'Why We Talk Funny.' The reasons behind our accents, with Valerie Fridland
1179. This week, we talk to Valerie Fridland, a linguist and professor who grew up in Memphis surrounded by Southern accents and now researches the history and social power of speech. We look at her n...
23 Apr 33min
Should you start a sentence with 'hopefully'? Why we might not recognize alien language.
1178. Do you cringe when someone says "Hopefully, he'll pass the test"? This week, we look at why "hopefully" as a sentence adverb has been controversial for decades, even though the Associated Press ...
21 Apr 18min
Inside the life of a curator (and the myth of white gloves), with John Overholt.
1177. This week, we look at behind-the-scenes of being a curator at Harvard's Houghton Library with John Overholt. We look at why 18th-century paper is surprisingly tough, how John managed the high-st...
16 Apr 30min
Why 'stressed' spelled backwards reveals a delicious truth. 'Me' versus 'myself'
1176. This week, we look at mind-bending words, including "semordnilap" (which spells "palindromes" backwards), "pentasyllabic" (which has five syllables), and "hyphenated" (which is not hyphenated). ...
14 Apr 14min
Losing clients to AI, and how to gain them back, with Suzanne Bowness
1175. In this bonus segment, which originally aired last October for Grammarpaloozians, we look at how AI is disrupting the freelance writing industry with author Suzanne Bowness. She shares her strat...
9 Apr 11min
What the way we pronounce Iran says about us. Odorous or malodorous? When smell words stink.
1174. This week, we look at why we pronounce "Iran" and "Iraq" differently and what those pronunciations reveal about our political beliefs. Then, we look at the "smelly" words that confuse people, in...
7 Apr 16min
The 3,000 hidden colors of the dictionary, with Kory Stamper
1173. This week, we talk to former Merriam-Webster editor Kory Stamper to discuss her new book, "True Color." We look at the obsessive, "dictionary-ese" world of color definitions, looking at why the ...
2 Apr 34min
Denim: Secret place names hiding in plain sight. Why the principal is more than your pal.
1172. This week, we look at "toponyms" — words named after places — and you'll discover the hidden place names in denim, jeans, sherry, cantaloupe, and more. Then, we break down "principal" versus "pr...
31 Mar 13min
