Lexicon Valley

I, too, would like to hover high over every question and be oblivious of my beauty. But back to human matters. A podcast about language.

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

312: Nice Guys Finish Last

What do a cement mixer and a 1948 Cosmopolitan article have to do with the phrase "nice guys finish last"? In a bonus show for all listeners, Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain.

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/3cwEemHTQV

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[John McWhorter @JohnHMcWhorter]

I love this stuff!

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

311: Happily Ever Arter

In a bonus segment for all listeners, @JohnHMcWhorter discusses a word from Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Jim pronounces "after" as "arter". Where did that come from?

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/5i8xiskrz2

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

310: Grand Am

John McWhorter shares exciting new findings in his years-long study of the use of “you am” and “we am” in native English—outside of minstrelsy.

🎧Listen: https://t.co/WopNLlFXcF

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

309: Haut Corn!

John McWhorter asks: What did Black New Yorkers sound like in the 1800s? Find out in this first of a two-part episode.

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/Afs9Gg7HSC

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #johnmcwhorter #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

308: A Quick Buck

A buck is a male deer. Or a dollar bill. Or a strapping lad. Or a poker term. Are they related? Bob Garfield passes
the buck to Mike Vuolo to find out.

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/LsvdcribJ5

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

Bonus: Nice Work If You Can Get It

The Gershwin brothers wrote their hit song “Nice Work If You Can Get It” for a 1930’s musical. Did they coin the term?

🔑 Unlock bonus episodes to listen: https://t.co/SmFgxvZY0P

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

307: Nice of You to Join Us

What Jane Austen have in common with George Carlin? Biting commentary on “nice”! Find someplace nice and quiet for Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo on a not entirely pleasant word.

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/TRGOS8xiPf

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

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 in which three phrases were born.

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/vnPNDbeaHG

#lexiconvalley #podcast #thedatinggame

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

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: https://t.co/paBBpd3rw8

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

47: Get One’s Goat

When did we start getting each other's goats? Also, why goats? In this episode from the archives, linguist Ben Zimmer joins Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield to investigate a caprine phrase.

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/S4B2N9e4Nw

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

Delving into the origin of G.O.A.T. with linguistic pioneers from Muhammad Ali (@MuhammadAli) to Christen Flynn Goodwin (@CristinGoodwin).

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/Cwwxhu4wJF

[Cristin Flynn Goodwin @CristinGoodwin]

I am feeling “goated” by one of the GOATs of security! 😀 https://t.co/zksWErXg0k

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

Plus: In this week’s episode, Lexicon Valley interviews “goated” pioneer (and cyber security expert) Cristin Flynn Goodwin (@CristinGoodwin).🐐

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/Cwwxhu4wJF

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

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: https://t.co/Cwwxhu54zd

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

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: https://t.co/Cwwxhu54zd

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

280: The Amazing Great

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the soaring hyperbole of self-evaluation in this fan favorite from our archives.

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/es9YBEoJmp

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

303: The Ethereal Omelet

On the elusive meaning of ethereal. Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo with a double dose of beautiful words—including the pleasant-sounding “mellifluous,” which means pleasant-sounding!

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/K421BQLdir

#lexiconvalley #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

302: The Most Beautiful Word

Poetry Society of America members have chosen the most beautiful word in the English language. Any guesses? This week, Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss worldly beauty.

Listen: https://t.co/6YrcjCk1CZ

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

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: https://t.co/ie67DM9bDr

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

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 20th-cent “para” words.

🎧 Listen: https://t.co/qVlvKWcDFA

#lexiconvalley #podcast #thedatinggame #paranormal

[Lexicon Valley @lexiconvalley]

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: https://t.co/YUAD794YeO

#lexiconvalley #onlanguage #podcast