Lexicon Valley

<p>A podcast about language, with hosts Mike Vuolo, Bob Garfield and John McWhorter.</p>

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Author John Koenig talks about inventing words for those subtle emotions that hitherto had no name. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12-09
23:37

6 7: Everything You Don't Know About the Word of the Year

Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield join Mike Pesca of The Gist to talk about the long, strange journey of 6 7, from rapper Skrilla to the basketball court, from the classroom to the Word of the Year. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12-02
17:16

Gobbledygook Explained

Gobbledygook sounds like one of those words that somebody just made up — so is it? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11-18
20:15

Gen Alpha Thinks You're Cringe

Our parents were cringe-inducing but we're just cringe. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValleylley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10-28
22:19

The Amazing Great

Good is no longer good enough. Everyone is awesome, superlative or just great. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10-07
20:02

It's Been a Minute

Returning as the primary hosts of Lexicon Valley, Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield speak to John McWhorter about understatement and hyperbole in Black English. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

09-15
24:21

Ask Not?

An interview with Richard Tofel about his book Sound the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, revealing the startling authorship behind JFK’s most famous words. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

09-04
30:21

The American Accent Came First

What did English sound like during the Revolutionary War? John has a number of fascinating observations about the way the language was spoken back then — including the accents! X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

07-09
32:20

Oversleeping at the Sleepover

Over isn’t just the opposite of under and off is not necessarily the opposite of on. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

05-20
28:53

The Story of Us

John talks about the subject of his new book by Avery Publishing — Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

04-22
24:51

Fire, Die, Rim

The Thai words for fire, die and rim sound an awful lot like the English words fire, die and rim. How could that be? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

03-11
36:07

Hither and Yon

Words like thence and thither are all but obsolete in English, but they were actually quite useful! X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

01-07
25:50

Down the Rabbit Hole

Do you know the difference between a rabbit and a hare? And what then is a bunny? Follow John through the etymological warrens of these furry creatures. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11-27
23:44

Giving You the Business

It may seem apparent how we got from busyness to business, but the origins of the word “busy” itself are shrouded in mystery. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10-15
28:30

When Is Code-Switching Inappropriate?

As a daily listener to WNYC Public Radio in New York City, John has noticed that a certain announcer frequently mispronounces words on air. He has thoughts. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

09-09
30:18

The World's Largest Family

Working backwards from existing languages, linguists have had great success reconstructing Proto-Indo-European. Does that mean we can do the same for all language families? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

08-01
22:09

English Is Practically Naked

A cyclone came through and blew off most of English’s clothes, says John, in Part II of his discussion of Indo-European. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

07-12
24:37

Family Ties

There are at least five defining features among hundreds of related languages from English to Hindi to Russian. And what does any of that have to do with the Hittites? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

06-10
27:00

Going Deep

The simple verb to go quickly gets complex in just about any language and English is no exception. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

04-30
36:34

Come Under Scrutiny

What does the bat in “acrobat” have to do with the word come? X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

03-18
25:32

Apple Banana

Rascoe did great reporting work when she covered the White House. I never could figure out how SHE felt about the subjects of her reporting. She has been the ONLY truly non-partisan reporter I've heard from Presidential coverage. It allowed me to focus entirely on the content, without having to scope out bias.

04-14 Reply

Andrew Burks-Wright

उधजलस शंं शसंधवधः

08-02 Reply

Nina

My husband and I loved Ayesha Roscoe from the get go. She sounds human!

05-31 Reply

Catherine Businelle

My little brother once retorted, "I AM being haved!" when told to behave. 🤣

05-05 Reply

Guy Miller

"Put on your coat and put on your hat. walk yourself to the laundrymat." Yakety, Yak. Coasters 1957(?)

01-16 Reply

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