This hour we look at mis-speaks, mis-hearings, and mis-understandings, like malapropisms, mondegreens, eggcorns, and spoonerisms. We share our favorite examples and learn about what they can tell us about the English language and how our brains process language. And we celebrate the joy of playing with language.

GUESTS:

Emily Brewster: Senior Editor and lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, and host of the Word Matters podcast
Melissa Baese-Berk: Professor of language teaching studies and linguistics at the University of Oregon, where she is also director of the Speech Perception and Production Lab
Ben Zimmer: Linguist, lexicographer, and the Word on the Street columnist for The Wall Street Journal

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

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Colin McEnroe, Carolyn McCusker, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired March 29, 2023.

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I’ve Got Two Chickens to Paralyze: A celebration of mondegreens, malapropisms, and more