Latest Episodes

Linguist John McWhorter argues that it makes perfect sense for the speech of black and white Americans to have subtle differences. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website...

May 3, 2016 · 26 min 50 sec

A wild goose chase that stinks from fish. How did Clupea harengus come to signify a diversionary tactic? Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/ Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley

April 19, 2016 · 22 min 19 sec

The earliest known citation for “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?  Twitter: @lexiconvalley F...

April 4, 2016 · 27 min 12 sec

A salty phrase with roots in Ancient Rome has confounded English speakers for centuries.  Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/ Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley

March 8, 2016 · 29 min 27 sec

Donald Trump calls people (and publications) he doesn’t like “sad.” When did that word become an insult? Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/Lex...

February 22, 2016 · 28 min 15 sec

A peculiar insult from the north of England has the Oxford English Dictionary stumped. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley

February 8, 2016 · 32 min 9 sec

A pronoun that English borrowed from its Scandinavian neighbors gets new life as a gender neutral alternative to he and she. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: book...

January 27, 2016 · 35 min 38 sec

The curious case of a conspiratorial coinage: Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk about a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconVall...

January 11, 2016 · 36 min 11 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to editors at Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Dictionary.com about their picks for Word of the Year. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website...

December 28, 2015 · 32 min 15 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the early 20th-century origins of a bizarre food-industry code with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website:...

December 14, 2015 · 29 min 44 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the energetic history of the word sleep. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley

November 30, 2015 · 28 min 39 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a word that was popularized during the 1940s folk movement with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.

 Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: bo...

November 16, 2015 · 27 min 34 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the etymological quirkiness of the word "pussy." Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley

November 2, 2015 · 32 min 3 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a piece of old American slang with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconVall...

October 19, 2015 · 28 min 39 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to Jesse Sheidlower, author of The F-Word, about a recent discovery in the history of one our most enduring expletives. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.co...

October 5, 2015 · 31 min 39 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley

September 21, 2015 · 30 min 35 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the true story behind the most famous municipal nickname. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley

September 7, 2015 · 22 min 12 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the origin of a Spanish-language pejorative with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.co...

August 24, 2015 · 33 min 9 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss "A literary history of the strange expression 'what is it like?'" — an article by lexicographer Anne Seaton. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconV...

August 10, 2015 · 29 min 21 sec

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley

July 27, 2015 · 37 min 29 sec