Lexicon Valley
by Lexicon Valley
Latest episode
Here's to You Mrs. Malaprop
Here's to You Mrs. Malaprop
About this podcast
A podcast about language, with hosts Mike Vuolo, Bob Garfield and John McWhorter.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 328 episodes
- Here's to You Mrs. Malaprop · 32 min · Episode 319What misspeaking might reveal about the way our mental dictionary is organized. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 319: "Here's to You Mrs. Malaprop."…
- Mufasa, Simba, Fercho and Dylan · 33 min · Episode 318One man's quest to dub Disney's "The Lion King" into the indigenous Quechuan language; an interview with filmmaker Augusto Zegarra, director of the documentary "Runa Simi."…
- How to Kill a Language, Part II · 24 min · Episode 317In Part II of our interview with author Sophia Smith Galer, "shared language erosion" — when members of an immigrant family can no longer communicate fluently with each other —…
- How to Kill a Language, Part I · 59 min · Episode 316From Ukraine to Maori to Emilian, a conversation with author Sophia Smith Galer about language suppression, revitalization and death. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios…
- Bang for the Buck · 22 min · Episode 315An investigation into the nuclear origins of "bang for the buck." Plus, we get buck-naked! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 315: "Bang for the…
- The Language of Liars · 29 min · Episode 314An interview with science-fiction author S.L. Huang, whose experience learning languages informed their most recent novella, The Language of Liars. Visit Lexicon Valley. A…
- No More Mr. Nice Guy · 17 min · Episode 313Was Perry Como the original Mr. Nice Guy? And who again was Perry Como? Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode…
- Nice Guys Finish Last · 9 min · Episode 312What does a cement mixer and a 1948 Cosmopolitan magazine article have to do with the phrase Nice Guys Finish Last? Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain. Visit Lexicon Valley. A…
- Happily Ever Arter · 7 min · Episode 311In a bonus segment for all listeners, John McWhorter talks about "arter," a word from Jim's dialect in Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart…
- Grand Am · 18 min · Episode 310John McWhorter on the truth behind "am" in Black English. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 310: "Grand Am." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced…
- Haut Corn! · 22 min · Episode 309John McWhorter asks: What did Black New Yorkers sound like in the 1800s? Find out in this first of a two-part episode. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production…
- A Quick Buck · 16 min · Episode 308A buck is a male deer. Or a dollar bill. Or a strapping lad. Or an old poker term. Are they related? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 308: "A Quick…
- Nice of You to Join Us · 20 min · Episode 307What does a Jane Austen novel have in common with a George Carlin routine? Biting commentary on the word nice! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 307…
- The Dating Game, Great White Edition · 28 min · Episode 306Play along and guess the correct chronological order of the following phrases: Great White Hope, Great White Shark and Great White Way. And check out our other *great* episodes…
- The Original Maverick · 24 min · Episode 305Legend has it that Samuel Maverick was a 19th-century rancher who refused to brand his cattle — but was he really such a maverick? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios…
- Get One's Goat · 30 min · Episode 47On the possible origins of a provocative — and thoroughly caprine — phrase, featuring lexicographer Ben Zimmer. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 47…
- The G.O.A.T. · 27 min · Episode 304The aggrandizing acronym that was seeded in the 1960s and born decades later. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 304: "The G.O.A.T." With Bob Garfield…
- The Amazing Great · 18 min · Episode 280Good is no longer good enough. Everyone is awesome, superlative or great. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 280: "The Amazing Great." With Bob…
- The Ethereal Omelet · 20 min · Episode 303A double dose of beautiful words, including the pleasant-sounding mellifluous — which happens to mean pleasant-sounding! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production…
- The Most Beautiful Word · 24 min · Episode 302Poetry Society of America members have chosen the most beautiful word in the English language. Any guesses? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 302…
- The Dating Game, Paranormal Edition · 25 min · Episode 301Guess the chronological order of these early 20th-century words: paramilitary, paranormal and (drug-related) paraphernalia. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production…
- Parasocial Climbing · 26 min · Episode 300In our age of AI, the word "parasocial" has gained new relevance. Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield trace its rise and discuss other "para" words like paragraph and parachute. Visit…
- The Lowdown on Lowkey · 28 min · Episode 299John McWhorter on the hidden logic of "lowkey." Plus, where did all those terms of venery come from? A flamboyance of flamingos? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios…
- The Dating Game, Perfect Edition · 26 min · Episode 298Play along with our new game and guess the correct chronological order of the following phrases: perfect crime, perfect fit, perfect storm and perfect stranger. Visit Lexicon…
- A Perfect Episode · 25 min · Episode 297"Perfect!" is everywhere. On the evolution and ubiquity of a flawless word. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 297: "A Perfect Episode." With Bob…
- I've Been Hornswoggled! · 21 min · Episode 296Listener Steven wrote: "I’ve been hornswoggled! So, what exactly has happened to me and when did people start getting hornswoggled? Is it painful?" We have answers. Visit…
- Loose as a Goose · 27 min · Episode 295Is there anything particularly loose about a goose — or does that idiom exist only because it rhymes? Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo investigate. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart…
- The Sound of a Car Backshifting · 32 min · Episode 294John McWhorter on language change — from the meaning of wit to the pronunciation of automobile. Plus, a defense of redundancy! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios…
- How Do Words Get into the Dictionary? · 26 min · Episode 293Getting new words into the dictionary is a rigorous, time consuming process — with no guarantee of success. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode…
- Look It Up! The Story of the Dictionary. · 30 min · Episode 292"Unabridged" author Stefan Fatsis on the fastidious practice of lexicography and the heiress who amassed the largest collection of dictionaries in history. Visit Lexicon…
- Open Season for Racists · 24 min · Episode 291Like 'analog watch' and 'snail mail,' 'openly racist' is a retronym — John McWhorter and Mike Vuolo explain. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 291…
- Playing the Angles · 25 min · Episode 290What does St. John the Apostle have in common with Bernie Bernbaum, the sniveling grifter from Miller's Crossing? Angling! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production…
- You Get the Gist · 13 min · Episode 289During an appearance on The Gist with Mike Pesca, we discussed the curious backstory of, you guessed it, the word "gist." Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production…
- Derek Guy on the Language of Clothing · 20 min · Episode 288A prolific writer on men's fashion, Guy discusses the vocabulary of outerwear and why dress is a form of social language. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production…
- McWhorter vs. McWhorter · 30 min · Episode 287The world was shocked by a controversial article published by "John McWhorter." Here, he sets the record straight. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode…
- A Toast to Toast · 30 min · Episode 286Raise a glass to browned bread ... now you're toast! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 286: "A Toast to Toast." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo…
- All the Rage Bait · 17 min · Episode 285Oxford English Dictionary editor Fiona McPherson talks to Mike Vuolo about the terms that caught her attention in 2025. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production…
- The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows · 27 min · Episode 284Author John Koenig talks about inventing words for those subtle emotions that hitherto had no name. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 284: "The…
- 6 7: Everything You Don't Know About the Word of the Year · 18 min · Episode 283Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield join Mike Pesca of The Gist to talk about the long, strange journey of 6 7, from rapper Skrilla to the basketball court, from the classroom to the…
- Gobbledygook Explained · 24 min · Episode 282Gobbledygook sounds like one of those words that somebody just made up — so is it? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 282: "Gobbledygook Explained."…
- Gen Alpha Thinks You're Cringe · 24 min · Episode 281Our parents were cringe-inducing but we're just cringe. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 281: "Gen Alpha Thinks You're Cringe." With Bob Garfield…
- The Amazing Great · 20 min · Episode 280Good is no longer good enough. Everyone is awesome, superlative or just great. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 280: "The Amazing Great." With Bob…
- It's Been a Minute · 24 min · Episode 279Returning as the primary hosts of Lexicon Valley, Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield speak to John McWhorter about understatement and hyperbole in Black English. Visit Lexicon Valley…
- Ask Not? · 31 min · Episode 34Richard Tofel, author of Sound the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, reveals the startling authorship behind JFK’s most famous words. Visit Lexicon…
- The American Accent Came First · 33 min · Episode 278What did English sound like during the Revolutionary War? John has a number of fascinating observations about the way the language was spoken back then — including the accents!…
- Oversleeping at the Sleepover · 24 min · Episode 277'Over' isn’t just the opposite of 'under' and 'off' is not necessarily the opposite of 'on.' Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 277: "Oversleeping…
- The Story of Us · 24 min · Episode 276John talks about the subject of his new book from Avery Publishing — Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios…
- Fire, Die, Rim · 36 min · Episode 275The Thai words for fire, die and rim sound an awful lot like the English words fire, die and rim. How could that be? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production…
- Hither and Yon · 29 min · Episode 274Words like thence and thither are all but obsolete in English, but they were actually quite useful!The Thai words for fire, die and rim sound an awful lot like the English words…
- Down the Rabbit Hole · 26 min · Episode 273Do you know the difference between a rabbit and a hare? And what then is a bunny? Follow John through the etymological warrens of these furry creatures. Visit Lexicon…
