Lexicon Valley
Lexicon Valley
A podcast about language, with hosts Mike Vuolo, Bob Garfield and John McWhorter.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 3, 2016 • 27min
The Blaccent
Linguist John McWhorter says the so-called blaccent is largely about vowel sounds.
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Apr 19, 2016 • 22min
LinguaFile XXIII | Red Herring
How Clupea harengus — a.k.a. Atlantic herring — came to signify a diversionary tactic, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
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Apr 4, 2016 • 27min
Defecation Presentation
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?
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Mar 8, 2016 • 29min
LinguaFile XXII | Grain of Salt
On the origin of a skeptical phrase, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
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Feb 22, 2016 • 28min
The Full, Firm, Valiant and Heavy-Hearted Trump
When exactly did sad become an insult?
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Feb 8, 2016 • 32min
LinguaFile XXI | Wazzock
A peculiar insult from the north of England has the Oxford English Dictionary stumped, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
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Jan 27, 2016 • 35min
The Fall and Rise of the Singular They
A pronoun that English borrowed from its Scandinavian neighbors gets new life as an alternative to he and she.
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Jan 11, 2016 • 36min
LinguaFile XX | In Cahoots
The curious case of a conspiratorial coinage, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
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Dec 28, 2015 • 32min
Tears of Joy, Identity and a Prism of Isms
Editors at Merriam-Webster, Oxford University Press and Dictionary.com discuss the one word they believe best represents 2015.
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Dec 14, 2015 • 30min
LinguaFile XIX | 86'd
On the early-20th-century origins of a bizarre food-industry code, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
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