Lexicon Valley
Lexicon Valley·Hosted by Mike Vuolo, Bob Garfield and John McWhorter·296 episodes
A podcast about language, with hosts Mike Vuolo, Bob Garfield and John McWhorter.
Why listen
Lexicon Valley turns ordinary words, idioms, accents, dictionaries, and language arguments into sharp little investigations. Depending on the episode, you get Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo tracing a phrase through history, John McWhorter unpacking language change, or a guest bringing specialist context without making it feel like homework. It is a strong fit for listeners who enjoy word origins, cultural nuance, and smart conversation that stays accessible.
Episodes
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
"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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
"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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Our parents were cringe-inducing but we're just cringe. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 281: "Gen Alpha Thinks You're Cringe." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Good is no longer good enough. Everyone is awesome, superlative or just great. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 280: "The Amazing Great." With Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Returning as the primary hosts of Lexicon Valley, Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield speak to John McWhorter about understatement and hyperbole in Black English. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 279: "It's Been a Minute." With Bob Garfield, John McWhorter, and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. Produced by Livia Bloom Ingram. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield interview Richard Tofel on his book Sound the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, revealing the startling authorship behind JFK’s most famous words. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com
Richard Tofel, author of Sound the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, reveals the startling authorship behind JFK’s most famous words. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 34: "Ask Not?" With Bob Garfield, Richard Tofel, and Mike Vuolo. Edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What did English sound like during the Revolutionary War? John has a number of fascinating observations about the way the language was spoken back then — including the accents! Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 278: "The American Accent Came First." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
'Over' isn’t just the opposite of 'under' and 'off' is not necessarily the opposite of 'on.' Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 277: "Oversleeping at the Sleepover." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John talks about the subject of his new book from Avery Publishing — Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 276: "The Story of Us." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Thai words for fire, die and rim sound an awful lot like the English words fire, die and rim. How could that be? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 275: "Fire, Die, Rim." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Words like thence and thither are all but obsolete in English, but they were actually quite useful!The Thai words for fire, die and rim sound an awful lot like the English words 'fire,' 'die' and 'rim.' How could that be? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 274: "Hither and Yon." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Do you know the difference between a rabbit and a hare? And what then is a bunny? Follow John through the etymological warrens of these furry creatures. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 273: "Down the Rabbit Hole." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It may seem apparent how we got from busyness to business, but the origins of the word “busy” itself are shrouded in mystery. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 272: "Giving You the Business." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As a daily listener to WNYC Public Radio in New York City, John has noticed that a certain announcer frequently mispronounces words on air. He has thoughts. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 271: "When Is Code-Switching Inappropriate?" With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Working backwards from existing languages, linguists have had great success reconstructing Proto-Indo-European. Does that mean we can do the same for all language families? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 270: "The World's Largest Family." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A cyclone came through and blew off most of English’s clothes, says John, in Part II of his discussion of Indo-European. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 269: "English is Practically Naked." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
There are at least five defining features among hundreds of related languages from English to Hindi to Russian. And what does any of that have to do with the Hittites? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 268: "Family Ties." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The simple verb 'to go' quickly gets complex in just about any language and English is no exception. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 267: "Going Deep." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What does the '-bat' in 'acrobat' have to do with the word 'come'? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 266: "Come Under Scrutiny." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Reflexive pronouns are redundant in a way, sure, but they’re also quite common in many languages. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 265: "Have Your Own Damn Self a Merry Little Christmas." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
There’s good reason to believe that sophisticated speech began long before homo sapiens hit the scene. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 264: "When Did People Start Talking?" With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Does Ayesha Rascoe have a good radio voice? Not according to many NPR listeners, who find her "loud," "high-pitched" and generally "grating." Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 263: "Who's Afraid of Ayesha Rascoe?" With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A recent study suggests that a new dialect is emerging in the southern part of Florida. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 262: "What Is Miami English?" With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The trial transcript of a 225-year-old murder is filled with fascinating evidence of the way we used to talk. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 262: "Report of the Trial of Levi Weeks." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Many English verbs have three forms — sing, sang and sung, for example. The problem is that speakers seem to want only two. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 260: "I Got My Nails Did!" With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
'Too' — whether about excess, addition or contradiction — evolved from 'to.' Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 259: "To vs. Too." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Some languages adopt their “health” word from the concept of wholeness — a metaphor that makes perfect sense. Other languages, however, adopt their “health” word from trees. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 258: "Picture of Health." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Like the French word 'droit,' English’s 'right' has taken on a number of useful metaphorical meanings. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 257: "The Right Stuff." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this favorite from the archives, John discusses some unwritten rules of English that can be remarkably difficult for a learner of English to master. Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 95: "Age, Color, Origin, Material." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The word “record” can be broken down into two parts, the '-re' and the '-cord.' But what do those parts even mean? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 256: "One for the Record Books." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
An encore presentation of a much loved episode about the speech patterns of Bette Davis, George Gershwin, Louis Armstrong and countless other Americans of the 1930s. Why do they all sound like that? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 96: "Why Do People in Old Movies Talk Like That?" With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
So many of our words have ugly associations that are particular to a historical time or event. Should we expunge them entirely from our vocabulary? Can we? Visit Lexicon Valley. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 255: "Past Master." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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