Grant talks about a Jack Hitt article on dying languages in the New York Times, which points out that sometimes “the last living speaker” of a language…isn’t. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Last Living...
necklace light n.— «The lights on the bridge cables, in a colorful bit of shop talk, are called “necklace lights.” The phrase, or a variation of it, appears to have been around for a couple of decades (a caption on a 1981 New York Times...
Martha and Grant discuss a strange new word making the rounds: lecondel. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Lecondel Means Coming and Going to Meetings with Few Results” So Grant, earlier we were talking about nominations...
In this episode, Grant offers a peek at some expressions he’s nominating for the American Dialect Society’s 2007 Word of the Year vote in January, 2008. Will it be w00t, subprime, or something else? You can also check out Grant’s...
SOD n.— «In December 1996, inspired in part by Mr. Randall’s well-publicized late fatherhood (his wife was 26 at the time), I wrote an article for The New York Times about men having children at a stage in life when their peers were...
fundit n.— «“I either say I’m a television personality or that I’m a fundit,” the 36-year-old says from his home in New York. “I coined the term “fundit,” and The New York Times stole it from me. I feel violated. I...