 This weekly podcast explores words, language, and why we say the things we do. It is a relaxed but well informed exploration of language change, slang, taboo words, and other modes of expression on the edge of "standard" language. It will also feature newPrimary Format :
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Governmental Gab (49)Dave Shepherd plays the first feedback we've received on the new Nerd Number, about our show on onomotapoeia (2:45)Dave and Howard Chang explore words and metaphors describing systems of governance and polity. Each of them reads a poem about the ship of state. (4:01)Music bumper from 'Court of Greedy Kings,' by Val Davis (10:02)Governance, the governator, and other words about those who govern (10:17)Song: 'Peace Wins the Election' by Maria Daines (19:38)Rude word of the week: 'tyrant' (23: ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Portmanteau Words (Blend Words) (54)Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang respond to voicemail from Paul of The PK and J Show, who has a word-usage question about 'beside' and 'besides.' (1:53)
Dave and Howard discuss the formation of blend words, popularly known as 'portmanteau words,' and their effect on language change. (5:06)
What are 'good' (effective) and 'bad' (non-effective) blends? (8:20)
Music bumper from by 'Stitch Together' by Adam Boucher (14:39)
Blends that promote convenience and utility of of speech ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Non-Verbal Communication (62)Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang talk about environments in which we communicate without using any words: elevators, restrooms, automobiles, interviews (1:59)
Music bumper from "Jona Lee" by Roomful of Blues (12:32)
Non-verbal communication in romance, sports, and the classroom (12:51)
Music and dance (19:19)
Song: "There Ain't No Words," by Harrison Kennedy (22:08)
Rude word of the week: "dumb" (25:43)
Music ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
We're changing our blog! (63.5)Dave Shepherd announces changes to The Word Nerds' blog and feed, which will take place this weekend. The web address for The Word Nerds will remain thewordnerds.org, and the feed address will stay thewordnerds.org/rss.This may mean duplicate downloads for editions of TWN that you have already received from April and May 2006. You can correct this on your end by changing the settings in your podcatcher software so that you are receiving only the most recent episodes of podcasts, not all epi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Nerds Who Say "Nym" (53)Dave Shepherd and Howard Shepherd respond to voicemail from Art in Vermont about a "computer-generated" mondegreen. (1:53)
Dave and Howard explore the "-nym" words of linguistics: terms used to categorize types of words. Our title this week is based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There is great footage of an interview with the Pythons, just before the American release of Holy Grail, on The Sound of Young America. (3:12)
Homonyms (both homophones and homographs) (4:36)
Music bumper ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Invented Language (55)Dave Shepherd revisits a couple of blend-word examples we overlooked last week: "celebutante" and "ruinion." (Thanks to Hillary Israeli.) (1:56)
Dave and Howard Shepherd discuss the challenges of trying to remain non-commercial for one year. Our anniversary was the day we recorded this show, March 21, 2006. (2:56)
Dave and Howard explore the realm of invented languages--languages artificially constructed for specific purposes. (Thanks to Kevin Thomas and Alexandre Enk ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Age and Language (57)Since Howard Shepherd and Howard Chang are both travelling the world, Dave Shepherd welcomes a special guest Nerd, Barbara Shepherd (the Love of His Life). (1:57)
Dave and Barbara talk about their favorite new podcast, Washington Travel Cast, produced by their good friends, Julie and Mark. Join Julie and Mark on podcast walking tours of Washington DC and the surrounding area. (2:46)
Dave and Barbara respond to audio feedback from Jenny B. with a mondegreen from childhood. We follow up b ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Acting and Performance (61)Dave Shepherd welcomes his wife Barbara once again as a guest Word Nerd. Dave and Barbara, who met in drama school years ago, discuss their shared background as actors. (1:54)
The specialized vocabulary of the theatre (5:51)
Music bumper from "Overreacting" by Brad Sucks (15:05)
Acting and performance in everyday life: the roles we play (15:29)
Song: "All the World's a Stage," by Away With the Fairys (19:15)
Rude word of the week: "chew the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Idioms and Culture (63)Dave Shepherd welcomes back the North Carolina Nerd, Howard Shepherd, who is home from his travels to Denmark. Dave and Howard respond to several voicemails and emails about ePrime and puns. (1:55)
Howard shares his memories of his trip with his students to Hobro Gymnasium in Denmark. (8:53)
Revisiting our show on Insidious Idioms, we explain our categories of idiomatic distinctions: national, regional, and socio-economic class differences. (11:36)
Music bumper from by "Make Me Und ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Race and Language (60)Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang welcome a voicemail on the Nerd Number from Hillary Israeli, on modern Hebrew as an invented language. (2:06)
Dave and Howard discuss racial labels and epithets, and the boundaries of acceptability. (4:35)
Music bumper from "Nada" by Jaime Beauchamp (16:24)
Race and identity: what is "race"? (17:01)
Song: "Black Madonna," by Sophia Ramos (25:54)
Rude word of the week: "halfbreed" (29:06)
Music bumper from "Meant to Be" by Rob Costlow (31:52)
Race, ethni ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Puns (59)Dave Shepherd and Howard Shepherd respond to a voicemail from Chad at Me and the Bean about the secret girl language. (1:58)
Dave and Howard explore several different sorts of puns. (4:18)
Music bumper from "Nada" by Jaime Beauchamp (11:26)
Some serious puns (12:11)
Song: "Absinthe Minded," by Adrienne Pierce (16:03)
Rude word of the week: "dullard" (as in somebody who just doesn't get puns) (19:03)
Music bumper from "Driving Song" by Bob H ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Music and Language (58)Barbara Shepherd returns for the second week as a guest Nerd. She and Dave Shepherd respond to an email from Fred Chalfant about Barbara's grandmother's name. (2:52)
Dave and Barbara, who are both musicians, talk about the importance of music in their lives. (4:23)
Music bumper from "Tonight" by Zach Ashton (9:11)
What music does to language: poetry, songs, musical theater, education (9:38)
Song: "Singing to Me," by Robin Stine (14:39)
Rude word of the w ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Language of Deception (56)Dave Shepherd welcomes Adam Curry, Ashley Simpson, and Howard Stern to the Word Nerds' studio. APRIL FOOLS! Just kidding! It's really Dave and Howard Chang.
Dave and Howard respond to voicemail from Patrick regarding the Rude Word of the Week. (1:59)
On April Fools Day, Dave and Howard explore the relationship of language to deception and humor. Dave presents a mental deception he learned from Frank Freer, the late magic dealer in Berlin. (4:06)
The trickster in myth; deception and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Locker-room Lingo, Pickup Lines, and Flirtation (52)Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang explore the language of the locker-room, the emerging way young people talk about each other as sexual beings. (1:55)
Song: "There She Goes" by Brother Love (15:39)
"What's your sign?" and other pickup lines (20:21)
Rude word of the week: "one-night stand" (26:02)
Song "Tonight," by Zach Ashton (27:47)
Flirtation: kinder, gentler, more sincere than pickup lines? (31:28)
Flirtation and the performance of close-up magic (33:22)
Please share with us your ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Fantastic Flubs (51)Dave Shepherd and Howard Shepherd play a voicemail response to Howard's recent rap of Beowulf. (2:29)
Howard and Dave discuss speech flubs: malapropisms, spoonerisms, mondegreens, and shibboleths. (3:45)
Music bumper from "Jona Lee" by Roomful of Blues (17:18)
Spoonerisms--funny sound transpositions (17:37)
Song: "Fairest of the Mall" by Griddle (19:27)
Rude word of the week: "bass-ackwards" (21:57)
Music bumper from "Tonight," by Zach Ashton (24:01)
Shibboleths--"pronunciation passw ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
The History of Our Podcast (50)Dave Shepherd, Howard Chang, and Howard Shepherd look back on how this podcast got started. (Warning: navel-gazing alert!) (2:09)
We give a glimpse behind the scenes: how we prepare a show during our "Nerd Nosh." (12:36)
Music bumper from "History Repeats" by Jay Snyder (14:20)
Our worldwide audience and their nerdy interests (14:44)
How we do it: our technical setup, and our usual work-plan for a show (16:50)
We do it for free? Well...not absolutely. We would accept your donations, an ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Rhythm and Meaning (48)Dave Shepherd and Howard Shepherd talk about rhythm and the significance of language cadence. (1:58)
Rhythm in the "frozen register" (a term we picked up from Prof. Cheryl Carter) (3:33)
Song: "Rhythm Hymn," by The Franks (9:44)
Rhythm as a mnemonic device. We recall "A Prayer of St. Chrysotom," not having heard it in over 20 years. (14:51)
Music bumper from "Move to my Beat" by Cool Cluster (17:27)
Rude word of the week: "stumblebum" (18:04)
Song: "Back Beat Rhythm," by Los Blancos ( ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Weather Words (47)Dave Shepherd explains why we have a new Nerd Number (206-600-NERD). For the next couple weeks you'll hear two different numbers mentioned in alternating shows, since we pre-recorded several shows before switching phone numbers. (1:52)Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang talk about the weather without doing anything about it. (This is a reference to a quote from Mark Twain.) (2:16)Song: "Rainfall," by Hungry Lucy (7:28)Weather metaphors (11:20)Dave talks about the play Alle Wetter (Thunderation) ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Onomatopoeia and Other Word Music (46)Dave Shepherd and Howard Shepherd get a buzz out of talking about onomatopoeia. (Did I spell that right?) (1:52)
Song: "Crash, Bang, Boom," by Ellen Rosner (5:48)
Animal sounds around the world (source: Sounds of the World's Animals website) (8:07)
Music bumper from "Small Thuds in the Night" by Happy Ashtray (12:22)
Rude word of the week: the Bronx cheer (which we can't really spell out) (13:05)
Song: "The Buzz is Over," by Macle (15:05)
Other examples of "word music" (18:54)
Allite ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Etymonline.com needs your help (45A)A short plea for help, suggestions, support for the Online Etymology Dictionary, maintained as a labor of love by Douglas Harper, and falling victim to its own success.
time: 2:27
size: 2.3 MbListen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
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