The Word Nerds
By Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, Howard Chang, Barbara Shepherd
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Podcast Description
A podcast about words, language, and why we say the things we do
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Status update: goodbye for now (120) | This is Dave Shepherd with an update on the status of the Word Nerds podcast. Most of you have noticed that we Word Nerds have been absent from the airwaves (or the Internet-waves) since April of this year. We’re sorry about our extended absence. Over the past four years we have built a sizeable community around this podcast—a far larger community than the two Howards and I ever anticipated when we started back in March of 2005. We have made many friends around the world and have even met some of you offline. But this year we have come to feel that we have in some sense let you down as a “Word Nerds community.” For more than a year, we produced the show once every week. In the late summer of 2006 I realized that the demands of producing the podcast every week were much more than I could keep up with. The show became a burden to me and to my family, so I convinced my partners to reduce the frequency of The Word Nerds. In 2007, when it was sometimes difficult for members of the original team to get together, Barbara helped us keep The Word Nerds going by contributing her insights and writing occasional shows. During 2008, Barbara was the principal content creator for as many shows as anyone else in the team. In 2009, it has become more and more challenging for us to keep producing robust and interesting content with any kind of regularity. We became aware that we were sometimes stretching to find content topics, and that our treatment of those topics wasn’t always as thorough as it was when we started. Our work lives also pushed the show to the margins this year. I myself had to spend the summer completing two large and challenging book translations, long-term commitments that extended back almost to the beginning of the podcast. Both Howards were away on long-term travel on opposite sides the world: Howard Chang to China and Taiwan, Howard Shepherd to Germany. Barbara’s work required her to travel around the USA more frequently. And my own work responsibilities have increased as well, since I am now the chair of the foreign language department at the high school where I teach. Other important aspects of our lives, which faded to the background over the past few years, have raised their hands and asked for our renewed attention. Therefore we have decided to stop producing The Word Nerds as a regular podcast series. The obligation that we used to set for ourselves to put out a show every week, or every three weeks, or every month, has drained away a lot of the joy that the project held for us in the beginning. No corporate entity or external structure has ever required us to keep the thing going, so there just doesn’t seem to be any reason to allow a production schedule to tyrannize our lives. This does not mean, however, that The Word Nerds is / are dead. We still may publish blog posts or produce podcasts from time to time, whenever we feel we have something interesting to say. But these publications won’t show up in your RSS subscriptions or your playlists with any predictable frequency. As a practical matter, if you have been a subscriber to The Word Nerds, if you feel yourself to be part of the Word Nerds community, you certainly can stay subscribed. It won’t burden your iTunes podcast list to do so. All our old shows will remain available online, and any new podcast we put out will come to you automatically. Just don’t feel you’ve missed something if you don’t hear from us for quite awhile. We won’t be putting a show out just because we haven’t done one in a month or two or three. We’ll only put one out if we have something interesting to say about language. Before I sign off for good, I want to acknowledge once again some creative people who have helped our show sound better than just our voices would sound. Chris Clemente of the Chicago band Kick the Cat—which may not even exist as a regularly-playing band anymore—graciously granted us permission to use their provocatively titled song | 9/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Workplace Communications (119) | Workplace communications: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd are off the job while recording this show, but they will be talking about workplace communications. The fourth anniversary of The Word Nerds was on March 21. (2:08) The tone of workplace communications; workplace jargon; methods of communicating on the job (3:06) Music bumper from “The Corner of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Shibboleth. (20:07) Conflicts at the office; the dynamics and hierarchies of communication (20:59) Song: “Work” by Naughty Jack (25:05) Rude Word of the Week: “whistleblower” (28:22) Music bumper from “I Hate My Job” by the Peach Stealing Monkeys Socializing at work, and socializing about work (33:26) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 43:55 size: 40.2 Mb rating: G (Young kids can start getting ready for the world of work at an early age.) | 4/11/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Nostalgia (118) | Nostalgia: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd are on location in one of the important places of their young adulthood, where they talk about nostalgia. Thanks to Maureen B. for a PayPal donation. Dave makes a couple of corrections. Thanks to Jack Sprat Café on E. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for providing space for the Word Nerds’ remote studio. (2:08) Nostalgia of place: We have returned to Chapel Hill, NC, where we both attended university; the meaning of the word “nostalgia” and related concepts; history vs. nostalgia. (4:08) Music bumper from “Back in the Days” by Teej (10:08) Some of our Chapel Hill memories; nostalgia as an emotional phenomenon. Can you go home again (with apologies to Thomas Wolfe)? Nostalgia and technology (11:56) Song: “The Good Old Days” by The Lodger (29:46) Rude Word of the Week: “sappy” (33:07) Music bumper from “Natural Man” by Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials. (36:14) The dark side of nostalgia: wishing for good old days that were not so good (36:42) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 44:49 size: 41.1 Mb rating: PG (One of our definitions of our Rude Word gets slightly crude at one point.) The Lodger “The Good Old Days” (mp3) from “Life Is Sweet” (Slumberland) Buy at Slumberland Web Store Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Puretracks Buy at appliedSB / Groupietunes Buy at mTraks More On This Album Teej “Back In The Days” (mp3) from “Schenectady” (Afrazmusic Corp) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at appliedSB / Groupietunes Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 3/28/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Writing (117) | Writing: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd glance down at their written notes–albeit not handwritten–as they talk about writing. Thanks to Kay Horst S., Jeff O., Kate S., Margaret C., and an anonymous friend for donations through the PayPal button. Thanks as well to Alan H., who sent us the link to the BBC news article that inspired this edition. (2:12) Writing through history; how are different generations taught to write? We talk about thoughts on this topic from the following sources: the BBC and scaredmonkeys.com. (3:09) Music bumper from “Edgar Meyer Winter” by Shibboleth (14:19) Calligraphy: the art of writing (16:02) Song: “So I’m Writing” by Geoff Smith (20:49) Rude Word of the Week: “chicken scratch” (25:47) Music bumper from “Melancolica” by the Mauricio Cuburu. (30:38) Handwriting today and the effects of technological innovation (31:20) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 44:57 size: 41.2 Mb rating: G (We hope to inspire some young listeners to write a handwritten note to somebody sometimes.) | 3/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Translation (116) | Translation: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd bring a certain je ne sais quoi to their discussion of translation. Thanks to renaissance247 for the email suggestion of this show topic. (2:33) Practical problems in translation; “good” and “bad” translation; the importance of accuracy (3:36) Music bumper from “Foreign Affair” by Brad Wheeler (9:37) Translating well-known texts: Martin Luther, Rainer Maria Rilke (10:33) Song: “Strange Day in Mexico” by The Clintons (19:26) Rude Word of the Week: “shmuck” (23:21) Music bumper from “Make Me Understand” by Matt Thorpe (26:48) Unfortunate mistakes in translation (including one on our very website!) (27:45) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 36:39 size: 33.6 Mb rating: PG-13 (Our Rude Word is a rude word in Yiddish, we use some other rude words to discuss it, and we talk about the rudeness of the name of the talk-back link on our website.) Brad Wheeler “Foreign Affair” (mp3) from “The Future Was Yesterday” (Origin Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Napster Buy at Rhapsody Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes / appliedSB Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 2/28/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Facebook and Social Networking (115) | Facebook and Social Networking: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd announced their status to their Facebook friends as they recorded this discussion of Facebook and other social networks. Our experience with Facebook, and the Facebook experience in general (2:10) Music bumper from “Social” by Charming (17:39) The effect of Facebook on language: how we talk to each other and how we refer to aspects of the Facebook experience (18:27) Song: “MySpace” by Joshua Grosvent (30:58) Rude Word of the Week: “creeper” (34:45) Music bumper from “Meant to Be” by Rob Costlow (38:52) Facebook as the “Internet café”; and other social networks (39:31) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 51:01 size: 46.7 Mb rating: R (Our amusing featured song has some rude and crude language typical of many MySpace users.) Charming “Social” (mp3) from “Giant” (Charmingpop Recordings Worldwide) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Puretracks Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes / appliedSB Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 2/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Words and Phrases That Tick Us Off! (114) | Words and Phrases That Tick Us Off! Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd are grouchy at the end of a tough work week. They explore words and phrases that tick them off. Thanks to Warren G., John P., Andreas B., Elin P. David W., Mary T., and Nancy E.-W. for donations through the PayPal button. Thanks also to Paul L., that Hawaiian word curmudgeon, for an email that inspired this show. (2:16) Overused words of 2008; words that have lost their meaning from overuse; the most used words in English. Check out britannica.com. (6:19) Music bumper from “Ockham’s Shaving Kit” by George Hrab (18:53) Redundancies (20:55) Song: “Misunderstood” by Carolyn Wonderland (24:07) Rude Word of the Week: “hack” (27:33) Music bumper from “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” by the Jay Lawrence Trio. (31:16) Words and phrases that are commonly misused. (They bug us because we get them wrong! (32:06) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 39:16 size: 36 Mb rating: PG (Passing reference to prostitution in our Rude Word segment.) Carolyn Wonderland “Misunderstood” (mp3) from “Miss Understood” (Bismeaux Records) Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Puretracks Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes / appliedSB Buy at mTraks More On This Album Jay Lawrence Trio “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” (mp3) from “Thermal Strut” (OA2 Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes / appliedSB Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 1/24/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Abbrevs. & txt (113) | Abbrevs. & txt: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd try not to LOL as they talk about text messaging and abbreviations. Howard Chang is back! The rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated. (2:24) Abbreviations throughout history: nearly as old as the Roman alphabet (at least) (3:41) Music bumper from “The Message” by Norman Hedman’s Tropique. (16:08) Discovering “online” language (18:03) Song: “The Cell Phone Song” by Acres and Acres (21:42) Rude Word of the Week: “WTF” (24:56) Music bumper from “Cell Phone” by Times Four. (28:32) Popular current abbreviations (29:18) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 41:02 size: 37.6 Mb rating: PG-13 (Our Rude Word is an abbreviation of the big taboo, the “F-bomb.”) Times 4 “Cell Phone” (mp3) from “Relations” (Groove Tonic Media) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Currency (112) | Currency: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd cash in on the latest news and trends as they talk about currency–in money and in speech. Investing something (language or money) with value; potency and context (2:10) Profanity and language in different cultural contexts; a citation from John Ciardi, the Charles Hodgson of the 1980s (8:30) Music bumper from “Topsy” by The Jay Lawrence Trio (10:39) Reputation as value: political capital, economic perception, relative value (13:05) Song: “Gimme the Money” by Harper (21:50) Rude Word of the Week: “piss-poor” (26:19) Music bumper from “Just Looking” by The Jerrys. (28:41) What creates value? Tangible vs. intangible exchanges (29:26) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 39:59 size: 36.6 Mb rating: PG-13 (We discuss some taboo insults from non-English languages.) Jay Lawrence Trio “Topsy” (mp3) from “Thermal Strut” (OA2 Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes Buy at mTraks More On This Album Harper “Gimme The Money” (mp3) from “Down To The Rhythm” (Blind Pig Records) Buy at eMusic Buy at Puretracks Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 12/27/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Morphing, Changing, and Dying Words (111) | Morphing, Changing, and Dying Words: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd look at words that shift and change over time–or sometimes die out altogether. Thanks to Carlos in Spain, who recently helped us discovered a technical problem with our site and podcast. The Word Nerds now have a page on Facebook. (Dave briefly confuses Facebook with MySpace.) (2:15) Morphing words: words whose meanings change over time. We looked at the journal Nature to learn something about change in meaning. George McNamee had an interesting blog post at the Encyclopedia Britannica blog recently on words that go away. (3:27) Music bumper from “Court of Greedy Kings” by Val Davis (15:48) Lost words: words that have fallen out of common use. To find a fantastic list of words nobody ever uses anymore, go to the Phrontistery website by Stephen Chrisomalis. (17:11) Song: “Change” by Azure McCall (26:28) Rude Word of the Week: “scurvy” (30:31) Music bumper from “Under the Stairs” by Sonic Deviant. (33:43) Rare words: words that are still current, but not commonly used. The Grandiloquent Dictionary has some great examples. (34:26) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 39:03 size: 35.8 Mb rating: PG (Our Rude Word segment quotes a rather scathing and rude insult from a Shakespeare play.) Azure McCall “Change” (mp3) from “The Gift” (Musefx Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 12/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Say Again? (110) | Say Again? Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd discuss remakes, do-overs, and other kinds of re-visitation. Thanks to Patrick M., Alan H., Leandro B., Stuart W., Dmitriy P., and Peter L. for PayPal donations. Thanks also to Tom D., Tomas A., Anne J., Steve H., and Peter H. for emails. (2:11) The need to revisit “old” topics (3:16) Palimpsest, adaptation, homage, interpretation (5:07) Music bumper from “Second Life” by The Dave Stapleton Quintet (15:34) Changing and evolving styles; the evolution of slang (17:34) Song: “Rehash” by JLK (21:07) Rude Word of the Week: “has-been” (24:20) Music bumper from “Tonight” by Zach Ashton. (27:25) Historical and cultural context (27:54) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 33:41 size: 30.9 rating: PG (Explication of a possibly rude German slang word.) Dave Stapleton Quintet “Second Life” (mp3) from “The House Always Wins” (Edition Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Puretracks Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes Buy at mTraks More On This Album JLK “Rehash” (mp3) from “Nothing More Than Something To Wear” (Karmic Hit) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Puretracks Buy at Amazon MP3 Buy at GroupieTunes Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 11/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Irony and Satire (109) | Irony and Satire: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd try to avoid speaking sarcastically to each other as they explore irony and satire. This week’s topic was suggested by Abbie G., a smart 9th-grader. Ironically, this show ended up being rated “R” and given an explicit tag. (Sorry, Abbie!) (2:08) Dave and Barbara just attended the show awarding the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, honoring the late George Carlin. Carlin was a master of American satire. This show will air on PBS on April 1, 2009. (2:40) Comedy as a culturally-specific phenomenon; the two careers of George Carlin (7:00) Music bumper from “Baja Taxi” by Brain Buckit (18:59) Carlin’s famous “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television”; Lewis Black and censorship at the Kennedy Center (21:15) Is George Carlin the modern Mark Twain? (27:13) Song: “Chiron Beta Prime” by Jonathan Coulton (32:18) Rude Word of the Week: “genius” (35:07) Music bumper from “Round One” by Evan Tate. (38:30) Parody vs. satire: Mad Magazine, Weird Al Yankovic, and Saturday Night Live’s take on Sarah Palin (39:10) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 48:18 size: 44.2 Mb rating: R (It is impossible to talk about the work of George Carlin without talking about “forbidden” words–and we use a couple of really taboo words several times. Once again, apologies, Abbie!) httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCljFYn3zTY George Carlin and his great “Modern Man” routine (This routine is perfectly clean and a brilliant display of American English.) | 11/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Stories and Storytelling (108) | Stories and Storytelling: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd are in Jonesborough, Tennessee, at the National Storytelling Festival, where they discuss stories and storytelling. Thanks to Martin P. for a PayPal donation (1:58) We are in Jonesborough, Tennessee, the oldest town in Tennessee, home of the International Storytelling Center and host to the National Storytelling Festival. (2:19) Why do people tell stories? Morality tales, expressions of heritage, stories that break the ice, stories that support the ego (5:14) Music bumper from “Edgar Meyer Winter” by Shibboleth (13:28) Different kinds of storytelling performances that we have seen: folk music, reminiscence stories, cowboy poetry, telling traditional tales (15:20) Song: “The Story” by Jason Silver (22:19) Rude Word of the Week: “turkey” (25:41) Music bumper from “Nada” by Jaime Beauchamp. (29:36) The future of storytelling: what will storytelling look and sound like in future generations? Benjamin Shepherd, Ruthanna Ruben, Caden Watts (30:17) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 37:35 size: 34.4 Mb rating: G (No “adult stories” were recounted in this edition. Furthermore, kids should be told stories all the time.) | 10/24/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Debate (107) | Debate: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd argue back and forth and try to come to agreement about the meaning of debate. Thanks to Alex Enkerli for an audio comment on MyChingo. (2:03) This edition was inspired by an email from Paul Lawler (3:45) Definitions of debate; what exactly constitutes a debate? (5:26) Music bumper from “Arabesque” by Mauricio Cuburu (11:21) Different types of debates for different purposes and in different forums; check out the Copley Debates website, as well as Trivium Pursuit and the Aberdeen Central High School site. We also discuss Robert’s Rules of Order.(13:26) Song: “Support for My Argument” by Emma Wallace (25:11) Rude Word of the Week: “filibuster” (28:55) Music bumper from “Rebuttal” by The Working Title. (32:44) When does an argument become a debate? A brief homage to Monty Python’s classic “Argument” sketch: “Just saying no isn’t an argument!” “Yes it is.” “No it isn’t!” (33:24) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network. Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 39:44 size: 36.4 Mb rating: G (This entire discussion of debate is conducted in a civil and respectful manner.) | 10/13/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Linguistic Tics (106) | Linguistic tics: Friends, this week Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd sort of, you know, explore little linguistic tics, right? Paralinguistic vs. linguistic tics (1:59) Causes of linguistic tics; tics as style identifiers; some classic linguist tics (5:32) Music bumper from “Telepop” by The Jerrys (16:35) Linguistic tics in languages other than English (17:15) Song: “Uh Huh-Oh No” by Anne Summers (21:16) Rude Word of the Week: “dingbat” (23:58) Music bumper from “Road to Rhodes” by Scott Helm. (28:35) Some uses of linguistic tics (29:18) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 35:32 size: 32.6 Mb rating: PG (Our song has a couple of mildly suggestive moments.) Anne Summers “Uh-Huh, Oh-No” (mp3) from “Very Classy” (Beatville Records) Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Buy at Amazon Buy at mTraks More On This Album | 8/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Ambiguity (105) | Ambiguity: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd try very hard to figure out exactly what each other means, as they explore the topic of ambiguity. Thanks to Paul L., Smaran D., Mary M., Michelle M., Dolores B., and Peter D. for PayPal donations (1:52) Emails from Paul L., Adam R., Maria C., and Anne J. Also, Evan Stone, who composed and played our closing theme music, played in Beijing for the Olympic marathon. (2:53) Ambiguity defined: “Capability of being understood in two or more ways; double or dubious signification, ambiguousness.” Synonyms of ambiguous: enigmatic, equivocal, indeterminate, obscure, vague, unintelligible, dubious, double-entendre, ambivalent, uncertain (8:34) Structural ambiguity: syntactic ambiguity, lexical ambiguity, and misinterpretation (such as mondegreens) (12:53) Music bumper from “Whatever Stupid” by Ben Thomas (18:20) Intentional ambiguity (19:11) Song: “Whatever” by Natalie (25:21) Rude Word of the Week: “whatever” (29:14) Music bumper from “Telepop” by The Jerrys. (32:36) Amusing intentional ambiguities: double entendres, jokes for adults buried in children’s shows (as done by Soupy Sales), and the mighty Groucho Marx (33:23) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 41:03 size: 37.6 Mb rating: PG (Our song has a rude word for “poop,” and we talk about sexual double-entendres.) Ben Thomas “Whatever Stupid” (mp3) from “The Mystagogue” (Origin Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Napster Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Amazon More On This Album Natalie “Whatever” (mp3) from “Rock Me” (Bright Pink Music) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Buy at Amazon More On This Album | 8/24/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Syntax (104) | Syntax: This week it’s shake-up the order of sentences that Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd do, as explore the topic of syntax they shall. Thanks to Emma H. and Mary T. for PayPal donations (2:07) Syntax: not just word order, but sentence structure in general. Which came first, the thing or the act? (2:33) Music bumper from “Finger Food” by the Shook-Russo Quartet (11:27) Rhetorical uses of syntax (14:14) Song: “Upside-Down” by Yo La Tengo (20:07) Rude Word of the Week: “flip-flopper” (24:04) Music bumper from “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” by the Jay Lawrence Trio. (27:37) Syntactical variations from language to language (28:42) Music courtesy of the Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 34:49 size: 31.9 Mb rating: G (We quote from a poem about Santa Claus.) Yo La Tengo “Upside-Down” (mp3) from “Upside-Down” (Alias) Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Buy at Pure Tracks Buy at Amazon The Shook-Russo Quartet “Finger Food” (mp3) from “Shook-Russo Quartet Featuring Greg Gisbert” (Summit Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Buy at Amazon Jay Lawrence Trio “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” (mp3) from “Thermal Strut” (OA2 Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Napster Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Amazon | 7/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Please complete our audience survey. (103A) | The Word Nerds would be very grateful if everyone listening could complete the audience survey on our website, thewordnerds.org. See the navigation column on the right side of the web page. This survey will give us valuable statistical evidence of who is listening to our show, so that any advertising we do is appropriate and directed at the right people. If you complete the survey by August 30, 2008, you have the chance to win a number of prizes, including the grand prize of an iPod Touch. Music: “Grapes” by Evan Stone Time: 1:58 Size: 1.8 Mb | 7/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Prosody (103) | Prosody: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd try not to use “that tone” with each other as they discuss prosody in speech and in poetry. Thanks to Marilyn O. for a PayPal donation (1:54) Speech prosody: the rhythm, intonation, and grouping of sounds that are part of human speech. (2:17) Music bumper from “Heartless” by Michael Burks (15:44) Prosody in poetry and music (18:13) Song: “Tongue Tied” by Hollins Steele (26:55) Rude Word of the Week: “beyotch” (30:49) Music bumper from “Necessary Rain” by Emile Westergaard. (33:40) Characteristic systems of prosody in different languages; the prosody of presidential names (with thanks to Ian Ayres, writing in the Freakonomics blog of the New York Times) (34:14) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing theme from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 42:38 size: 39.1 Mb rating: PG-13 (The Rude Word is a prosodic modification of a really rude word.) | 7/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Rhetoric, part 3: Rhetoric in Famous Speeches (102) | Rhetoric in Famous Speeches: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd conclude their three-part series in rhetoric by presenting some examples of rhetoric and public discourse. At the time this is posted, our web site is not fully functional. It will be fixed soon, so that you can find things and make PayPal donations. (1:54) Dave and Barbara were recently featured in the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s podcast. (2:23) This show features samples of great recorded rhetoric from the 20th and 21st centuries. Our principle sources were the websites American Rhetoric and The Free Information Society. A couple of famous “mea culpa” speeches Richard Nixon’s “Checkers” speech (September 23, 1952) (5:16) Bill Clinton’s denial in the Monica Lewinsky scandal (January 26, 1998) (10:34) Calls to action/calls to arms Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s call for war against Japan (December 8, 1941) (12:25) Adolf Hitler’s declaration of war against Poland (September 1, 1939) (18:02) Winston Churchill’s first speech as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (May 13, 1940) (21:56) Music bumper from “Grapes” by Evan Stone (24:48) Speeches at historical events John F. Kennedy in Berlin (June 26, 1963) (26:02) Ronald Reagan in Berlin (June 12, 1987) (28:31) Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial–the “Dream” speech (August 28, 1963) (30:20) Song: “Speech” by LPG (35:40) Rude Word of the Week: “broken record,” featuring a broken-record argument between Chris Matthews and Kevin James on MSNBC (Video of the full exchange) (May 15, 2008) (38:01) Music bumper from “The Corner of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Shibboleth. (42:36) Extemporaneous speech: Joseph Welch versus Joseph McCarthy in the U. S. Senate (Video clip) (June 9, 1954) (45:32) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 53:22 size: 48.9 Mb rating: PG (Passing reference to sexual relations in our discussion of Bill Clinton) | 5/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Games and Wordplay (101) | Games and Wordplay: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd explore word games, games with words, and ways of playing with words. Dave thanks Brad and Naoko for donations, and Naoko, Ralsen, Asa, Jason and Hossein for their emails. (1:59) This show was inspired by a game published by Brad Chase, Orijinz. We play a couple of rounds. (Thanks, Brad!) (6:51) Music bumper from “Bongo Booty” by Vincent Van GoGo. (12:09) Some of our favorite games for word nerds young and old (12:47) Scrabble Boggle Taboo Scattergories Tribond Some good sources for online word games: East of the Web, Word Plays, and good old Yahoo (21:29) Song: “The Mating Game” by Bitter:Sweet (22:37) Rude Word of the Week: “nucking futs” and other rude Spoonerisms (25:57) Music bumper from “Tonight” by Zach Ashton. (29:39) Spoonerisms as wordplay, including a very rude running skit from RTL Samstag Nacht Live based on a Spoonerism (30:07) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 38:59 size: 35.7 Mb rating: R (Our rude word is a variant of the ever-rude “F-word.” We close with reference to a German television skit that is based totally on the “F-word.”) Bitter:Sweet “The Mating Game” (mp3) from “The Mating Game” (Quango) Buy at eMusic Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster Stream from Rhapsody Buy at mTraks Download More On This Album | 4/20/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Baby Talk (100) | Baby Talk: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd use their best adult vocabulary as they discuss baby talk. Dave thanks Andy, Beverley and Jianxia for their support through the PayPal donation button. (2:00) This is show #100. The recording date, March 21, is the third anniversary not only of The Word Nerds, but also of Schlaflos in München. (2:14) Thanks to Blue and Cihat for emails. (3:08) Baby talk, reflecting the circle of human life; different applications for baby talk (4:18) Music bumper from “Little Child” by Jamie Varley. (14:35) How babies learn to speak: Noam Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar (15:27) Song: “Boogie Woogie Baby” by Deanna Bogart (24:28) Rude words of the week: “baby” (28:04) Music bumper from “Court of Greedy Kings” by Val Davis. (30:25) Stories of our own first words, and our children’s first words (30:43) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 37:28 size: 34.3 Mb rating: PG (Howard very briefly mentions sexual contexts for baby talk.) Deanna Bogart “Boogie Woogie Baby” (mp3) from “New Address” (Deanna Bogart) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Napster Buy at Rhapsody Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon Buy at GroupieTunes Buy at mTraks Download More On This Album Jamie Varley “Little Child” (mp3) from “You Ride” (Sota Music) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Napster Buy at Rhapsody Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon Buy at GroupieTunes Buy at mTraks Download More On This Album | 3/22/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Rhetoric, part 2–Tropes and Schemes (99) | Rhetoric, part 2–Tropes and Schemes: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd continue their discussion of rhetoric by exploring tropes, schemes, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Grimace from the Word Nerds Forum corrects us on our example of a syllogism. (2:31) Content versus style; tropes and schemes defined; and some examples of tropes. (Note: despite what Dave says in this segment, Edward P. J. Corbett’s book Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student is only available in hardback.) (4:46) Music bumper from “Under the Stairs” by Sonic Deviant. (12:18) Schemes: a transference of order; shifts of structure in language (12:54) Song: “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” performed by The United States Air Force Band and the Singing Sergeants (29:15) Rude word of the week: blowhard (34:11) Music bumper from “Nada” by Jaime Beauchamp. (37:13) Next time we will examine some examples of rhetoric in public speech. (37:52) Dave reads Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. (38:39) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and the United States Air Force Band Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 42:48 size: 39.2 Mb rating: PG (Howard gives one slightly suggestive example of litotes.) | 3/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Body Words (98) | Body Words: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd put their noses to the grindstone and go toe-to-toe in a tete-a-tete, as they talk about body words. Dave thanks Scott and Mary for their support through the PayPal donation button. (2:05) This topic is, of course, the theme of Charles Hodgson’s book Carnal Knowledge. It was suggested to us by Julia MacAdam. (2:32) Idioms that use parts of the human body, from head to toe (3:43) Music bumper from “Broken Heart” by Briareus. (18:30) Derivatives–English words derived from Latin words for body parts (19:21) Song: “Head Over Heels” by Emelee (23:14) Rude word of the week: “ass-kisser” (26:43) Music bumper from “Mandan Heartbreak Song” by Keith Bear. (29:33) The heart and muscle memory: there may be a biological reason we think of our innermost thoughts as connected to the heart. See The Lost Arts of the Mind by Darren Bridger and The Heart’s Code by Paul Pearsall (30:18) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and Ioda Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 38:05 size: 34.9 Mb rating: PG-13 (The Rude Word would get a middle-schooler sent to the office.) Emelee “Head Over Heels” (mp3) from “Kiss” (Barak Entertainment) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Napster Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Amazon Keith Bear “Mandan Heartbreak Song” (mp3) from “Earthlodge” (Makoché Music) Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at Napster Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Amazon Buy at GroupieTunes More On This Album | 2/9/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Rhetoric, part 1 (97) | Rhetoric, part 1: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd explore the difference between rhetoric and dialectic. They invoke Plato, Aristotle, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore. Dave thanks Michael, Tim, Emma, and Clint for their support through their PayPal donations to the show. (See the button on the right-hand navigation column of our web page.) (2:00) Rhetoric, dialectic, syllogism and enthymeme defined and illustrated. Howard’s major source is Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student by Edward P. J. Corbett. (2:26) Music bumper from “Road to Rhodes” by Scott Helm. (10:44) Modes of persuasion in contemporary discourse: Limbaugh/Moore vs. Obama/Huckabee (11:26) Song: “Liar” by Shoestring Strap (19:15) Rude word of the week: b******t artist (22:34) Music bumper from “Telepop” by The Jerrys. (27:09) Anticipation of part 2: figures of speech and rhetorical techniques (27:56) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 35:07 size: 36.8 Mb rating: PG-13 (Our Rude Word would probably get you sent to the principal’s office in a U.S. middle school.) | 1/19/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Special 2008 New Year’s Edition (96A) | 2008 New Year’s special edition: Dave Shepherd sends New Year’s greetings from the Word Nerds team, and responds to listener feedback. Dave reads and responds to emails from Hillary, Idiosyncratic Idiot, Chris, Rob, and Donna. (3:10) A bald-faced solicitation of your donations through our PayPal button. (See the right-hand navigation column on our website.) (15:47) Shows we hope to do soon: rhetorical devices, many peoples divided by a common language, and the languages we teach. (16:59) Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 20:55 size: 19.2 Mb rating: G. This week’s show is just a response to our listeners’ very courteous and decorous emails. | 1/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Silence and Speechlessness (96) | Silence and Speechlessness: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd sit in silence for a few seconds–and then find that they have something to say after all. They explore speechlessness and silence. We are currently somewhat speechless because of overwork. (2:02) Speechlessness: when words fail us. (3:33) Music bumper from “Silence” by Caitlyn Smith. (10:29) Silence: sometimes empty, sometimes expressive (11:42) Song: “Silence” by Shannon Hurley (19:48) Rude words of the week: “dum-dum” (23:43) Music bumper from “Silence Speaks” by Rhymz Suhreal. (28:16) The silent treatment: silence as a tool, and as a weapon (29:16) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 34:11 size: 31.3 Mb rating: G (Silence is powerful, but by itself it is usually inoffensive.) | 12/9/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Religious Words (95) | Religious Words: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd look deep within their souls–without proselytizing–as they talk about the connection between religious language and everyday language. Religious words as they are re-appropriated into everyday life. Thanks to EJ for suggesting this topic, and letting us know about the technology evangelists. (1:58) Howard Shepherd tells us about an interesting blog at No Thirst Software. (9:16) Music bumper from “Faith” by Greg Federico. (14:32) Secular shifts in meaning of some religious words (15:20) Song: “Bad Religion” by Jimmie Bratcher (19:20) Rude words of the week: “holy cow,” “holy Moses,” “holy smoke,” and “holy crap” (22:46) Music bumper from “God Frequency Live” by Without Malice. (27:16) Phrases from religion that are re-purposed in common speech (28:00) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 35:17 size: 32.3 Mb rating: PG (Not very rude, really–although one of our Rude Words suggests another ruder word.) | 11/16/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Nicknames (94) | Nicknames: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd call each other by names other than their given names as they discuss nicknames. Listener feedback (2:22) Eke-names, mascots, and a shout-out to a former student (5:18) Music bumper from “Grapes” by Evan Stone. (17:34) Monikers–deliberately chosen or applied names (18:23) Song: “Familar Names, Familiar Games” by Doug McLeod (22:50) Rude word of the week: your worst nickname (27:05) Music bumper from “Melancolica” by Mauricio Cuburu. (30:12) Nicknames–conferred on us often without our consent, and frequently expressive of relationships (30:59) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 40:10 size: 36.8 Mb rating: PG (The president of the United States called his former chief of staff a rude nickname–and we cite it!) | 10/27/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Public Speaking (93) | Public speaking: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd sit very isolated in the Word Nerds studio, and yet speak to thousands of listeners about public speaking. Oratory, rhetoric, and forensics (2:02) Music bumper from “Forensic” by Nick Murray (14:29) “Everyday” public speakers: teachers, podcasters, managers, and toasters (15:10) Song: “Beer Toast” by Bobby Chitwood (25:43) Rude word of the week: “rabble-rouser” (29:18) Music bumper from “Rendered Speechless” by Briareus (34:02) How to improve your public speaking: our humble advice (34:41) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 43:16 size: Mb 39.6 rating: PG-13 (Our featured song is an unabashed celebration of alcohol consumption.) | 10/6/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Transitions (92) | Transitions: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd try to move smoothly from one sub-topic to another as they talk about transitions, both in language and in life. Emails and voice messages from Angy, Joel, MrGraphxFargo, Ken, and Ric (2:33) Change in our lives, and the continuum of change and transition (5:51) Music bumper from “Ockham’s Shaving Kit” by George Hrab. (14:24) Ways of signaling change in language (15:12) Song: “Lake Luck” by Wetbrain, featuring Ben Shepherd (23:20) Rude word of the week: “waffle” (27:35) Music bumper from “Baja Taxi” by Brain Buckit. (31:34) Phrases and sayings about change (32:18) Bumper and closing music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 40:03 size: 36.7 Mb rating: G (Our Rude Word comes directly from the daily comic strips. Moreover, we’re trying to set a good example for our adult children.) | 9/15/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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“Inside” Language (91) | “Inside” Language: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd speak as clearly and openly as they can about “insider” language–normal words that outsiders cannot understand. Our show is introduced this week by the man called Anne from Israel, known to Word Nerds Forum members as RabiAkiva. (0:01) We encourage you once again to check out Charles Hodgson’s book Carnal Knowledge, a wonderful dictionary containing words and expressions for parts of the human body. (2:46) A MyChingo message from Jason in West Australia (4:51) Howard and Dave use their interest in road cycling to talk about jargon, lingo, and other forms of insider language. (6:35) A greeting from the Reduced Shakespeare Company podcast (18:37) Acronyms, abbreviations, and other forms of “inside-the-beltway” jargon (19:15) Song: “Inside Joke” by Little Thom (25:41) Rude word of the week: “wheelsucker” (30:13) Music bumper from “The Corner of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Shibboleth. (33:33) The inside jargon of the world of con-men, circus workers, and magicians: ballyhoo, patter, and cant (34:30) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 40:38 size: 37.3 Mb rating: PG-13 (Our song has some hilarious references to procreation and uses a couple of naughty words.) | 8/25/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Small Talk (90) | Small talk: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd, who haven’t seen each other for several months, make and discuss small talk. We encourage you to check our our friend Charles Hodgson’s book Carnal Knowledge. (2:22) The inspiration for this show was the book How to Talk to Anybody About Anything by Leil Lowndes. (3:21) In response to a voice message, we explain our system of rating our shows. (7:41) Small talk: what is it, who uses it, and when is it used? (12:18) Music bumper from “Talks in Circles” by Threeleggeddog (21:50) Forms of small talk, and small-talk danger zones (23:04) Song: “We Talk About Cars” by Ric Seaberg (29:09) Rude word of the week: “gossip” (33:48) Music bumper from “Essence” by Evan Stone (36:33) When speakers move beyond small talk (36:56) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 43:09 size: 39.5 Mb rating: PG (Just a tiny hint of rudeness in our discussion.) | 8/3/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Synonyms (89) | Synonyms: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd discuss, chat, and talk about a plethora, a bundle, a whole bunch of ideas about synonyms. Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company left us an audio comment via our MyChingo button. (1:55) It was Dave’s turn to travel to German-speaking Europe this past month. (3:04) The inspiration for this show was our recent experience trying to express fine differences in meaning in a second language. Synonyms yield these subtle distinctions. (4:42) Music bumper from “Just Looking” by The Jerrys (13:29) Regional variations in sets of synonyms, and their applications (14:14) Song: “The Same One” by Little Mack Simmons (19:18) Rude word of the week: “dullard” (23:54) Music bumper from “Necessary Rain” by Emile Westergaard. (26:58) Age and experience and the ability to make subtler distinctions (27:30) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 34:02 size: 31.2 Mb rating: PG (Only a tiny, mild bit of borderline rudeness in our audio feedback.) Download “The Same One” (mp3) from “The PM+Simmons Collection 1971-1982″ by Little Mack Simmons Electro-Fi Records Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at Rhapsody Buy at Napster | 7/16/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Abridgment (88) | Abridgment: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd leave out all the unimportant parts as they talk about abridgment. We feature the masters of abridgment, the Reduced Shakespeare Company. We’ve been away. While we were gone, the Nerd Number died. But now you can leave an audio message with our MyChingo button. (1:52) Definitions of “abridge,” plus some related words (4:16) Music bumper from “Trifle 3″ by Fuzzy Logic (10:16) In April, Dave interviewed the RSC (that’s the Reduced Shakespeare Company, not that “Royal” bunch). (10:58) Song: “Left Out” by A Void (19:28) Rude word of the week: “half-assed” (22:53) Music bumper from “Make Me Understand” by Matt Thorpe. (25:21) Intentions and functions of abridgment (26:13) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 32:54 size: 30.2 Mb rating: PG (Our Rude Word is about as rude as we get this week.) | 6/24/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Spring Break (87A) | Spring Break Edition: Dave Shepherd does not have a linguistic topic, nor a Rude Word, nor a song–but he does respond to your emails and voicemails, and announces a new feature to the website. The Virginia Tech shooting touched us–but not directly. (2:20) We have a new feature on our blog site, a MyChingo button. Leave us a high-quality audio comment. (4:15) The Word Nerds studio is being remodeled. The next couple of shows will come from another place! (5:51) We received a voicemail on the Nerd Number, 206-600-6373 (206-600-NERD), from Darren at the Hak5 video podcast. (7:09) We received email from Michael Buchko and Christian Scholze, among many others. (7:48) Check out these threads on the Word Nerds Forum: (10:29) Communicative Competence Your favorite audiobooks? Question about probable slang Hey you guys! Expletives (87) We will be back with a full show within the next three weeks. (15:40) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 18:36 size: 17.1 Mb rating: PG (I bleeped out one rude word in a voicemail.) | 4/22/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Expletives (87) | Expletives, both rude and non-rude: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd have a rollicking good time, filling out the time of the show by talking about expletives. (NOTE: This show contains some of the rudest language we have every explicated on The Word Nerds. Not work-, school-, or family-safe!) This week’s show will have a forum thread in the Rude Words category, since it deals with really rude language. Please bring us your favorite expletives (both rude and non-rude). (3:02) This show was inspired by an email suggestion from a listener. Thanks to Katherine Pennavaria. (3:40) Defining “expletive”; grammatical categories of expletives (4:45) Music bumper from “Baja Taxi” by Brain Buckit (12:20) Attributive expletives and infixes: filling out words and sentences with rude words, both for rhythmic effect and for shock value (13:06) Song: “C’est la F**king Vie” by Ginny Clee (24:10) Rude word of the week: “f**king” (as an attributive expletive) (28:34) Music bumper from Essence by Evan Stone. (31:59) Curses, extended curses, and interjections (32:23) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 42:28 size: 38.9 Mb rating: R (The last two-thirds of the show is about very rude language. Our lovely featured song is not one you want to play at work.) | 3/31/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Food Metaphors (86) | Food and cooking metaphors: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd explore the joys of cooking and eating by talking about food metaphors. Dave points listeners to the Deutsch 4 Podcast. Dave recently met with Bob Wright of the Baseball History Podcast when Bob was in DC for a conference of food bank volunteers and workers. Today’s topic came from a thread on the forum started by bnt. (1:53) Food metaphors in everyday language (6:57) Music bumper from “Beautiful Food” by Edan (17:14) Cooking metaphors; people as food; American diner slang (17:53) Song: “Food Chain” by Ric Seaberg (24:58) Rude word of the week: “eat shit” (29:45) Music bumper from “Finger Food” by the Shook-Russo Quartet (33:19) Insights from a non-American (Thanks, bnt!) (34:01) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 38:41 size: 35.4 Mb rating: R (This is probably the rudest Rude Word that Dave and Barbara have had so far.) Download “Beautiful Food” (mp3) from “Sprain Your Tapedeck” by Edan Lewis Recordings Buy at eMusic Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody Buy at Napster Download “Finger Food” (mp3) from “Shook-Russo Quartet Featuring Greg Gisbert” by The Shook-Russo Quartet Summit Records Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody | 3/11/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Myth and Legend (85) | Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd tell some tall tales about myth, legend, and language. Dave encourages listeners to digg our podcast (see the sidebar on the right side of our main blog page) and to visit the Word Nerds Forum to participate in the thread about this show. (2:52) Myth and legend: Why do they exist? What kinds of stories are they? (4:06) Music bumper from “Natural Man” by Lil Ed & the Blues Imperials (22:26) Myth and language: words that come from mythology (22:51) Song: “Mythical Frederick” by Tom Smith (26:05) Rude word of the week: “bullshit” (28:05) Music bumper from “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” by the Jay Lawrence Trio (32:26) Hidden mythological etymologies (“hidden mythetymologies”) (33:14) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 41:02 size: 37.6 Mb rating: PG-13 (The Rude Word is probably ruder than middle-school kids should be tossing around in the hallways–at least at this moment in history.) Download “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” (mp3) from “Thermal Strut” by Jay Lawrence Trio OA2 Records Buy at iTunes Music Store | 2/17/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Modal Verbs (84) | Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd should, can, and must discuss modal verbs. Howard gives a shoutout to Henrik Hansen and to the Danish language-related podcast Sproghjørnet. (2:17) Howard and Dave give an overview of auxiliary verbs, of which modal verbs are a subset. (3:17) Music bumper from “Just Looking,” by The Jerrys (9:32) Modal verbs and grammatical mood (10:11) Song: “You Can Never Hold Back Spring,” by Tom Waits (15:49) Rude word of the week: “wannabe” (18:14) Music bumper from “Melancolica” by Mauricio Cuburu (22:08) Modal verbs in languages other than English (22:49) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 30:31 size: 28 Mb rating: G (We managed to talk about this without being rude.) | 1/27/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Resolutions (83) | Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd welcome the new year by talking about resolutions and promises. Dave announces the repair of our feed problem and reads listener email regarding Eilzüge. (2:20) Dave and Barbara talk about the nature and timing of New Year’s resolutions and promises. (4:32) Music bumper from “The New Year,” by Love = Action (11:58) How people make resolutions (12:26) Song: “I Hope This Year Is Better Than the Last,” by The Alice Project (18:38) Rude word of the week: “wishy-washy” (21:08) Music bumper from “Nada,” by Jaime Beauchamp (24:48) Why people make resolutions; why the U.S. Congress makes resolutions instead of laws sometimes (25:28) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 32:59 size: 30.2 Mb rating: PG (Our discussion is innocent; our featured song has humorous references to human foibles in the news.) | 1/12/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Speed (82) | Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd are in a massive hurry to talk about speed. Dave responds to feedback (2:08) Jesse Thorn of The Sound of Young America sent us a copy of Sky Maul: Happy Crap You Can Buy From a Plane, by Kasper Hauser. Voicemail from Kristin of The Manic Mommies Our forum is now spam-free! Come talk to us and each other! At the time of recording, our web host had a problem with iTunes. But that problem is fixed now (December 23, 2006). The pace of life, the speed of thought, and the speed of speech (5:41) Music bumper from “Speedbaby” by The Gentlemen (18:05) Words and phrases about speed and acceleration (18:39) Song: “I Run Faster Than You Can” by Faris Nourallah (24:50) Rude word of the week: “slow” (26:58) Music bumper from “Things Happen Fast” by Fuzzy Logic (30:29) Slowing down (31:08) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 37:07 size: 34 Mb rating: PG (The Rude Word is only mildly insulting, but we refer briefly to the contents of spam messages on our forum.) Download “I Run Faster Than You Can” (mp3) from “King Of Sweden” by Faris Nourallah Western Vinyl Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody Buy at Napster Buy at GroupieTunes Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody | 12/23/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Thanks and Gratitude (80) | Dave Shepherd explores the linguistic workings of thanks and gratitude. Listeners respond with voicemails and emails. We thank you for your participation. (2:02) Thanks and thanksgiving (7:30) Song: “Thank you,” by All Mighty Whispers (15:24) Rude word of the week: “ingrate” (18:24) Music bumper from “Tonight” by Zach Ashton (20:34) How gratitude is different from thanks (20:55) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 24:36 size: 22.5 Mb rating: G (“Thank you” is one of the magical phrases all children should learn.) | 11/19/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sports Language (79) | Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd get their game faces on as they talk about the language of sports. The vocabulary of sport: rule-based terms and slang terms (1:58) Music bumper from “Natural Man,” by Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials (21:36) How sports language functions (22:03) Song: “Sitting Around Keeping Score,” by Spymob (26:11) Rude word of the week: “palooka” (29:35) Music bumper from “Road to Rhodes” by Scott Helm (32:36) Sports metaphors in everyday speech (33:16) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 41:16 size: 37.8 Mb rating: PG-13 (We discuss the sexual meaning of some metaphors from baseball.) Spymob EP Spymob Spymob, Inc Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody Buy at eMusic Download “Sitting Around Keeping Score” (MP3, 192kbps) | 10/29/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Derivatives (78) | Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang talk about derivatives–words that come from other words and how we came to love them. The derivation of “derivative” (2:42) How we became infatuated with derivatives (5:17) Music bumper from “Court of Greedy Kings,” by Val Davis (11:07) Word Power through derivatives (“plant that seed, watch it grow”) (11:23) Song: “Carbon Copy” by Sister Machine Gun (21:34) Rude word of the week: “rip-off” (24:52) Music bumper from “Melancolica” by Mauricio Cuburu (33:00) “Challenge words” for our listeners – use your knowledge of root words to post your best guestimates on our blog (33:36) anthropomorphic euphonious hecatonstylon Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 40:02 size: 36.7 Mb (We’ve gone back to a higher bitrate to improve our sound a bit.) rating: PG (Our featured song has a brief allusion to drinking.) | 10/15/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Periodicity (77) | Dave Shepherd announces a change in frequency of the publication of The Word Nerds. (1:56) News from the podcasting world (4:20) Annik Rubens suspends Schlaflos in München Apple issues cease and desist letters against companies using “podcast” in their name. Voicemail from a new listener (7:39) Song: “Day to Day,” by The Numbers (9:07) Rude word of the week: “spaz” (12:25) Music bumper from “The Corner of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Shibboleth (15:36) Our next show? (16:07) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat 39-51 The Numbers Blue Pie Productions Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at Napster Buy at eMusic Download “Day to Day” (MP3, 192kbps) time: 20:31 size: 18.8 Mb rating: G (Just good, solid, honest information) | 9/23/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Equivocation and Discourse (76) | Howard Shepherd talks about his favorite summer reading book–Special Topics in Calamity Physics, a first novel by his former student Marisha Pessl. (2:47) Reasons for equivocating (4:37) Music bumper from “Ockham’s Shaving Kit,” by George Hrab (14:46) Verbal and lingual ways of equivocating (15:27) Song: “Maybe I’ll Wait,” by Robin Welty (21:36) Rude word of the week: “weasel” (25:16) Music bumper from “Telepop” by The Jerrys (28:57) Paralingual and nonvocal equivocation (29:36) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone Show Yourself Strong Robin Welty Paradiso Music Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody Download “Maybe I’ll Wait” (MP3, 192kbps) show time: 38:52 size: 26.7 Mb rating: PG (Not all that rude; quite polysyllabic) | 9/17/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Our Summer Reading (75) | Dave Shepherd, Barbara Shepherd, and Howard Chang talk about their summer reading. (2:14) Dave’s recent favorites: The Word Nerds Discussion forum Online fora related to magic The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini Baseball as America, by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Dai Vernon: A Biography, by David Ben The Secret Art of Magic, by Eric Evans and Nowlin Craver Barbara’s summer reading: The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman Winter Wheat, by Mildred Walker The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion Howard’s books of summer: Skipping Towards Gomorrah, by Dan Savage A Natural History of the Senses, by Diane Ackerman The Students Are Watching, by Theodore R. Sizer Music bumper from “The Beach 1969″ by Paul (11:56) The functions of summer reading (12:33) Song: “Summer Rain,” by COMEG (19:42) Rude word of the week: “pulp” (23:15) Music bumper from “Perfect Summer” by COMEG (28:08) Social networking through reading (28:46) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 35:51 size: 24.6 Mb rating: PG-13 (We actually don’t make any rude references; however, Howard talks about the Dan Savage column “Savage Love,” which is really only appropriate for adults.) Tags: language, books | 9/9/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Summer Vacation Edition (74) | Dave Shepherd announces a summer vacation for and from The Word Nerds. The show will return with new editions on September 9. (This is take 2 of this program. Take 1 was done using Übercaster, but Dave hasn’t yet learned all the ins and outs of that new Macintosh podcasting software. You’re not imagining things: there is more program in the right side of your headphones than in the left. Sorry!) (1:55) In order to get a bit of summer in before the start of school, Dave will take five weeks off from producing and uploading new shows. (2:28) Ways to keep the Word Nerds discussion alive: forum, emails, and voicemails (4:24) Emails and voicemails from listeners (6:27) Mr. B asks about re-playing The Word Nerds. Michael corrects the pronunciation of his last name. Alex corrects Dave’s explanation of PHP. Peter from Lemotox, die Volksentdummung, asks about the verb “belong” TMIV talks about chiasmus and jokes Jason tells us about the podcast for Enough Rope, with a couple of examples of cabbie speech. Hillary recalls a recent citation of Tom Lehrer in a conversation. Song: “Days of Summer,” by Now is Now (17:47) Rude word of the week: “slacker” (22:14) Music bumper from “Endless Summer” by Causeway (25:26) Other ways you can help The Word Nerds during our break (26:07) Donate through the PayPal button on our website. Vote for us at Podcast Alley. Vote for The Word Nerds daily through August 11 at podcastawards.com. We are nominated in the Education category. Support all our musical artists by going to their websites and buying their music. Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 33:08 size: 22.8 Mb rating: PG (There is one very mildly rude definition of our Rude Word from Urban Dictionary.) Tags: language, vacation, summer | 8/5/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Endings (73) | Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang talk about endings–of conversations, relationships, jobs, etc. (NOT of podcasts; we are not leaving!) Linguistic cues for endings (1:56) Music bumper from “My Living Will,” by The Finale (10:05) Non-verbal and non-oral cues: body language, “the thin envelope” (10:50) Song: “Last to Leave,” by Hot Rod Cadets (17:49) Rude word of the week: “unflushable” (21:26) Music bumper from “Go Away” by Poptart Monkeys (22:36) Technological changes in the way we end things (23:09) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 32:18 size: 22.2 Mb rating: PG (A young child should not really be using our Rude Word to designate a person.) Tags: language, endings | 7/29/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Fustian Circumlocution (72) | Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang ponder a plethora of orotund expressions. That means they are talking about extravagant ways of expressing yourself. (Thanks to Michael Buchko for the topic suggestion.) What we mean by fustian language: pompous, bombastic ways of saying very little by using a lot of syllables; some quotations from fustian speakers and writers (1:54) Music bumper from by “Fancy Prance” by Itchie Cat (13:04) Our favorite fustian terms (13:35) Song: “Confused,” by Natalie Brown (20:50) Rude word of the week: “windbag” (24:54) Music bumper from “Winter Wind,” by Jon Schmidt (27:08) Why is fustian language sometimes unavoidable? (27:56) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 35:51 size: 24.6 Mb rating: PG (Not especially rude, but full of very challenging words.) Tags: language, fustian | 7/23/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Jokes (71) | Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang talk about jokes and humor. (What a bunch of chuckleheads!) The philosophical underpinnings of humor (2:01) Music bumper from by “The Corner of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Shibboleth (11:20) Categories of humor (11:57) Song: “Inside Joke,” by Little Thom (22:51) Rude word of the week: “bombing” (or shall we say, this segment is bombing this week?) (27:23) Music bumper from “Make Me Understand,” by Matt Thorpe (29:31) What makes something funny? Perspective and delivery (30:12) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 36:12 size: 24.9 Mb rating: PG-13 (We discuss some provocative sexual and religious aspects of joke humor, and our song has a few mildly rude words.) Tags: language, jokes, humor | 7/15/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Conversational Rules and Etiquette (70) | Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang discuss the rules, etiquette, and media of everyday conversations. Various ways the Word Nerds audience can converse with us, and with each other (1:59) Face-to-face conversation (4:59) Music bumper from by “Conversations” by Saurab Bhargava (14:43) Conversing on the telephone (15:21) Song: “Cool Conversation,” by Dminor (20:51) Rude word of the week: “loudmouth” (25:13) Music bumper from “Done Talking,” by George Hrab (26:56) Email, IM, and Internet conversation (27:14) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 38:30 size: 26.5 Mb rating: PG-13 (We discuss the conversational conventions of sexual intimacy.) Tags: language, conversation | 7/8/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Failure and Success (69) | Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang talk about failure and success, having recently seen many students succeed (and some fail) at the end of the school year. Metaphors for success and failure in sports (3:46) Success and failure in school (11:06) Music bumper from “Loser Blues” by Electrobuddha (19:46) Euphemisms for losing (20:24) Song: “Nothing to Lose,” by Clip (26:07) Rude word of the week: “loser” (30:07) Music bumper from “Loser,” by Comeg (32:53) Winning and losing in a free-market, capitalist society; a pep talk (from Bill Gates? No; see the commment below.) (33:28) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 39:59 size: 27.5 Mb rating: PG-13 (In our Rude Word segment we quote a rather rude definition from Urban Dictionary.) Tags: language, failure, success | 7/1/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Slurring and Elision (68) | Dave Shepherd and Howard Shepherd try not to run their words together as they discuss slurring and elision in spoken language. Responses to listener emails. Howard was recently a guest on EatFeed. (1:51) Dysarthria: pathological elision (9:47) Elision as an agent of language change: “everyday” elision and “expedient” elision (11:24) Music bumper from by “Telepop” by The Jerrys (17:47) Elision in the learning of other languages (18:25) Song: “Whatcha Gotta Say for Yourself,” by Phil Golub (22:20) Rude word of the week: “mofo” (27:10) Music bumper from “Tonight,” by Zach Ashton (31:33) The inverse of elision: hypercorrection (32:02) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 38:13 size: 26.2 Mb rating: R (Our Rude Word is an elision of one of the most taboo words in North American English–and we explicate it.) Tags: language, elision, slurring | 6/24/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Wine Words (67) | Dave and Barbara Shepherd explore the language of wine. Recently, along with Julie and Mark of Washington TravelCast, they toured some Virginia wineries. (Website photos by Dave) How to talk about the qualities of wine (3:50) Interviews: John Fitter of Piedmont Vineyards and Winery and Rick Tagg of Pearmund Cellars talk about how they describe wine. (4:33) Music bumper from by “Baja Taxi” by Brain Buckit (12:36) Why wines are called what they are: we speak again with John Fitter and Rick Tagg. (15:05) Dave and Barbara have been wine fans all their adult lives. (19:04) Song: “Box of Wine,” by The Clintons (20:37) Rude word of the week: “wino” (24:29) Music bumper from “Necessary Rain,” by Emile Westergard (27:52) Wine throughout history and literature: we looked at an interesting website from the State Library of South Australia (28:25) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Photo: Meriwether Vineyards at Pearmund Cellars Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 35:54 size: 24.7 Mb rating: R (Our featured song is very amusing, but it does drop the F-bomb in the last verse, and its punchline is a sexual theme.) Tags: language, wine | 6/18/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Greetings and Partings (66) | Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang discuss greetings and partings at the end of the school year, when they must say good-bye to a lot of people. The functions of greetings and partings (1:50) Music bumper from by “Goodbye, Good Luck, Good Riddance” by The Joel Lightman Band (18:26) Idioms of greeting and parting (19:03) Song: “Turn Around and Say Good Bye,” by C.J. Chenier (24:59) Rude word of the week: “buzz off” (27:48) Music bumper from “Goodbye Farewell,” by Dead Heart Bloom (29:51) Do demographics play a role in forms of greetings and partings? (30:23) The emotionality of saying good-bye (34:24) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 44:10 size: 30.4 Mb rating: PG (Although our Rude Word is not particularly rough, we do hint at some much ruder substitutes for it.) Tags: language, greeting, parting | 6/10/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Hyperbole (65) | Dave Shepherd and Howard Shepherd discuss hyperbole and exaggeration. (It’s the best podcast ever!) Dave talks a bit about our changeover to our new blog site (1:51) Howard and Dave explore the etymologies of “hyperbole” and “exaggeration” and discuss why speakers tend to exaggerate. (4:01) Comic uses of hyperbole (10:45) Music bumper from by “Bongo Booty” by Vincent Van Go Go (14:02) Political and commercial uses of hyperbole (14:38) Song: “Immortal,” by Cindy Alexander (20:48) Rude word of the week: “fascist” (24:08) Music bumper from “The Corner of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Shibboleth (27:33) Understatement, the flip-side of hyperbole: meiosis and litotes (28:09) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and GarageBand.com Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 33:28 size: 23.2 Mb rating: PG (Young kids should not be playing the dozens nor doing “yo’ mama” jokes.) Tags: language, hyperbole | 6/4/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Memory and Language (64) | Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang try to recall why they settled on the topic of Memory and Language. (2:11) Storytelling (4:19) Music bumper from “Remember” by Bob Kirkpatrick (10:40) Attribution of words (11:25) Song: “Future Memory,” by Heth and Jed (17:21) Rude word of the week: “special” (21:11) Music bumper from “She Hates Love Songs by Katie Davis (25:05) Memory loss (25:33) Do we need language to remember? (28:32) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 36:04 size: 25.3 Mb rating: PG (We would not want to encourage any very young listener to use our Rude Word against classmates.) Tags: language, memory | 5/27/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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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. [EDIT: The very best way to subscribe is to use thewordnerds.org/feed. If you are already subscribed using /rss, it will work, but only because you are being redirected to /feed. If this confuses you, and everything works fine, then just leave things the way they are.] 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 episodes. If, despite this, you still receive duplicate downloads, I apologize. After this weekend (5/27/06) you should only get one copy of each show through our feed. Cross your fingers! Let’s hope this works! This will mean a more accessible comment function on our blog, as well as a bulletin-board-style forum in coming weeks. time: 3:22 size: 2.4 Mb | 5/23/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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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 Understand” by Matt Thorpe (15:07) International textures: expressing the same idea in different languages, and the perils of mistaken translation (15:43) Song: “Fill Me In,” by Hollins Steele (21:42) Rude word of the week: “pot to p**s in” (25:41) Music bumper from “Dancing Cow” by Liquid Floor (27:25) Variations of idioms by class and region (28:06) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 36:45 size: 25.3 Mb rating: PG-13 (We discuss some amusing mis-translations of American idioms, some of which have sexual implications in other countries and languages.) Tags: language, idiom, culture | 5/20/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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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 bumper from “Flag of Democracy” by Ernie Van Veen (28:09) Posture, body language, and gesture: making a good (or bad) impression without words (28:34) Substitutes for body language in the cyberworld (32:22) People who like to talk with gestures (33:11) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 37:50 size: 26 Mb rating: PG-13 (We discuss the etiquette of the men’s room, as well as the sexual implications of social dancing.) Tags: language, nonverbal | 5/13/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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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 scenery” (23:27) Promo for 7th Son, a podcast novel of suspense (28:04) Music bumper from “Ockham’s Shaving Kit” by George Hrab (28:53) Brushes we have had with famous actors. (For more wonderful stories of similar close encounters, check out episode #34 of Digital Flotsam.) (29:31) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 36:03 size: 24.8 Mb rating: G (Although we used to be actors, we don’t talk about the seedy side of the theatre at all.) Tags: language, theatre, barbara | 5/6/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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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, ethnicity, and diversity in American English (32:29) The legal language of race and ethnicity (33:43) Ethnic labels as names for sports teams (35:00) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 39:57 size: 27.4 Mb rating: R (We explore many aspects of race and speech, including many of the most hurtful and belittling racial epithets in modern American English.) Tags: language, race | 4/29/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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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 Hughes (22:01) Bilingual puns (22:40) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 28:19 size: 19.5 Mb rating: PG (Puns often have double or triple meanings. Our song celebrates a rather infamous alcoholic drink.) Tags: language, linguistics | 4/22/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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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 week: “tone deaf” (18:09) Promo for The Sound of Young America (21:23) The special language of music: re-purposed words in English and musical vocabulary in Italian (22:04) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 31:04 size: 21.3 Mb rating: G (We talk about singing to our children when they were very young. Aw! Isn’t that sweet?) Tags: language, linguistics, barbara, music | 4/15/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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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 by quoting a great Word Nerds mondegreen, experienced by Carrie and originally mentioned in a comment thread. (4:00)Dave and Barbara, both Baby Boomers, talk about how their generation has shaped language. (6:55) Music bumper from by “Telepop” by The Jerrys (10:09) Being children, grandchildren, and parents: how these relationships color our perception of language (10:44) Song: “21 Years,” by 77 South (18:11) Rude word of the week: “square” (21:40) Music bumper from “Essence” by Evan Stone (25:08) Trend-watching: Barbara talks about trends that may have an impact on language and culture. (25:31) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat time: 32:00 size: 22 Mb rating: PG (In our Rude Word segment we make passing reference to a marijuana cigarette, but otherwise it’s squeaky-clean.) Tags: language, linguistics, barbara | 4/8/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Language of Deception (56) | Dave Shepherd welcomes Adam Curry, Ashlee 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 theatrical performance (10:25) Music bumper from by “Had Me Fooled” by The Defibulators (15:12) Dave’s magic teacher, Jamy Ian Swiss, is the Honest Liar. (15:57) Con games, hustles, deception in sales, and the Nigerian Prince email scam (16:52) Song: “I Don’t Wanna Lie,” by Beatrice Ericsson (25:57) Rude word of the week: “quack” (29:30) Music bumper from “Just Looking” by The Jerrys (31:07) Official and public deceptions: wagging the dog, and the “War Magician” (31:37) Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network Theme music by Kick the Cat Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone time: 38:39 size: 26.5 Mb rating: PG (Howard’s discussion of the trickster in mythology is briefly just slightly violent; otherwise this show is kid-safe.) Tags: language, linguistics, magic | 4/1/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 68 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Disappointed
I really wanted to like this show. The problem with it is that they don't do any sort of in-depth analysis of the topic at hand. They just go over lists of words and expressions and they explain them. They do not open the doors to understanding the usage of a given word, or the cultural context of the English language. Anyone can get the meaning of a word from a dictionary, it is what is behind the word that matters. Honestly, they sound like Niles and Frasier having a conversation about words (without the fun).
Information can be interesting
This podcast makes understanding words interesting. How do they do it? I dno't know, but this is a great podcast to catch.
Try It!
Who would think a 30 minute program about words and language could be so enjoyable? A good combination of erudition and humor, and the hosts are pleasant and thoughtful. Try it!
