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Welcome to the Valley!
Lexicon Valley is an audio show dissecting this messy, maddening and thoroughly wonderful thing we call language.
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John McWhorter dissects the many distinct features that make up Southern speech. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 36 min 2 sec
Did you "used to" do something but don't any longer? Where does that expression come from?! Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 31 min 11 sec
Our word for "red" predates our word for "blue"—and that's true for almost every language! Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 37 min 28 sec
John McWhorter applies linguistic analysis to Looney Tunes. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 40 min 31 sec
John McWhorter on what the French Canadian version of The Flintstones can teach us about the letter T. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/Lexi...
· 38 min 53 sec
John McWhorter raises an etymological glass to the nonagenarian Oxford English Dictionary. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 32 min 45 sec
John McWhorter on language lessons from this year's Tony nominees for Best Musical. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 35 min 7 sec
John McWhorter on the way in which words like f*ck and sh*t are increasingly standing in for it and that. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/L...
· 31 min 0 sec
John McWhorter on the tantalizing prospect of a universal language. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 35 min 27 sec
A brief history of oratory from the Gilded Age to the Era of Trump. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 40 min 32 sec
Yes! John McWhorter on our compact, workaday affirmative. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 33 min 39 sec
John McWhorter on why the 16th letter of our alphabet is a fancy little thing. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 36 min 26 sec
John McWhorter on why English spelling is so frustratingly idiosyncratic. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 34 min 4 sec
John McWhorter on what Washington, Franklin and Hamilton may have sounded like. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 34 min 54 sec
John McWhorter on the rise of an exclamatory syllable in English. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 32 min 16 sec
John McWhorter on the rich complexities of a humble preposition. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 31 min 43 sec
John McWhorter on the origin of woman, girl and other lady terms. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 32 min 29 sec
John McWhorter on the etymology and pronunciation of English numbers. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 42 min 4 sec
Like gangster and gangsta, nigger and nigga have become two distinct words. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 32 min 53 sec
The problem is, is that we sometimes say is twice. Why? Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Website: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley
· 31 min 7 sec