Culture Gabfest24 Dec 2025

We Found Our Archives: The Abstract Noun Edition

After thinking it was lost to the sands of internet time, our team uncovered a 2013 gem from the archives. In the “The Abstract Noun Edition,” your favorite Gabfesters talk about how we talk. Steve, Dana, and Julia discuss the elements of language: vocabulary, conversation, and voice. In paroxysms of polysyllables, they invoke their favorite writers—and their least favorite linguistic tics—to probe the best and worst of the English language. Why should you eschew the word “eschew”? What does “shibboleth” really mean? And where is the line between a strong voice and self-parody?

Speaking of self-parody, check out these very on-brand 2013 Endorsements:

Dana: The Sounding Joy, a CD collection of folk carols, collected by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and performed by Elizabeth Mitchell. (Now available on streaming.)

Julia: Creating an iTunes playlist of all songs you’ve played more than 10 times and then shuffling them. You’ll rediscover old gems like “The Size of Our Love” by Sleater Kinney.

Steve: The mind-bending “Monty Hall problem,” as originally described by Marilyn vos Savant in Parade Magazine.

If you’re in New York on January 5, don’t miss some real life vocabulary, conversation, and voice when Steve joins Booker Prize-finalist Ben Markcovits for a conversation about The Rest of Our Lives — details here.

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