike Vuolo, Bob Garfield and John McWhorter.

Author

Lexicon Valley

Episodes

Your Brain on Profanity 31.05.2016 31:26

Benjamin K. Bergen, author of What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves, discusses the science of cursing. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XXIV | Roshambo 17.05.2016 26:11

Why some people call rock-paper-scissors roshambo, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Blaccent 03.05.2016 27:27

Linguist John McWhorter says the so-called blaccent is largely about vowel sounds. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XXIII | Red Herring 19.04.2016 22:22

How Clupea harengus — a.k.a. Atlantic herring — came to signify a diversionary tactic, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defecation Presentation 04.04.2016 27:14

The earliest known example of "sh-t show" is from an English-language translation of a 1970s criminal trial in Germany. But what was the word or phrase being translated? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XXII | Grain of Salt 08.03.2016 28:45

On the origin of a skeptical phrase, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Full, Firm, Valiant and Heavy-Hearted Trump 22.02.2016 26:58

When exactly did sad become an insult? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XXI | Wazzock 08.02.2016 31:32

A peculiar insult from the north of England has the Oxford English Dictionary stumped, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Fall and Rise of the Singular They 27.01.2016 33:45

A pronoun that English borrowed from its Scandinavian neighbors gets new life as an alternative to he and she. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XX | In Cahoots 11.01.2016 35:39

The curious case of a conspiratorial coinage, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tears of Joy, Identity and a Prism of Isms 28.12.2015 32:11

Editors at Merriam-Webster, Oxford University Press and Dictionary.com discuss the one word they believe best represents 2015. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XIX | 86'd 14.12.2015 29:51

On the early-20th-century origins of a bizarre food-industry code, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Snoozefest 30.11.2015 30:23

The energetic history of the word sleep. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XVIII | Hootenanny 16.11.2015 27:18

On a word that was popularized during the 1940s folk movement, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Cat, a Coward and Female Genitalia 02.11.2015 33:43

The etymological quirkiness of the word pussy. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XVII | Humdinger 19.10.2015 28:04

On a real beauty of a word, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seven Centuries of F--ks 05.10.2015 33:24

On a recent revelation regarding the history of one our most enduring expletives. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XVI | Boondoggle 21.09.2015 32:58

On the origins of a very wasteful word, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How New York Became the Big Apple 08.09.2015 25:23

New York City is big, sure, but why an apple? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XV | Gringo 24.08.2015 33:34

On the origin of a Spanish-language pejorative, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What Do You Mean What Is It Like? 10.08.2015 30:24

On “a literary history of the strange expression ‘what is it like?’” — with lexicographer Anne Seaton. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XIV | Heebie Jeebies 27.07.2015 38:29

On the jittery history of a nervous term, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's the Deal with Translating Seinfeld? 13.07.2015 42:25

Seinfeld has been dubbed into other languages, but does it actually translate? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinguaFile XIII | Bozo 29.06.2015 27:29

On the etymology of a doofy and goofy word, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Pollyanna Hypothesis 15.06.2015 48:50

Are we humans a mostly positive people? Our language says yes. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices