116: Enough Is Enuf (with Gabe Henry)
Spelling reform in English: a constant failure? Or a secret success? Waves upon waves of optimists have tried to make English spelling reflect its sound and escape its etymological origins, but have n...
19 Apr 20252h 7min
114: Bye Bye I Love You (with Michael Erard)
First words and last words get a lot of attention. But how did words get to have such a place of prominence? What would we see if we focused on interaction instead? A new book looks at words, gestures...
25 Mar 20251h 56min
113: "Official" English (with Carmen Fought)
Breaking news: The president of the United States intends to sign an executive order designating English the official language of the USA. Is this a big deal? Why was this necessary, and what happens ...
2 Mar 202548min
112: WotY 2024: The Last Word
What really goes on behind the scenes at the biggest Word of the Year vote in linguistdom? Are we really going to stick with sanewashing for our word? And which words did we miss? We lock in and crash...
21 Feb 20251h 33min
111: Words of the Week of the Year 2024 (live with Mignon Fogarty and friends)
It's our Words of the Year episode, where we do a vibe check on all the words and name one of them our Because Language Word of the Year. We're joined by Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty and a lot of frien...
21 Des 20241h 42min
110: Diego's Dossier (with Diego Diaz)
What's in the linguistic news? Diego knows. He's been tracking down stories and words for us all year long, and now he's curated an entire show for us. It's the latest in the Diego series. How do you...
18 Des 20241h 4min
109: Language Oppression in Tibet (with Gerald Roche and Sasha Wilmoth)
Minority languages are under threat everywhere, but Tibet represents a particularly difficult challenge. The Tibetan language family is under pressure from (no surprise) Mandarin, even as community su...
6 Des 20242h 35min
108: Mailbag of Etymology (with Douglas Harper)
We're joined for the first time by Douglas Harper, proprietor of the world-renowned Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com). He's here to help us with our Mailbag questions, and even test us in a...
16 Nov 20241h 24min
