Lexicon Valley - podcast cover

Lexicon Valley

Lexicon Valleybooksmartstudios.com
A podcast about language, with hosts Mike Vuolo, Bob Garfield and John McWhorter.
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Episodes

Seven Centuries of F--ks

On a recent revelation regarding the history of one our most enduring expletives. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 05, 201533 minEp. 70

LinguaFile XVI | Boondoggle

On the origins of a very wasteful word, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 21, 201533 minEp. 69

How New York Became the Big Apple

New York City is big, sure, but why an apple? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 08, 201525 minEp. 68

LinguaFile XV | Gringo

On the origin of a Spanish-language pejorative, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 24, 201534 minEp. 67

What Do You Mean What Is It Like?

On “a literary history of the strange expression ‘what is it like?’” — with lexicographer Anne Seaton. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 10, 201530 minEp. 66

LinguaFile XIV | Heebie Jeebies

On the jittery history of a nervous term, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 27, 201538 minEp. 65

What's the Deal with Translating Seinfeld?

Seinfeld has been dubbed into other languages, but does it actually translate? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 13, 201542 minEp. 64

LinguaFile XIII | Bozo

On the etymology of a doofy and goofy word, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 29, 201527 minEp. 63

The Pollyanna Hypothesis

Are we humans a mostly positive people? Our language says yes. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 15, 201549 minEp. 62

LinguaFile XII | Kibitz

Adding our two cents' worth from the peanut gallery, with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 01, 201539 minEp. 61

M'athchomaroon, Zhey Lajak Vezhven!

Conlanger David J. Peterson on the art and craft of inventing languages for Game of Thrones. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 18, 201541 minEp. 60

LinguaFile XI | Seersucker

On a well-traveled fabric, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 04, 201533 minEp. 59

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

You don't know nuthin' about the double negative. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 20, 201539 minEp. 58

LinguaFile X | Pumpernickel

On the flatulent history of a popular deli staple, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 13, 201537 minEp. 57

And Infinitum

On a quirk of grammar that Henry Fowler felt “should not be discountenanced.” X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 23, 201538 minEp. 56

LinguaFile IX | Carnival

On the contested origin of a gluttonous word, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 09, 201528 minEp. 55

Sex Workers

The rise and fall of the feminine ending. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 23, 201536 minEp. 54

LinguaFile VIII | Quiz

On the etymology of a puzzling word, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 09, 201527 minEp. 53

The Many Lives of Anna Karenina

Just how faithful should a translator be to the original? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 26, 201540 minEp. 52

LinguaFile VII | Cockamamie

On the Yiddish-inflected origin of a crazy word, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 16, 201535 minEp. 51

Exposure to Vape Culture

Editors at Merriam-Webster, Oxford University Press, Dictionary.com and Wordnik discuss their rationale for choosing the one word that best represents 2014. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...

Dec 29, 201452 minEp. 50

LinguaFile VI | Grog

On the etymology of a potent word, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 15, 201429 minEp. 49

What Does It Mean to Sound Gay?

Can you tell if a man is gay by the way he speaks? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 01, 201439 minEp. 48

LinguaFile V | Get One's Goat

On the etymology of a provocative phrase, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 17, 201434 minEp. 47

Number Theory

How many blackbirds were baked in that pie? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 03, 201428 minEp. 46

LinguaFile IV | Snark

On the etymology of a sarcastic word, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 20, 201443 minEp. 45

Man on the Street

Jonathon Green's decades-long quest to document slang throughout the English-speaking world. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 06, 201439 minEp. 44

LinguaFile III | Orange

On the etymology of a well-traveled and colorful word, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 23, 201432 minEp. 43

Demonstratively Speaking

On the rhetorical effect of this, that, these and those. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 08, 201433 minEp. 42

LinguaFile II | Lagniappe

On the etymology of a gratuitous word, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 25, 201427 minEp. 41
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