Lexicon Valley

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What's Lexicon Valley about?

Lexicon Valley is a show about language, from pet peeves, syntax, and etymology to neurolinguistics and the death of languages. Hosted by linguist John McWhorter.

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LAST EPISODE

Why Do Some Americans Say W...

05.14.2019

The letter R has a habit of intruding on spoken English. How come?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ...

Lexicon Valley episodes:

05.14.2019 Why Do Some Americans Say Warshed? The letter R has a habit of intruding on spoken English. How come?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ...
04.29.2019 Flores Man vs. Sulawesi This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses. Go to thegreatcourses.com/lexicon to save 85% on “Building a Better Vocabulary.”A linguistic mystery in the Lesser Sunda Islands.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign ...
04.16.2019 The Lingua Francas A conversation with Gaston Dorren, author of Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about ...
04.02.2019 Can Climate Influence Language? Tonal languages evolved mostly in hot and humid places. What would explain that?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ...
03.19.2019 When Ain't Was Alright What we can learn about English from am, the seemingly simplest verb.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
03.05.2019 The Semitic Tongues Where did Arabic, Hebrew, Amharic and their kin originate? And what is a triconsonantal root?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more ...
02.19.2019 Precious Little This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Try for free today at babbel.com/lexicon.How an old word for child morphed into a versatile, and very modern, suffix.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up ...
02.06.2019 When Words Collide This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Try for free today at babbel.com/lexicon.Some more of the many ways that neologisms form.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today ...
01.22.2019 Truth Be Told This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Try for free today at babbel.com/lexicon.An actually very literal discussion of true words. Really!Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today ...
01.08.2019 A Penetrating History of F*%k English speakers have been getting it on with the F-word for centuries.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
12.25.2018 When Did English Get Happy? A New Year's meditation on a joyful word.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12.13.2018 Sponsored: Adjusting the Lens on Chronic Disease More than half of Americans are currently living with one or more serious, preventable, chronic diseases. These rates are expected to increase significantly over the next two decades. In this episode of Life Effects, host Sara Ivry talks to Gabriel ...
12.11.2018 Why Language Can't Be Tamed A conversation with Lane Greene, author of Talk on the Wild Side, about the "vague and anarchic" nature of language.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. ...
11.27.2018 Is Social Media Changing English? Our speech is becoming more childlike, but not for the reasons you think.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ...
11.13.2018 What Was the First Language? How far back can we trace, with any accuracy, the spoken word?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
10.30.2018 So ... Let's Talk About So How long have we been starting our sentences with "so"?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
10.16.2018 Like-Minded This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers:Slack, a workplace communication hub. Find out more at slack.com.Babbel, the #1-selling language learning app in the world. Get 50% off your 6-month subscription today at babbel.com/lexicon.John McWhorter discusses the evolution ...
10.02.2018 Why Do Southerners Talk Like That? John McWhorter dissects the many distinct features that make up Southern speech.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
09.18.2018 The Habitual Past Did you "used to" do something but don't any longer? Where does that expression come from?!Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn ...
09.04.2018 A Riot of Color This episode is brought by RXBAR, a whole-food protein bar, made from real, natural ingredients. For 25% off your first order, visit RXBAR.com/lexicon and enter promo code lexicon.Our word for "red" predates our word for "blue"—and that's true for almost ...
08.21.2018 The Rise of They John McWhorter says that English pronouns are evolving and it's time to embrace it.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about ...
08.06.2018 Wabbit Twacks John McWhorter applies linguistic analysis to Looney Tunes.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
07.24.2018 Tee Time John McWhorter on what the French Canadian version of The Flintstones can teach us about the letter T.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: ...
07.10.2018 Happy Birthday OED! John McWhorter raises an etymological glass to the nonagenarian Oxford English Dictionary.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
06.26.2018 If Frozen, Why Not Squozen? John McWhorter on language lessons from this year's Tony nominees for Best Musical.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ...
06.12.2018 The Pronouning of Profanities John McWhorter on the way in which words like fck and sht are increasingly standing in for it and that.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. ...
05.29.2018 One Tongue to Rule Them All John McWhorter on the tantalizing prospect of a universal language.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
05.15.2018 The Art of the Spiel A brief history of oratory from the Gilded Age to the Era of Trump.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about ...
05.09.2018 Lend Me Your Ears: Julius Caesar Lend Me Your Ears is a six-part podcast miniseries exploring how Shakespeare’s works have shaped our modern views on politics. Each month, host Isaac Butler will dig into a different Shakespeare play to explore how Shakespeare was responding to his ...
05.01.2018 Getting to Yes Yes! John McWhorter on our compact, workaday affirmative.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
04.17.2018 The Story of P John McWhorter on why the 16th letter of our alphabet is a fancy little thing.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more ...
04.03.2018 English Spelling Is a Beautiful Mess John McWhorter on why English spelling is so frustratingly idiosyncratic.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
03.20.2018 Did the Founding Fathers Have a British Accent? John McWhorter on what Washington, Franklin and Hamilton may have sounded like.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
03.06.2018 No-Uh! John McWhorter on the rise of an exclamatory syllable in English.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. ...
02.20.2018 The Inner Workings of Out John McWhorter on the rich complexities of a humble preposition.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
02.06.2018 Words, For Her John McWhorter on the origin of woman, girl and other lady terms.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
01.23.2018 What's the Deal with Eleven? John McWhorter on the etymology and pronunciation of English numbers.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
01.09.2018 There Are Two N-Words Like gangster and gangsta, nigger and nigga have become two distinct words.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
12.26.2017 The Thing Is Is The problem is, is that we sometimes say is twice. Why?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. ...
12.12.2017 An Accidental Sanctity Biblical scholar Mark Ward discusses his forthcoming book, Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: ...
11.28.2017 Thanksgiving Misnomers Turkey? Pumpkin? Squash? They're all mistakes.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
11.14.2017 Sometimes Just Because Language is often at the mercy of pure chance.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.31.2017 Against Strunk & White It's time to permanently shelve the Elements of Style.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.17.2017 Whence Baby Mama? John McWhorter answers questions from Lexicon Valley listeners.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.03.2017 Este No Es Parqueo After parking in front of a garage, John received a note written in Spanish.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about ...
09.19.2017 From Pidgins to Creoles John McWhorter discusses the process by which some new languages are born.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad ...
09.05.2017 Do Languages Simplify Over Time? Old English was arguably more complicated than Modern English. Is that true of all languages?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more ...
08.22.2017 Did Cavebabies Say Mama and Papa? Languages across the world developed similar words for mom and dad. How is that possible?Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more ...
08.08.2017 New Life for Dying Languages The Language Conservancy's Wil Meya discusses the effort to revive Native American languages.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ...
07.25.2017 In the Negative John McWhorter on the history and evolution of no and not.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyEmail: lexiconvalley@slate.comLearn more about your ad choices. ...

Older episodes

Lexicon Valley

What's Lexicon Valley about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Lexicon Valley episodes:

Why Do Some Americans Say Warshed?

Flores Man vs. Sulawesi

The Lingua Francas

Can Climate Influence Language?

When Ain't Was Alright

The Semitic Tongues

Precious Little

When Words Collide

Truth Be Told

A Penetrating History of F*%k

When Did English Get Happy?

Sponsored: Adjusting the Lens on Chronic Disease

Why Language Can't Be Tamed

Is Social Media Changing English?

What Was the First Language?

So ... Let's Talk About So

Like-Minded

Why Do Southerners Talk Like That?

The Habitual Past

A Riot of Color

The Rise of They

Wabbit Twacks

Tee Time

Happy Birthday OED!

If Frozen, Why Not Squozen?

The Pronouning of Profanities

One Tongue to Rule Them All

The Art of the Spiel

Lend Me Your Ears: Julius Caesar

Getting to Yes

The Story of P

English Spelling Is a Beautiful Mess

Did the Founding Fathers Have a British Accent?

No-Uh!

The Inner Workings of Out

Words, For Her

What's the Deal with Eleven?

There Are Two N-Words

The Thing Is Is

An Accidental Sanctity

Thanksgiving Misnomers

Sometimes Just Because

Against Strunk & White

Whence Baby Mama?

Este No Es Parqueo

From Pidgins to Creoles

Do Languages Simplify Over Time?

Did Cavebabies Say Mama and Papa?

New Life for Dying Languages

In the Negative

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