Slate Debates

John Simpson, former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, talks about life as a lexicographer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does "Hickory Dickory Dock" really mean?  John McWhorter makes linguistic sense of seemingly arbitrary children's verse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Words Hook Up and Make New Ones Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John McWhorter talks with author Jack Lynch about the sacrilege of modified Shakespeare.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gretchen McCulloch talks to John McWhorter about the big meaning behind our favorite little pictograms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ann Patty, author of "Living With a Dead Language: My Romance With Latin," talks about her transformative experience of learning Latin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sali Tagliamonte, author of Making Waves: The Story of Variationist Sociolinguistics, talks about the underlying disorder of the English Language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Etymologist and poet Anatoly Liberman says that English is one of the most difficult languages to spell. But we can change that. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Email: lexiconvalley@slate.com Learn more about your ad choic...

Benjamin K. Bergen, author of the upcoming What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves, discusses the science of cursing. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.com Lea...

How an American Revolutionary War figure spawned a new name for a very old game. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linguist John McWhorter argues that it makes perfect sense for the speech of black and white Americans to have subtle differences. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.com Learn more about your ad choic...

How did Clupea harengus come to signify a diversionary tactic? Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The earliest known citation for “shit show” is from an English-language translation of a 1970s criminal trial in Germany. But what was the word or phrase being translated? Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley...

A salty phrase with roots in Ancient Rome has confounded English speakers for centuries. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump calls people (and publications) he doesn’t like “sad.” When did that word become an insult? Lexicon Valley is brought to you by Blue Apron. For less than $10 per meal, Blue Apron delivers right to your door everything you need to create a home-cooked meal. Farm-fresh ingredients are perfectly portioned and come with an easy to follow recipe card—so you can create a delicious dinner in...

A peculiar insult from the north of England has the Oxford English Dictionary stumped. Lexicon Valley is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, a new video service with more than 5,000 lectures. As a member, you can watch as many lectures as you want on any device. And for a limited time, Lexicon Valley listeners can watch The Fundamentals of Photography for free by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus...

A pronoun that English borrowed from its Scandinavian neighbors gets new life as a gender neutral alternative to he and she. Lexicon Valley is brought to you by Blue Apron. For less than $10 per meal, Blue Apron delivers right to your door everything you need to create a home-cooked meal. Farm-fresh ingredients are perfectly portioned and come with an easy to follow recipe card—so you can create a...

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk about a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Lexicon Valley is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, a new video learning service with more than 5,000 lectures. As a member of The Great Courses Plus, you can watch as many lectures as you want, anytime, anywhere, on any device. For a limited time, Lexicon Valley listeners can watch The Fundament...

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to editors at Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Dictionary.com about their picks for Word of the Year. Lexicon Valley is brought to you by Headspace. If you've ever been curious about meditation or would like to reacquaint yourself with the practice, then go to Headspace.com/lexicon and try the Take 10 program. It's guided meditation for 10 days—10 minutes a day—absolut...

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the early 20th-century origins of a bizarre food-industry code with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Lexicon Valley is brought to you by The Message, an original science fiction podcast from Panoply and GE Podcast Theater. All of Season 1 is available now, so listen and find out why a 70-year-old alien recording seems to be killing people. Search for The Message on iTu...

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the energetic history of the word sleep. Lexicon Valley is brought to you by The Message, an original science fiction podcast from Panoply and GE Podcast Theater. All of Season 1 is available now, so listen and find out why a 70-year-old alien recording seems to be killing people. Search for The Message on iTunes. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exc...

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a word that was popularized during the 1940s folk movement with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.

Lexicon Valley is brought to you by The Message, a new podcast series from GE Podcast Theater. And by Texture, the mobile app that lets you tap directly into the world's most popular magazines, anywhere, using your phone or tablet. Dive deeper into Vogue, People, Esquire,...

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the etymological quirkiness of the word "pussy." Lexicon Valley is brought to you by The Message, a new podcast series from GE Podcast Theater. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Email: lex...

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a piece of old American slang with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Lexicon Valley is brought to you by The Message, a new podcast series from GE Podcast Theate. And by Texture, the mobile app that lets you tap directly into the world's most popular magazines, anywhere, using your phone or tablet. Dive deeper into Vogue, People, Esquire, Time, and more, with interactiv...

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to Jesse Sheidlower, author of The F-Word, about a recent discovery in the history of one our most enduring expletives. Lexicon Valley is brought to you by The Message, a new podcast series from GE Podcast Theater Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twit...