Lexicon Valley

Lexicon Valley

Society EN ↓ 325 episodes

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

Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: booksmartstudios.com

Author

Lexicon Valley

Category

Society

Podcast website

booksmartstudios.com

Latest episode

Oct 21, 2026

Where to listen?

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Episodes

White Author, Black English. Problem? 10.11.2020

Is it appropriation for a white novelist to render Black speech? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do Cats Have Language? 27.10.2020

The way that animals communicate is fascinating, yes, but a far cry from human speech. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sergeant, Corporal, Colonel 13.10.2020

The peculiar language of our military ranks. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To Reason Why 29.09.2020

How come? What for? The many ways to ask why. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Talking to Your Mother-in-Law Is a Minefield 15.09.2020

On codeswitching among family members and relations. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Incredible Story of the Traveling Creole 01.09.2020

A creole language that boomeranged between two continents. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Am a Minstrel Stereotype, Right? 18.08.2020

On Black English and the verb to be. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Jews Adapted Spanish 04.08.2020

Linguistic inspiration from historian Alan Mikhail’s new book God’s Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does English Have a Future? 21.07.2020

Do languages even need a future tense, or can we get along just fine without it? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defund Karen 07.07.2020

Social justice movements yield a trove of new catchphrases and words. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beyond the Five Ws 23.06.2020

Inquiring around the world. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tweety Bird and Toddlerspeak 09.06.2020

How do children pick up language so readily? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coronavirus: Isolation and Aspiration 26.05.2020

Are certain consonants to blame for spreading germs? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our Indigenous Languages 20.05.2020

The wonderfully complex Native American tongues. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I Just Can't! 28.04.2020

Yes, linguists have language peeves too. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Many Meanings of Too 14.04.2020

The word too is far more versatile than you think. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sicko, Whacko, Weirdo 31.03.2020

What's with that long o sound we stick on the ends of words like neato and, yes, fatso? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Myth Surrounding Mandarin 17.03.2020

Chinese has no grammar, right? Wrong! X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Uptalk to Vocal Fry 03.03.2020

Women are the most prolific language innovators. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In What Order Did Languages Arrive in Europe? 18.02.2020

Cutting edge research gives linguists new insight. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Digging Up the Past 04.02.2020

It may be ancient history, but we need a way to talk about it. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Verbs on the Move 21.01.2020

Like the boy said in that song: you come and go, you come and go. We all do. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does Processes Rhyme With Knees? 07.01.2020

Is our pretentiousness causing us to pronounce words wrong? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Bisl Yiddish 24.12.2019

Yiddish is the gefilte fish of Germanic languages. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Private Parts 10.12.2019

How did cock come to mean a male chicken and a penis? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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