Word Matters

Episodes page 1 of 3

1. The Making of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Twelfth Edition

   6 May 2026 · 1 h 05 min · Episode 104

   While the famous Merriam-Webster.com online dictionary is constantly being updated, creating a new edition of our Collegiate Dictionary print book is a different matter. We'd been updating it regularly since its…

2. An Interview with John Morse, Part 3

   15 Jul 2025 · 48 min · Episode 103

   Part three of a three-part interview with John Morse, former president and publisher of Merriam-Webster Hosted by Emily Brewster and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media, with…

3. An Interview with John Morse, Part 2

   11 Jul 2025 · 47 min · Episode 102

   Part two of a three-part interview with John Morse, former president and publisher of Merriam-Webster Hosted by Emily Brewster and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media, with much…

4. An Interview with John Morse, Part 1

   10 Jul 2025 · 1 h 06 min · Episode 101

   Part one of a three-part interview with John Morse, former president and publisher of Merriam-Webster Hosted by Emily Brewster and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media, with much…

5. Episode 100: How did we get here?

   3 Aug 2022 · 22 min · Episode 100

   It’s our 100th episode, which seemed like a good occasion to answer a listener question of a more personal type: how did we—that is, we three editors—get here? Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter…

6. Do we repeat ourselves? Very well then, we repeat ourselves.

   27 Jul 2022 · 14 min · Episode 99

   A listener questions a tautology in one of our definitions and starts us off on a discussion of all types of repetition and redundancy. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in…

7. Hackneyed Phrases, Both Old and New

   20 Jul 2022 · 15 min · Episode 98

   Writing advice often includes hackneyed phrases we’re supposed to avoid. The phrases we're warned against today are different from the ones of yesteryear. We'll explore both. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and…

8. Tips for Frenchifying Your French

   13 Jul 2022 · 21 min · Episode 97

   Whether you're hoping to improve your high school French or just order that croissant with more confidence, we have some tips for you. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in…

9. Eggcorns, Mondegreens, and Spoonerisms—Oh My!

   6 Jul 2022 · 27 min · Episode 96

   A discussion of various kinds of slips of the tongue and errors of the ear. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media. Transcript available…

10. Traveling Words: Luggage, Baggage, and the Recombobulation Station

    29 Jun 2022 · 19 min · Episode 95

    In the disconcerting event that your travels by air deliver you, but not what you've packed, to your destination, you may find yourself filing a lost luggage claim, or a lost baggage claim—it could be either. Instead…

11. Skunked Words

    22 Jun 2022 · 21 min · Episode 94

    Sometimes a word, over time, will take on a meaning that doesn’t play very nicely with its original meaning, leaving a person who knows both meanings unsure what to do. Is the word still usable? Or is it … skunked?…

12. When Dictionaries Drop Words

    15 Jun 2022 · 26 min · Episode 93

    We’ve discussed how words come to be entered in our dictionaries before, but today we’re going to talk about removing words from dictionaries. Which words get dropped? And why? Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea,…

13. Wordle Does Not Make Us Nauseous

    8 Jun 2022 · 18 min · Episode 92

    Some listeners want to know if working with words professionally makes a dictionary editor better, or worse, at Wordle, and another listener wants us to weigh in on the difference between 'nauseated' and…

14. The Invention of the Modern Dictionary

    1 Jun 2022 · 34 min · Episode 91

    The earliest dictionaries were the fruit of one person’s labor, but the 1864 Webster's Unabridged changed all of that. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New…

15. An Interview with Jacques Bailly, Official Pronouncer for Scripps National Spelling Bee

    25 May 2022 · 28 min · Episode 90

    Jacques Bailly has been the official pronouncer for Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2003—23 years after winning the bee himself. A professor in the Classics department at the University of Vermont, his language…

16. Nashe's 8 Types of Drunkards Includes No Octopi

    18 May 2022 · 25 min · Episode 89

    An exploration of Thomas Nashe's use of animals as metaphors for those who imbibe heavily; And what *is* the plural of octopus? Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration…

17. Will 'ect.' become an acceptable spelling of 'etc.'? And if it does, will that be unexplainable or merely inexplicable?

    11 May 2022 · 26 min · Episode 88

    An exploration of spellings—like 'ect.' for 'etc.'—that reflect alternative pronunciations, and the unexplainable favoritism that is shown to 'inexplicable.' Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.…

18. Corrections, Clarifications, and Grave Transgressions

    4 May 2022 · 16 min · Episode 87

    A visit to the mailbag provides us with a sartorial use of ‘hipster,’ some schooling on 19th century locomotive technology, and a question about sneaking words into dictionaries. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea,…

19. Uncommon Opposites

    27 Apr 2022 · 17 min · Episode 86

    We all know how to find opposites by removing prefixes: 'unhappy' becomes 'happy'; 'disagree' becomes 'agree.' Easy peasy. But some words resist prefix removal—or, at least they try. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon…

20. George Orwell's 'Politics and the English Language'

    20 Apr 2022 · 29 min · Episode 85

    George Orwell published his famous essay "Politics and the English Language" in 1946, and we mostly wish he hadn't. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New…

21. Linguistic Double Dipping

    13 Apr 2022 · 18 min · Episode 84

    English borrowed lots of words from French. And it liked some of those words so much it borrowed them twice. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New England…

22. All About Abbreviations

    6 Apr 2022 · 17 min · Episode 83

    If brevity is the soul of wit, are abbreviations the language's best jokes? Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media. Transcript available…

23. The History of 'Whistleblower'

    30 Mar 2022 · 19 min · Episode 82

    Whistleblowers didn't always tell secrets and hipsters weren't always hip. This episode explains how 'whistleblower' and 'hipster' came to have their current meanings. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter…

24. What does it mean to be 'at large'?

    23 Mar 2022 · 18 min · Episode 81

    First, we'll look at how 'at large' came to be applied to editors, criminals, and sometimes the world itself. Then, we'll trace the word 'large' itself. It's kind of a big deal. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea,…

25. Dictionary Arcana

    16 Mar 2022 · 22 min · Episode 80

    This week's episode is all about the small details that make up the dictionary. How do we decide the guide words that appear at the tops of pages? What are those dots that break up a headword at a dictionary entry?…

26. A Pair of Suffixes and The History of 'Ditto'

    9 Mar 2022 · 21 min · Episode 79

    The ending of a word can tell you a lot. Just the slight difference between '-ity' and '-ness' can create a wide variety of distinctions and nuance. Today we're starting at the end. Plus, everything you'll ever need…

27. On Secretly Gendered Language

    2 Mar 2022 · 16 min · Episode 78

    Most of the time, there's nothing about an adjective that makes it refer only to any gender. And yet, there are some words that get subconsciously used by English speakers in very specific ways. Let's take a look at…

28. How to Order Adjectives

    23 Feb 2022 · 15 min · Episode 77

    In English, there's a certain way adjectives tend to fall in line. It's natural to hear something like "brown leather wallet," but "leather brown wallet" would sound slightly off. So... why? We'll look into it. Hosted…

29. When Nouns Act Like Adjectives

    16 Feb 2022 · 16 min · Episode 76

    We all know that nouns have a specific job. So do verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and the like. But what happens when they start moonlighting in other roles? Meet the attributive noun. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon…

30. Dipping Into the Mailbag: 'Yeet,' 'Typeface' vs. 'Font,' and 'Lo and Behold'

    9 Feb 2022 · 21 min · Episode 75

    We're back to the mailbag this week with some excellent questions, including: Is 'yeet' ready for the dictionary? What's the difference between a typeface and a font? Why do people say 'lo and behold'? Hosted by…

31. The History of the English Language (The Podcast)

    2 Feb 2022 · 18 min · Episode 74

    English is often called a "Germanic" language, and yet huge parts of it come from Latin and Greek. So: what gives? Here's the story of English, in 17 minutes. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter…

32. Words That Began as Metaphors

    26 Jan 2022 · 18 min · Episode 73

    Usually, a word begins with a literal, concrete meaning. (Like concrete, for example.) Then, eventually, it starts being used metaphorically. (Hey again, concrete!) But with these words, that's not the case. These…

33. Inside Our Citation Files

    19 Jan 2022 · 22 min · Episode 72

    Our Springfield office holds a file of 16 million alphabetized scraps of paper, each containing a citation for a word. Some of them are from as far back as the 19th century. Many are written by hand. So... how did we…

34. Getting Philosophical About the Dictionary

    12 Jan 2022 · 18 min · Episode 71

    Should we only enter words everyone knows, or does the dictionary need to cover the obscure as well? The answer is, well, pretty philosophical. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in…

35. The Newest Words in the Dictionary

    5 Jan 2022 · 29 min · Episode 70

    We recently added a whole bunch of new words. Here are some of our favorites! Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media. Transcript available…

36. The Year in Words 2021

    15 Dec 2021 · 27 min · Episode 69

    Last week we told you about our Word of the Year. This week, we'll get into the rest of the words that made up 2021. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in collaboration with New…

37. Our Word of the Year 2021

    8 Dec 2021 · 21 min · Episode 68

    The word 'vaccine' was about much more than just medicine this year. Here's what we looked at to make it our 2021 Word of the Year. Read up on 'vaccine' and the rest of the runners up here. Hosted by Emily Brewster,…

38. Researching Slang (with Ben Zimmer)

    1 Dec 2021 · 31 min · Episode 67

    This week we're joined by Wall Street Journal language columnist and Spectacular Vernacular podcast host Ben Zimmer! Learn all about Ben's research on the history of words like 'hella' and 'Ms.', plus how slang is…

39. Why Is There No 'N' in 'Restaurateur'?

    24 Nov 2021 · 22 min · Episode 66

    First: someone who owns or runs a restaurant is called a restaurateur. What? How did that happen? Is 'restauranteur' a valid word? We'll get into it. Then: why do people say 'meteoric rise' when meteors are famously…

40. 'Decimate': Use It However You Want

    17 Nov 2021 · 22 min · Episode 65

    Few words in the English language get people as riled up as the supposed "incorrect" use of 'decimate.' Does it have to keep its Roman meaning of "reduce by one tenth" or can it generally mean "destroy," as it's been…

41. What It Means to 'Call an Audible'

    10 Nov 2021 · 21 min · Episode 64

    How did 'audible' move from the football huddle to general conversation? And why do we have both 'inexplicable' and 'unexplainable'? Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in…

42. 'Sneaked' vs. 'Snuck'

    3 Nov 2021 · 11 min · Episode 63

    When is it 'sneaked' and when is it 'snuck'? And how about 'dreamed' vs. 'dreamt'? 'Creeped'/'crept'? It's Irregular Verbs Week here on Word Matters. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.…

43. The Etymology of Insults

    27 Oct 2021 · 19 min · Episode 62 · Explicit

    How did 'snake-oil salesman' become a term for a swindler? It's a complex story. How was 'asshat' formed? It's about what you'd expect. Today we're getting into the intricacies of vulgarities. Hosted by Emily…

44. How Words Are Dropped from the Dictionary

    20 Oct 2021 · 16 min · Episode 61

    We talk all the time about how words are entered. But what about the ones that fall away? How are those decisions made? Let's get into it. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced in…

45. Words Named After Real People

    13 Oct 2021 · 13 min · Episode 60

    You know that old cliche, "When they look up X in the dictionary, they'll see your picture"? Well, for these folks, that saying is true. Today we're talking eponyms. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter…

46. Taking an Ax—or Axe?—to the 'Podium' vs. 'Lectern' Debate

    6 Oct 2021 · 18 min · Episode 59

    Today we're looking at two of the English language's most persistent questions. First, is there an actual difference between 'ax' and 'axe'? What's up with that? Then, the great debate continues to rage over what can…

47. What's a folk etymology?

    29 Sep 2021 · 12 min · Episode 58

    The English language 1) is not logical, and 2) loves to hold onto its mistakes. Enter folk etymology, or, attempts to apply logic to the language, and the mistakes that took root. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea,…

48. 'Possum' or 'Opossum'?

    22 Sep 2021 · 23 min · Episode 57

    This week we finally address it: the two spellings of everyone's favorite North American marsupial. Plus, we do a deep dive on 'staycation' and various other leisure-related portmanteaus! Hosted by Emily Brewster,…

49. How We Approach Compound Words

    15 Sep 2021 · 19 min · Episode 56

    We're back to the mailbag this week with two great user questions: What makes a compound word worthy of dictionary entry? Is there one correct way to spell 'yay'? Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter…

50. How Language Evolves (with Grammar Girl)

    8 Sep 2021 · 23 min · Episode 55

    We're joined this week by Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of her show Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. Produced…