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Lexicon Valley

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

In What Order Did Languages Arrive in Europe?

Cutting edge research gives linguists new insight. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 18, 202044 minEp. 181

Verbs on the Move

Like the boy said in that song: you come and go, you come and go. We all do. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 21, 202042 minEp. 179

Does Processes Rhyme With Knees?

Is our pretentiousness causing us to pronounce words wrong? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 07, 202048 minEp. 178

A Bisl Yiddish

Yiddish is the gefilte fish of Germanic languages. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 24, 201948 minEp. 177

Private Parts

How did cock come to mean a male chicken and a penis? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 10, 201940 minEp. 176

The Soft Power of Like

Words and phrases that are often dismissed as filler are actually conveying politeness. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 26, 201946 minEp. 175

Men, Women and Children

The weird plurals of sentient beings. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 12, 201938 minEp. 174

Zombie English

Dead parts of our language have a way of sticking around. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 29, 201935 minEp. 173

Let's Do Lunch

Come table-hopping as we discuss the linguistic quirks of mealtime terms. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 16, 201938 minEp. 172

How to Think Like a Linguist

The alphabet doesn't quite capture the many sounds we make. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 01, 201938 minEp. 171

Has English Gotten Less Complex?

English pronouns in particular have simplified over time. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 17, 201941 minEp. 170

S#!t, Hell, and Darn

Dissecting three common curse words. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 03, 201937 minEp. 169

This Family Speaks 1,200 Languages

From Javanese to Tagalog, the wonderful Austronesian languages. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 20, 201946 minEp. 168

Language vs. Dialect

A language is a dialect with an army, to paraphrase a renowned linguist. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 06, 201942 minEp. 167

The Internet Loves the Exclamation Point!!

On some of the deep forces that shape human language. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 23, 201939 minEp. 166

Does Language Affect Thought?

Another look at the so-called Whorf Hypothesis, the idea that the language you speak affects your perception of the world. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 25, 201948 minEp. 164

A Fleeting Glance

Reflections on transience. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 11, 201940 minEp. 163

The Romance Languages

On French, Spanish, Italian, etc. — otherwise known as the Romances. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 28, 201945 minEp. 162

Why Do Some Americans Say Warshed?

Why do people often pronounce an R sound where it doesn't belong? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 14, 201948 minEp. 161

Flores Man vs. Sulawesi

A linguistic mystery on an island archipeligo of Indonesia. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 30, 201946 minEp. 160

The Lingua Francas

You could speak fluently with half the world's population if you knew these 20 or so languages. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 16, 201937 minEp. 159

Can Climate Influence Language?

As many as half the world's languages are tonal, but a tiny fraction are spoken in arid climates. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 02, 201944 minEp. 158

When Ain’t Was All Right

On the the first person singular of to be . X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 19, 201939 minEp. 157

The Semitic Tongues

On the triconsonantal roots of Semitic languages. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 05, 201945 minEp. 156

Precious Little

Johnny loves his blankie — why do we tack a long e sound onto words to form diminutives? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 19, 201942 minEp. 155

When Words Collide

On the creation of new English vocabulary. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lexicon Valley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . A Booksmart Studios production. 154: "When Words Collide." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 06, 201944 minEp. 154

Truth Be Told

An actually very literal discussion of true words. Really! X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 22, 201940 minEp. 153

A Penetrating History of F*%k

On our longtime obsession with the F-word. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 08, 201946 minEp. 152

When Did English Get Happy?

Where does happiness come from? X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 26, 201838 minEp. 151

Why Language Can’t Be Tamed

A conversation with Lane Greene, author of Talk on the Wild Side. X: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 11, 201839 minEp. 150
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