Lexicon Valley

Society EN ↓ 311 episodes

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

Author

Lexicon Valley

Episodes

Is There a Jewish Way of Talking? 13.06.2017 38:18

A high-involvement conversation with the hosts of the Unorthodox podcast. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mining Graffiti for Slang 30.05.2017 31:50

A conversation with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't Tell Me Reune Is Not a Word 16.05.2017 30:51

On the near-futile impulse to determine what is, and what is not, a word. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Language of Female Friendships 02.05.2017 35:58

A conversation with linguist Deborah Tannen. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Euphemism Treadmill 18.04.2017 28:44

Why euphemisms tend not to stick around very long. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heyo, Let's Talk About Hamilton 04.04.2017 30:51

A conversation with linguist Neal Whitman. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Did Americans Talk a Hundred Years Ago? 21.03.2017 32:31

John McWhorter time travels to 1930 to eavesdrop on American English. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like, Why Do We Use Like So Much? 07.02.2017 35:32

A conversation with sociolinguist Alexandra D’Arcy X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What Had Happened Was Storytelling 24.01.2017 33:30

John McWhorter discusses his new book, Talking Back, Talking Black. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why We Stopped Teaching Children How to Read 10.01.2017 32:53

A conversation with Mark Seidenberg, author of Language at the Speed of Sight. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Away in a Penthouse, the Little Lord Jesus 27.12.2016 28:43

When hath gave way to has, plus the original meaning of merry. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What "The Wizard of Oz" Can Tell Us About "Arrival" 13.12.2016 30:15

In Arrival, Amy Adams plays a linguist who discovers that language can radically alter a person’s sense of reality. Can it actually? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Black Like Us 30.11.2016 33:55

Are the slang, sounds and syntax of Black English a kind of universal patois for America’s youth? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Language Lessons of Past Presidents 15.11.2016 32:17

Some unwitting English instruction from previous U.S. presidents. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How You Vanquished Ye, Thee and Thou 01.11.2016 36:17

How our rich and complex system of second-person pronouns got whittled down to just you. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Do People in Old Movies Talk Like That? 18.10.2016 33:29

On the peculiar speech patterns of early 20th century Americans. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Billy and Me Went to the Store 04.10.2016 28:09

On the unwritten rules of pronouns. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What Is a Dictionary, Really? 20.09.2016 26:32

A conversation with John Simpson, former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Invisible Language of Nursery Rhymes 06.09.2016 25:50

What does Hickory Dickory Dock really mean? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Word Sex 23.08.2016 37:53

Where do new words come from? Often old words. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should Shakespeare Get a Modern English Makeover? 08.08.2016 46:51

A conversation with Jack Lynch, author of Becoming Shakespeare: The Unlikely Afterlife That Turned a Provincial Playwright into the Bard. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are Emoji a Language? 26.07.2016 40:45

A conversation with Gretchen McCulloch on the big meaning behind our favorite little pictograms. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finding Life in a Dead Language 12.07.2016 28:37

A conversation with Ann Patty, author of Living With a Dead Language, about her transformative experience learning Latin. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rules Are Made to Be Spoken 29.06.2016 32:13

A conversation with Sali Tagliamonte, author of Making Waves: The Story of Variationist Sociolinguistics. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should We Make English Spelling Easier? 14.06.2016 28:22

A conversation with etymologist Anatoly Liberman, author of Word Origins and How We Know Them. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices