Word Matters

Latest Episodes:

The Brothers Merriam: An Introduction Aug 18, 2021

Show notes

Last week we told you about our irascible forefather Noah Webster. But where does the "Merriam" factor in? Here's the story of George and Charles Merriam, the brothers who took Webster's work and brought it to the world stage.

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

Today's sponsor is BetterHelp. Listeners get 10% off their first month by visiting betterhelp.com/matters

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Who was this Webster guy, anyway? Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

Dictionary writer. Spelling reformer. Lovable crank?

Meet our ancestor—and the father of American English—Noah Webster.

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

Today's sponsor is BetterHelp. Listeners get 10% off their first month by visiting betterhelp.com/matters

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All About Subject-Verb Agreement Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

Most of the time, the subject of a sentence and its verb get along just fine. But when they don't, they can be just a tiny bit... wildly confusing. We'll try to clear up the trickiest subject-verb situations for you.

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

Today's podcast is sponsored by Somfy. Learn more about Somfy powered motorized window coverings, or connect with a Somfy dealer in your area to get a customized quote for your home by visiting somfysystems.com/podcast.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Invention of 'Introvert' (with Science Diction) Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

We're joined this week by Johanna Mayer and Chris Egusa from the Science Diction podcast to discuss the psychological origins of the word 'introvert'!

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Science Diction is a production of Science Friday and WNYC.

Transcript available here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Political 'Dog Whistle': Loud and Clear Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

First: what does it mean when someone in politics is accused of sounding a 'dog whistle'? And why does the canine metaphor continue in the term 'red meat'?

Then: aces are wild as we explore some of the words and phrases from the card table.

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is 'vice versa' changing? & More Listener Questions Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

We're back to the mailbag this week with some of our favorite recent inquiries!

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Story of a Trending Word Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

When a lot of people look up the same word on our site at the same time, we generally know one thing: something happened, somewhere. So we do a little research, and then that research becomes one of the most enduring M-W features: Trend Watch. Here's the story of how we started tracking the stories.

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A Totally Original History of 'Stereotype' Jun 30, 2021

Show notes

What do French printing presses have to do with overused phrases and unfair opinions? We'll look at how the word 'stereotype' got so... stereo-y. Then, we'll answer the age-old question: is there a difference between someone being your 'colleague' and being your 'coworker'?

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is it 'pled' or 'pleaded'? Jun 23, 2021

Show notes

It's one of the biggest questions we get: Is there one "correct" past tense of the verb 'plead'? We'll get into its various legalities. Also: why do some technical words get used in general language, while others are forever stuck in their specific lanes?

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What is a word's 'first known use'? Jun 16, 2021

Show notes

Finding the first time a word was ever used: seems pretty simple, right? All you have to do is read everything ever written, and then write down where you first saw it. And then hope that it wasn't used for years in speech before ever being written down (it pretty much always was). Then you get to do the same for every other word. Like we said, easy.

Today we're getting into the inexact, exacting science of finding a word's earliest use.

Hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

Transcript available here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.