Afleveringen
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Guess the chronological order of these early 20th-century words: paramilitary, paranormal and (drug-related) paraphernalia.
Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 301: "The Dating Game, Paranormal Edition." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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In 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 Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 300: "Parasocial Climbing." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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John 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 Production. Episode 299: "The Lowdown on Lowkey." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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Play 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 Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 298: "The Dating Game, Perfect Edition." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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"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 Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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Listener 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 Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios Production. Episode 296: "I've Been Hornswoggled!" With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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Is 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 Studios Production. Episode 295: "Loose as a Goose." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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John 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 production. Episode 294: "The Sound of a Car Backshifting." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved.
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Getting new words into the dictionary is a rigorous, time consuming process — with no guarantee of success.
Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 293: "How Do Words Get into the Dictionary?" With Stefan Fatsis and Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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"Unabridged" author Stefan Fatsis on the fastidious practice of lexicography and the heiress who amassed the largest collection of dictionaries in history.
Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 292: "Look It Up! The Story of the Dictionary." With Stefan Fatsis and Bob Garfield. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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Like '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: "Open Season for Racists." With John McWhorter and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved.
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What 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. Episode 290: "Playing the Angles." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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During 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. Episode 289: "You Get the Gist." With Bob Garfield, Mike Pesca, and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. Special thanks to Michelle Hunter Pesca. All rights reserved.
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A 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. Episode 288: "Derek Guy on the Language of Clothing." With Derek Guy and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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The 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 287: "McWhorter vs. McWhorter." With John McWhorter. Edited and produced by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved.
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Raise 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. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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Oxford 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. Episode 285: "All the Rage Bait." With Fiona McPherson and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved.
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Author 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 Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows." With Bob Garfield, John Koenig, and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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Mike 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 Word of the Year.
Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 283: "6 7: Everything You Don't Know About the Word of the Year." With Bob Garfield, Mike Pesca, and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. Special thanks to Michelle Hunter Pesca. All rights reserved.
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Gobbledygook 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." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved.
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