The trial transcript of a 225-year-old murder is filled with fascinating evidence of the way we used to talk. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

The trial transcript of a 225-year-old murder is filled with fascinating evidence of the way we used to talk. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Report of the Trial of Levi Weeks

Many English verbs have three forms — sing, sang and sung, for example. The problem is that speakers seem to want only two. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Many English verbs have three forms — sing, sang and sung, for example. The problem is that speakers seem to want only two. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

I Got My Nails Did!

Too — whether about excess, addition or contradiction — evolved from to. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Too — whether about excess, addition or contradiction — evolved from to. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

To v. Too

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. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

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. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Picture of Health

Like the French word droit, English’s right has taken on a number of useful metaphorical meanings. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Like the French word droit, English’s right has taken on a number of useful metaphorical meanings. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

The Right Stuff

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. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

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. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Age, Color, Origin, Material

The word “record” can be broken down into two parts, the re and the cord. But what do those parts even mean? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

The word “record” can be broken down into two parts, the re and the cord. But what do those parts even mean? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

One for the Record Books

John is traveling this week and so we’re running a previous 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? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

John is traveling this week and so we’re running a previous 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? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Why Do People in Old Movies Talk Like That?

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? John weighs in. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

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? John weighs in. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Past Master

Words that come to mean “want” often start out meaning something else. Take “want,” for example. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Words that come to mean “want” often start out meaning something else. Take “want,” for example. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Are You Tryna Hear This?

A podcast about language, with host John McWhorter. lexiconvalley.substack.com

Henry James wrote his final novels just over a century ago — and yet they are far less accessible than works written much earlier. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Henry James wrote his final novels just over a century ago — and yet they are far less accessible than works written much earlier. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

The Ambassadors

Possession is more or less about ownership, and we denote that in English by adding ’s to the end of a word. But of course there’s far more to the story than just that. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Possession is more or less about ownership, and we denote that in English by adding ’s to the end of a word. But of course there’s far more to the story than just that. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Apostrophe S

There’s a rumor going around social networks that “knocked up” traces back to American slave trading. Is there any evidence for that etymology? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

There’s a rumor going around social networks that “knocked up” traces back to American slave trading. Is there any evidence for that etymology? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Is "Knocked Up" Racist?

It’s tempting to imagine that a sentence will translate rather neatly, word by word, from one language to another. It’s also naive. English, after all, is relatively straightforward, while most languages are far more gunked up with complexity — perhaps none as much as Yimas. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

It’s tempting to imagine that a sentence will translate rather neatly, word by word, from one language to another. It’s also naive. English, after all, is relatively straightforward, while most languages are far more gunked up with complexity — perhaps none as much as Yimas. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

What a Young Brain Can Do

The book and lyrics of The Music Man are replete with everyday, ordinary dialogue that, nevertheless, demonstrates how English often works. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

The book and lyrics of The Music Man are replete with everyday, ordinary dialogue that, nevertheless, demonstrates how English often works. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

What Do You Talk?

English used to have a more or less typical array of second person pronouns, with thou and thee for the singular — subject and object cases, respectively — and ye and you for the plural. So what happened? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

English used to have a more or less typical array of second person pronouns, with thou and thee for the singular — subject and object cases, respectively — and ye and you for the plural. So what happened? John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

The Problem With You

Rodney Dangerfield

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield was fond of introducing jokes with a kind of redundancy, for example: “My wife, she told me I was one in a million. I found out she was right.” But those seemingly superfluous pronouns are filled with promise. John explains.Lexicon Valley is a reader-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield was fond of introducing jokes with a kind of redundancy, for example: “My wife, she told me I was one in a million. I found out she was right.” But those seemingly superfluous pronouns are filled with promise. John explains.Lexicon Valley is a reader-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

The Rodney Dangerfield Pronoun

The racial reckoning of the past several years has altered the way we think about and use language, often for better but occasionally for worse. And sometimes, as John explains in this episode, what we tend to believe is at odds with what is most likely true. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

The racial reckoning of the past several years has altered the way we think about and use language, often for better but occasionally for worse. And sometimes, as John explains in this episode, what we tend to believe is at odds with what is most likely true. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Is Negro a Slur or Just Antiquated?

Only, lonely, alone and even atone all derive from the number one, which, by the way, wasn’t always pronounced as if it began with the letter w. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Only, lonely, alone and even atone all derive from the number one, which, by the way, wasn’t always pronounced as if it began with the letter w. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

One Is the Loneliest Number

Words like chit-chat, pitter-patter and wishy-washy are formed that way for a reason beyond the pleasing way that they sound. The vowel change actually signifies something more meaningful to our human way of thinking. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe

Words like chit-chat, pitter-patter and wishy-washy are formed that way for a reason beyond the pleasing way that they sound. The vowel change actually signifies something more meaningful to our human way of thinking. John explains. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Throw Up, Turn Out & Believe

A podcast about language, with host John McWhorter. <a href="https://lexiconvalley.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lexiconvalley.substack.com</a>

Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios

The best podcast episodes of the most interesting stories and things. From skyping someone while they're in space, to tracking down and meeting a telephone scammer in person, to the story of a Galapagos. These episodes will keep you and all your friends entertained and captivated for hours. Learn something new in every episode! Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Episodes: Interesting Stories & Things

The best episodes for anyone looking to learn more about topics such as happiness, fulfillment, depression and psychology/mental health in general. With interviews with industry experts, personal stories of individuals, this topic has lessons applicable to everyone. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!