306: The Dating Game, Great White Edition Which came first, the Great White Shark or the Great White Way? Play along with Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo to guess the order three phrases were born. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast #thedatinggame
305: The Original Maverick Legend has it that Samuel Maverick was a 19th-century rancher who refused to brand his cattle—was he? Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo explore in this newly unlocked bonus episode. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
47: Get One’s Goat When did we start getting each other's goats? And why goats? In this episode from the archives, linguist @BenZimmer.bsky.social joins Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield to investigate a caprine phrase. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast
Plus: Lexicon Valley interviews linguistic pioneer (and cyber security expert) @cristin.bsky.social Cristin Flynn Goodwin! 🐐
Lexicon Valley@lexiconvalley.bsky.social · 3w ago304: The G.O.A.T. Kids these days are goated. How did that happen? As Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo explain, an aggrandizing acronym seeded in the 1960s was born decades later. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
304: The G.O.A.T. Kids these days are goated. How did that happen? As Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo explain, an aggrandizing acronym seeded in the 1960s was born decades later. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
280: The Amazing Great Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the soaring hyperbole of self-evaluation in this fan favorite from our archives. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
303: The Ethereal Omelet On the elusive meaning of ethereal. Bob and Mike with a double dose of beautiful words—like the pleasant-sounding “mellifluous,” which means pleasant-sounding! @poetrysociety.org 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast
302: The Most Beautiful Word Poetry Society @poetrysociety.org members have chosen the most beautiful word in the English language. Any guesses? Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss wordly beauty—and a favorite poem. 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast
Bonus: Stuff and Nonsense Paranoid about your paraphernalia? You’re in the right place. Listeners asked about the origin of two more “para” words; Mike Vuolo has answers. 🔑 Unlock bonus episodes to listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
301: The Dating Game, Paranormal Edition Which came first, "paramilitary" or "paranormal"? Join Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo to guess the chronological order of three “para” words. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast #thedatinggame #paranormal
300: Parasocial Climbing Are you in a parasocial relationship? In the age of AI, perhaps we all are. Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield trace the rise of “para” words from parasocial to parachute and paragraph. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
Bonus: Bet! John McWhorter stakes a wager on the word “bet”. 🔑Unlock bonus episodes to listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
299: The Lowdown on Lowkey John McWhorter on the hidden logic of "lowkey." Plus, where did all those terms of venery originate—like a flamboyance of flamingos, a murder of crows and a parliament of owls? 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
298: The Dating Game, Perfect Edition Which came first, the "perfect crime" or the "perfect storm"? Play along and guess the chronological order: perfect crime, perfect fit, perfect storm and perfect stranger. 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast
297: A Perfect Episode "Perfect!" is everywhere. Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo examine the evolution and ubiquity of a flawless word. 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
Bonus: To Catch a Swindler Persistent and mercurial, “swindle” made its way into English twice. Mike Vuolo on its dizzy, giddy, possibly antisemitic history. 🔑Unlock bonus episodes to listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
296: I’ve Been Hornswoggled! In our first Mailbag feature, Steven in Australia asks, “When did people start getting hornswoggled? Is it painful?” Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo have answers. 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
Bonus: Flipping the Bird What do geese and the British theater have to do with an angry driver’s go-to insult? 🔑 Unlock bonus episodes to listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
295: Loose as a Goose Is there anything particularly loose about a goose — or does that idiom exist only because it rhymes? Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo investigate the origins of an anserine expression. 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
Bonus: Whys and Wherefores “Why did you do it?” John McWhorter on the many ways that English-speakers ask ‘Why?’ 🔑 Unlock bonus episodes to listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
294: The Sound of a Car Backshifting John McWhorter on language change — from the meaning of wit to the pronunciation of automobile. Plus, a defense of redundancy! 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
Bonus: Going Dutch Does that other definition of ‘Dutch oven’ belong in the dictionary? We ask @stefanfatsis.bsky.social. Plus: In coining 'Dutch bargain,' someone had it in for the Dutch. 🔑 Unlock bonus episodes to listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast
293: How Do Words Get into the Dictionary? @stefanfatsis.bsky.social, author of ‘Unabridged,' shares with Bob Garfield a little-known, rigorous process — that has no guarantee of success. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast @groveatlantic.bsky.social
292: Look It Up! The Story of the Dictionary ‘Unabridged’ author @StefanFatsis.bsky.social and Bob Garfield on lexicography and the heiress with history’s best collection of dictionaries. 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast @groveatlantic.bsky.social
291: Open Season for Racists Like 'analog watch' and 'snail mail,' 'openly racist' is a retronym — John McWhorter and Mike Vuolo explain. 🎧 Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
Bonus: Sleeping with the Fishes A mobster sleeps with the fishes. Does the phrase predate The Godfather? Could Homer hold a clue? Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo angle for answers. 🔑 Unlock bonus episodes to listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast
290: Playing the Angles From St. John the Apostle to Miller’s Crossing grifter Bernie Bernbaum—and from fishing to geometry—Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield cast about for the origin of ‘angle.’ 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast #angle #angler
289: You Get the Gist During an appearance on The Gist with Mike Pesca, hosts Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discussed the curious backstory of, you guessed it, the word gist. 🎧Listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast #onlanguage #gist @milkepescs.bsky.social
Bonus: What Is a Blazer? Derek Guy (@dieworkwear.bsky.social) on the blazer, associated with prep schools and date nights. Where does the term originate? 🔑 Unlock bonus episodes to listen: lexiconvalley.supportingcast.fm/listen/lexic... #lexiconvalley #podcast #derekguy #onlanguage #blazer #bonus
