Podcasts about Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 15, 2025 is: dreidel • DRAY-dul • noun A dreidel is a 4-sided toy marked with Hebrew letters and spun like a top in a game of chance. The game, played by children especially at Hanukkah, is also called dreidel. // All the kids in the family look forward to playing dreidel together during Hanukkah. See the entry > Examples: “The Jewish tradition has always been syncretic, adapting and responding to the culture around it, he [Rabbi Steven Philp] said. Hanukkah is ‘a great example of this,' Philp said, noting that the holiday's traditions—like spinning the dreidel, eating latkes or potato pancakes, and munching on ... jelly-filled doughnuts—are customs that were borrowed from neighboring cultures over time.” — Kate Heather, The Chicago Sun-Times, 25 Dec. 2024 Did you know? If your dreidel is spinning beneath the glow of the menorah, it's probably the Jewish festival of lights known as Hanukkah. The holiday celebrates the miracle of a small amount of oil—enough for one day—burning for eight days in the Temple of Jerusalem. And though it's a toy, the dreidel's design is very much an homage: on each of its four sides is inscribed a Hebrew letter—nun, gimel, he, and shin—which together stand for Nes gadol haya sham, meaning “A great miracle happened there.” (In Israel, the letter pe, short for po, “here,” is often used instead of shin). In the game of dreidel, each letter bears its own significance: the dreidel is spun and depending on which letter is on top when it lands, the player's currency, or gelt, is added to or taken from the pot. Nun means the player does nothing; gimel means the player gets everything; he means the player gets half; and shin means the player adds to the pot. Wherever you land on holiday traditions, we wish you words of gimel: gratitude, grub, and, of course, gaiety.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 14, 2025 is: multitudinous • mul-tuh-TOO-duh-nus • adjective Multitudinous is a formal word with meanings that relate to multitudes. It can mean “existing in a great multitude”—that is, “very many”; or “including a multitude of individuals”; or “existing in or consisting of innumerable elements or aspects.” // The two old friends reminisced about the multitudinous ways in which their lives had changed. // The author's appearance is expected to attract a multitudinous gathering that will fill the auditorium. See the entry > Examples: “Launched as Holton's artistic inquiry into his own Chinese heritage, the project has evolved into a profound examination of family dynamics, migration, and cultural hybridity in contemporary New York, where the American identity is multitudinous.” — Natasha Gural, Forbes, 11 June 2025 Did you know? “I am large, I contain multitudes.” So wrote Walt Whitman in his most celebrated poem, “Song of Myself.” He was expressing his ability to hold within himself contradictory statements, facets, opinions, beliefs, etc. Another, if less poetic, way of saying “I contain multitudes” might be “I am multitudinous,” using the sense of that five-syllable word meaning “existing in or consisting of innumerable elements or aspects.” Multitudinous doesn't have a lot of meanings—three to be exact—but each one concerns, well, a lot. In addition to serving Whitmanesque purposes as noted above, multitudinous is the kind of highly expressive word that you can rely upon when you want something a little more emphatic than plain old numerous, as in “multitudinous possibilities.” Lastly, its original sense—still in use today—is a synonym of populous meaning “including a multitude of individuals,” as in “the multitudinous city.”

Aisha Sundgren på P3 Nyheter förklarar morgonens stora nyheter, alltid tillsammans med programledarna för Morgonpasset i P3: Branne Pavlovic och Matilda Rånge. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radios app. Uttrycket ”six seven” har blivit en viral succé, men det går inte hem hos alla. Bland andra föräldrar och lärare har visat sitt motstånd, och även USA:s vicepresident har reagerat. Samtidigt studsar internet på att 6-7 blivit årets ord, enligt Dictionary.com och pekar på att det känns dystopiskt.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 13, 2025 is: alleviate • uh-LEE-vee-ayt • verb To alleviate something is to make it less painful, difficult, or severe. Alleviate can also mean "to partially remove or correct." // There's no cure for the common cold, but there are various treatments that may alleviate some of the symptoms. // The new tunnel should alleviate traffic congestion on the bridge. See the entry > Examples: "The funds are meant to alleviate monetary barriers and enhance the fashion industry's talent pipeline." — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 30 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Now for a bit of light reading. Alleviate comes from Latin levis, meaning "having little weight." (Levis also gave rise to the English adjective light as in "not heavy.") In its early days during the 16th century, alleviate could mean both "to cause (something) to have less weight" or "to make (something) more tolerable." The literal "make lighter" sense is no longer used, and today only the "relieve, lessen" sense remains. Incidentally, not only is alleviate a synonym of relieve, it's also a cousin: relieve comes from Latin levare ("to raise"), which in turn comes from levis.

The quest to define and canonize new words in American English is as old as the country itself. In the new book "Unabridged: the thrill of (and threat to) the modern dictionary," author Stefan Fatsis explores how that quest has changed in the age of the internet.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 12, 2025 is: waggish • WAG-ish • adjective Waggish describes someone who is silly and playful, and especially someone who displays a mischievous sense of humor. The word can also describe things that such a person might do or possess. // He had a waggish disposition that could irk adults but typically delighted children. // She denied the prank but did so with a waggish smirk that didn't match her disavowal. See the entry > Examples: “[Patricia] Lockwood began her writing life quietly, as a poet. She found her first major audience on Twitter, posting self-proclaimed ‘absurdities' ... that quickly came to define the medium's zany, waggish ethos ...” — Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025 Did you know? One who is waggish acts like a wag. What, then, is a wag? It has nothing to do with a dog's tail; in this case a wag is a clever person prone to joking. Though light-hearted in its use and meaning, the probable source of this particular wag is grim: it is thought to be short for waghalter, an obsolete English word that translates as gallows bird, a gallows bird being someone thought to be deserving of hanging (wag being the familiar wag having to do with movement, and halter referring to a noose). Despite its gloomy origins, waggish is now often associated with humor and playfulness—a wag is a joker, and waggery is merriment or practical joking. Waggish can describe the prank itself as well as the prankster type; the class clown might be said to have a “waggish disposition” or be prone to “waggish antics.”

Show #2558 Show Notes: ‘Discrimination’: https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/discrimination Randy Newman – Short People: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbOLQdCWtag&list=RDnbOLQdCWtag&start_radio=1 Communion Verses: John 6:32-40 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20John%206%3A32-40&version=KJV Matthew 26:26-29 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026%3A26-29&version=KJV Tina Peters pardoned: https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-trump-grants-full-pardon-to-political-prisoner-tina-peters JP Morgan sells Silver short position: https://silvertrade.com/news/precious-metals/silver-news/jp-morgan-sells-entire-200-m-oz-silver-short-position-flips-long-750-m-oz/ Silver prices: https://www.kitco.com/ Dem Representative from […]

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 11, 2025 is: leviathan • luh-VYE-uh-thun • noun Leviathan is a word with literary flair that can refer broadly to something very large and powerful, or more narrowly to a large sea animal, or a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy. // Towering leviathans of the forest, giant sequoias often reach heights of more than 200 feet. See the entry > Examples: “These are dim days for the leviathan merchants. The smart whaling families have diversified and will hang onto their wealth for years to come. ... The less smart, those convulsed by the strange desire to continue doing what had always been done, who consider it a divinely issued directive to rid the waves of great fish, now face a problem: the Atlantic whale that built their houses and ships has seemingly wised up ...” — Ethan Rutherford, North Sun, or The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther: A Novel, 2025 Did you know? Old Testament references to a huge sea monster, Leviathan (in Hebrew, Liwyāthān), are thought to have been inspired by an ancient myth in which the god Baal slays a multiheaded sea monster. Leviathan appears in the Book of Psalms as a sea serpent that is killed by God and then given as food to creatures in the wilderness, and it is mentioned in the Book of Job as well. After making a splash in English in the 1300s, the word Leviathan began to be used, capitalized and uncapitalized, for enormous sea creatures both imagined and real—including as a synonym of whale over 100 times in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, as in “ere the Pequod's weedy hull rolls side by side with the barnacled hulls of the leviathan.” Today, leviathan can be used for anything large and powerful, from ships to corporations.

From the school yard to the dictionary, 6-7 has taken the world by storm even though the meaning is still up for interpretation. Greg and Holly discuss as it is solidified into the history books by being made Dictionary.com's word (or phrase) of the year and how In-N-Out burger has had to adjust their order taking process because of the 6-7 chaos.

Show #2558 Show Notes: Who owns Gold and Silver: https://firstnationalbullion.com/level-of-precious-metals-ownership-in-the-us/ 2 Thessalonians 2: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Thessalonians%202&version=KJV ‘Delusion’: https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/delusion Pastors gather in Israel: https://youtu.be/-Ld0m4Ph9KQ?si=yHZ5US9iyydsWuYw 2 Thessalonians 1 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20thess%201&version=KJV Amos 8:11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=amos%208%3A11&version=KJV Muslims in Minnesota: https://sonsoflibertymedia.com/muslim-infiltration-what-the-mainstream-media-means-for-you-not-to-see/ Galatians 4:16 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=galatians%204%3A16&version=KJV

每年，Dictionary.com 都會選出年度詞彙，而選擇的詞彙主要是要捕捉到語言和文化發展中的關鍵時刻。而今年（2025）Dictionary.com 選出的年度詞彙是 six-seven 67。

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 10, 2025 is: grift • GRIFT • verb To grift is to use dishonest tricks to illegally take money or property. // The email scammer shamelessly grifted thousands of dollars from unwitting victims. See the entry > Examples: "When the families demanded he return the jewellery he had grifted from them he arranged meetings and then did not show." — Peter Spriggs, The Echo (South Essex, England), 31 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Someone who grifts is a thief, but of a particular sort: they illegally obtain money or property by means of cleverness or deceit, and do not usually resort to physical force or violence. A grifter might be a pickpocket, a crooked gambler, a scammer, or a con artist. The most plausible etymology we have for the murky term is that grift is an early 20th century alteration of graft, a slightly older word which refers to the acquisition of money or property in dishonest or questionable ways. Both grift and graft have noun and verb forms.

Dictionary.com recently announced its word of the year, and your age may determine your reaction to it. The word: 67 (pronounced six-seven). If you're a member of Gen Z or Gen Alpha, you probably get it...and might be smirking that many adults don't understand. According to Dictionary.com, the term experienced a dramatic rise in popularity this summer, and it "has all the hallmarks of brainrot." So what is 67? What is brainrot? Join us for one of our favorite annual traditions as we explore words added to dictionaries and take our new words quiz! In studio: Amanda Chestnut, curator, author, and educator Chris Fanning, deputy director of Writers & Books Linda Sue Park, author ---Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 9, 2025 is: paltry • PAWL-tree • adjective Paltry is a formal word that can describe something that is very small or too small in amount, or something that has little meaning, importance, or worth. // They're offering a paltry salary for the position. // The professor announced they'd finally had enough of the students' paltry excuses for being late to class. See the entry > Examples: "When the witty and wry English fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett interviewed Bill Gates for GQ in 1995, only 39% of Americans had access to a home computer. According to the Pew Research Center, the number who were connected to the internet was a paltry 14%." — Ed Simon, LitHub.com, 25 Nov. 2024 Did you know? Before paltry was an adjective, it was a noun meaning trash. That now-obsolete noun came from palt or pelt, a dialect term referring to a piece of coarse cloth, or more broadly, to trash. The adjective paltry, which dates to the mid-16th century, originally described things considered worthless, or of very low quality, but it's gained a number of meanings over the centuries, none of which are complimentary. A paltry house might be neglected and unfit for occupancy; a paltry trick is a trick that is low-down and dirty; a paltry excuse is a poor one; and a paltry sum is small and insufficient.

Author John Koenig talks about inventing words for those subtle emotions that hitherto had no name. X: @lexiconvalleyFacebook: facebook.com/LexiconValleyWebsite: booksmartstudios.com/LexiconValley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pádraig Ó Mianáin, Príomh-Eagarthóir An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge, discusses the launch of the first ever monolingual Irish dictionary.

Today marks the launch of An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge, Ireland's first “monolingual” dictionary. The book, which is also available online, will offer a deeper explanation of the meaning of different Irish words, rather than offering its English translation. With us to explain the significance of this is Patricia Nic Eoin from All About Irish.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 8, 2025 is: bravado • bruh-VAH-doh • noun Bravado refers to confident or brave talk or behavior that is intended to impress other people. // She tells the stories of her youthful exploits with enough bravado to invite suspicion that they're embellished a bit. // The crew of climbers scaled the mountain with youthful bravado. See the entry > Examples: "One problem that exists in the whitewater community overall is that people don't always understand the basic elements associated with water and their ignorance and bravado often lead to an incident where someone gets injured or killed." — Tracy Hines, The Durango (Colorado) Herald, 19 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Displays of bravado may be show-offish, daring, reckless, and inconsistent with good sense—take, for example, the spectacular feats of stuntpeople—but when successful, they are still likely to be met with shouts of "bravo!" Celebrities, political leaders, corporate giants, and schoolyard bullies, however, may show a different flavor of bravado: one that suggests an overbearing boldness that comes from arrogance or from being in a position of power. The word bravado originally comes from the Italian adjective bravo, meaning "wild" or "courageous," which English can also thank for the more common brave.

Emeritus Professor of History Barbara Brookes, who wrote King's entry for the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography joins Emile Donovan.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 7, 2025 is: enigmatic • en-ig-MAT-ik • adjective Something or someone described as enigmatic is mysterious and difficult to understand. // The band's lead singer has always been an enigmatic figure, refusing to use social media or even sit for interviews. See the entry > Examples: “For thirty years, Perlefter's carpet hung peacefully on the wall in the museum, delighting visitors with its beauty, its unusual palette, enigmatic motifs and its echoes of four empires.” — Dorothy Armstrong, Threads of Empire: A History of the World in Twelve Carpets, 2025 Did you know? The noun enigma can refer to a puzzle, a riddle, a question mark. It's no mystery then, that the adjective enigmatic describes what is hard to solve or figure out. An enigmatic person, for example, may be someone with a bit of je ne sais quoi. What's behind a stranger's enigmatic smile? Your guess is as good as ours. Does the vocabulary in the short story you're reading render it a tad enigmatic? Better grab a dictionary! Both enigma and enigmatic come from the Greek verb ainissesthai, meaning “to speak in riddles.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 6, 2025 is: sensibility • sen-suh-BIL-uh-tee • noun Sensibility is a formal word often used in its plural form to refer someone's personal or cultural approach to what they encounter, as in “the speaker made sure to tailor his speech to the sensibilities of his audience.” Sensibility can also be used for the kind of feelings a person tends to have in general, as well as for the ability to feel and understand emotions. // Many older cartoons feel out of line with modern sensibilities. // She brought an artistic sensibility to every facet of her life, not just her celebrated painting. See the entry > Examples: “[Lady] Gaga's absurdist sensibilities have long been an underrated facet of her work—probably because she's so good at delivering them with a straight face.” — Rich Juzwiak, Pitchfork, 10 Mar. 2025 Did you know? The meanings of sensibility run the gamut from mere sensation to excessive sentimentality, but we're here to help you make sense of it all. In between is a capacity for delicate appreciation, a sense often pluralized. In Jane Austen's books, sensibility is mostly an admirable quality she attributes to, or finds lacking in, her characters: “He had ... a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely” (of Mr. Elliot in Persuasion). In Sense and Sensibility, however, Austen starts out by ascribing to Marianne sensibleness, on the one hand, but an “excess of sensibility” on the other: “Her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation ... she was everything but prudent.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 5, 2025 is: inoculate • ih-NAHK-yuh-layt • verb To inoculate a person or animal is to introduce immunologically active material (such as an antibody or antigen) into them especially in order to treat or prevent a disease. Inoculate can also mean "to introduce (something, such as a microorganism) into a suitable situation for growth," and in figurative use, it can mean "to protect as if by inoculation" or "to introduce something into the mind of." // In 1796, the English physician Edward Jenner discovered that inoculating people with cowpox could provide immunity against smallpox. // The cheese is inoculated with a starter culture to promote fermentation. See the entry > Examples: "Truffle farmers ... inoculate oak or hazelnut seedlings with truffle spores, plant the seedlings and wait patiently often a decade or more for the underground relationship to mature. The eventual harvest is a reward for years of cooperation between tree and fungus." — David Shubin, The Weekly Calistogan (Calistoga, California), 30 Oct. 2025 Did you know? If you think you see a connection between inoculate and ocular ("of or relating to the eye"), you have a good eye—both words look back to oculus, the Latin word for "eye." But what does the eye have to do with inoculation? Our answer lies in the original use of inoculate in Middle English: "to insert a bud into a plant for propagation." The Latin oculus was sometimes applied to things that were seen to resemble eyes, and one such thing was the bud of a plant. Inoculate was later applied to other forms of engrafting or implanting, including the introduction of vaccines as a preventative against disease.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 4, 2025 is: frowsy • FROW-zee • adjective Something described as frowsy has a messy or dirty appearance. // The lamp, discovered in a neglected corner of a frowsy antique store, turned out to be quite valuable. See the entry > Examples: “Footage from his early shows is sublime. In one, models with frowsy hair totter along the catwalk in clogs, clutching—for reasons not explained—dead mackerel.” — Jess Cartner-Morley, The Guardian (London), 4 Mar. 2024 Did you know? Despite its meanings suggesting neglect and inattention, frowsy has been kept in steady rotation by English users since the late 1600s. The word (which is also spelled frowzy and has enjoyed other variants over the centuries) first wafted into the language in an olfactory sense describing that which smells fusty and musty—an old factory, perhaps, or “corrupt air from animal substance,” which Benjamin Franklin described as “frouzy” in a 1773 letter. Frowsy later gained an additional sense describing the appearance of something (or someone) disheveled or unkempt. Charles Dickens was a big fan of this usage, writing of “frowzy fields, and cowhouses” in Dombey and Son and “a frowzy fringe” of hair hanging about someone's ears in The Old Curiosity Shop. Both senses are still in use today.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 3, 2025 is: alchemy • AL-kuh-mee • noun Alchemy refers to a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way. // They practiced their alchemy in the kitchen, turning a pile of vegetables and legumes into an extravagant meal. // The shopkeepers hoped for some sort of economic alchemy that would improve business. See the entry > Examples: “Forty years ago, the Nintendo Entertainment System hit North American shores, singlehandedly resurrecting the video-game market after its infamous post-Atari crash in 1983. To do so, it needed a heavy hitter, a killer must-have title that could put butts in seats and lock audiences into the tube TV until their eyes bleed. That game was Super Mario Bros.—a product so potent, its exact alchemy has never been re-created.” — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 18 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Alchemy—the medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy that focused on the attempt to change less valuable metals into gold, to find a universal cure for disease, and to discover a means of prolonging life indefinitely—was practiced in much of the ancient world, from China and India to Greece. Alchemy as practiced in ancient Egypt was later revived in 12th-century Europe through translations of Arabic texts into Latin, which led to the development of pharmacology and to the rise of modern chemistry. The word alchemy was first used in English in the 1400s, and by the mid-1500s it had developed figurative senses relating to powers and processes that can change or transform things in mysterious or impressive ways.

Support #Millennial! The holiday season is here and so is our best offer at https://Patreon.com/millennial! Sign up for an annual membership and receive 20% off your subscription, guaranteeing perks through 2026!⁠⁠⁠ Visit our merch store: ⁠⁠https://shop.millennialshow.com⁠⁠ Follow the show in your favorite podcast app and leave us a review! This week we're kicking things off with the latest chaos in the news: Costco is suing the Trump administration over tariffs, and why your relatives may be adjusting their spending limits this holiday season. Then we dive into the year-defining weirdness of 2025, starting with the rise of “6-7,” the phrase so big it reached Andrew's young nephews and somehow became Dictionary.com's Word of the Year (wtf). We look at whether millennials ever had any comparable internet-inspired brain rot, then broaden out to the phrases, moments, and cultural oddities that shaped 2025. We're crashing out over all the new slang that we don't understand, but we're "letting them" enjoy this 6-7 trend. Shoutout to the viral moments that made 2025, like cheaters being exposed at a Coldplay concert, America losing TikTok for half a day, and Kendrick Lamar obliterating Drake at the Super Bowl. We also revisit the Epstein Files, our favorite cities that trolled ICE this year, Dick Cheney's non-mourned death, tariffs on literal penguins, and the recent Louvre robbery fiasco. 2025 may have felt like it was 300 years long, but all this and more was jam-packed into just 365 days. Pam mentioned listening back to our episode on Jimmy Kimmel and the FCC - here it is (Episode 11x35)! This week's recommendations: 'Heated Rivalry'  on HBO Max (Andrew), the Consumer Class Action Lawsuit Database (Laura), and exploring privately owned public spaces (POPS) in your city (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Andrew has a Bumble BFF gossip update, and we're talking about people crawling out of the woodwork for favors and why 2026 is all about embracing being a “villager.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Valbridge's Josh Wood joins The Crexi Podcast to explore evidence based property valuation, fee simple disputes, expert testimony, and how AI will reshape appraisal work.The Crexi Podcast connects CRE professionals with industry insights built for smart decision-making. In each episode, we explore the latest trends, innovations and opportunities shaping commercial real estate, because we believe knowledge should move at the speed of ambition and every conversation should empower professionals to act with greater clarity and confidence.  In this episode of the Crexi Podcast, Shanti Ryle sits down with Josh Wood, Senior Managing Director at Valbridge Property Advisors. The conversation covers Josh's unique journey from philosophy and computer science to becoming an expert in property valuation and law. Josh shares his insights on the fundamentals of real estate appraisal, the impact of artificial intelligence, and the nuances of working as an expert witness and arbitrator in valuation disputes. Listeners will gain a deeper understanding of the etymology of terms like 'value' and 'worth,' the role of appraisers in litigation, and the evolving technology shaping the industry. Josh also offers invaluable advice for newcomers entering the field and an  in-depth look at the complexities of commercial real estate valuation.Meet Josh Wood: A Multifaceted ExpertJosh's Academic and Professional JourneyThe Path to Becoming an AppraiserEarly Challenges and Learning in AppraisalThe Intersection of Appraisal and LawThe Role of Appraisers in Legal DisputesHistorical Context and Etymology of Value and WorthUnderstanding the Appraisal ProcessThe Evolution of Fee Simple OwnershipEncumbrances and the Value of Real EstateThe Role of Appraisers in Property ValuationChallenges in Appraisal MethodologyThe Future of Appraisal with AI and TechnologyAdvice for Aspiring AppraisersConclusion and Final Thoughts About Josh Wood:Josh Wood is a valuation expert whose work sits at the intersection of appraisal theory and the law. His background in both disciplines gives him a distinctive perspective on complex valuation issues, including bilateral monopoly situations, eminent domain matters involving rights of reverter, and the taxation of Low Income Housing Tax Credit properties.His academic foundation includes economics, computer science, logic, game theory and philosophy, followed by a master's degree earned during his time in a philosophy PhD program. He entered the appraisal field in 1998 with a firm that later became part of Valbridge Property Advisors, where he has valued nearly every major commercial property type for purposes such as lending, tax appeals, eminent domain, litigation and environmental claims. He became a Valbridge shareholder in 2021.While working full-time, Josh earned his JD from the University of Arizona in 2007, graduating cum laude. He served on law review, competed in Moot Court and published an award-winning article on servitudes. His legal training strengthened his expert witness practice, and he has testified in courts in Arizona and Texas and served as an arbitrator through the American Arbitration Association, joining its Panel of Neutrals at a notably young age in 2008.Josh also teaches and develops education for the Appraisal Institute and the International Right of Way Association. He contributed to the 15th edition of The Appraisal of Real Estate and reviewed the 7th edition of The Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal. He regularly presents to professional and government audiences. For show notes, past guests, and more CRE content, please check out Crexi's blog.Looking to stay ahead in commercial real estate? Visit Crexi to explore properties, analyze markets, and connect with opportunities nationwide. Follow Crexi:https://www.crexi.com/​ https://www.crexi.com/instagram​ https://www.crexi.com/facebook​ https://www.crexi.com/twitter​ https://www.crexi.com/linkedin​ https://www.youtube.com/crexi

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 2, 2025 is: cajole • kuh-JOHL • verb To cajole someone is to use flattery or gentle urging to persuade them to do something or to give you something. Cajole can also mean “to deceive with soothing words or false promises.” It is often used with the word into. // She cajoled her partner into going to the party with her. // They hoped to cajole him into cooperating with local officials. See the entry > Examples: “... I cajoled my father into letting me use the company season tickets which were supposed to be used for clients, but sometimes wound up in my hands.” — Sal Maiorana, The Rochester (New York) Democrat and Chronicle, 22 Oct. 2025 Did you know? However hard we try, we can't cajole the full history of cajole from the cages of obscurity. We know that it comes from the French verb cajoler, meaning “to give much attention to; to make a fuss over; to flatter or persuade with flattery,” and goes back to the Middle French cajoller, meaning “to flatter out of self-interest.” But the next chapter of the word's history may, or may not, be for the birds: it's possible that cajoller relates to the Middle French verb cageoller, used for the action of a jay or other bird singing. Cageoller, in turn, traces back to gaiole, a word meaning “birdcage” in a dialect of Picardy.

The Oxford English dictionary has announced their Word of the Year as "Ragebait" That joins Cambridge's pick "Parasocial", Collins "Vibe Coding" and Dictionary.com ... playing to the youth crowd with Six Seven. While you might disagree with their picks, these words are an insight into where our culture and language are right now. University of Waikato sociolinguist Andreea Claude is with Jesse to discuss these words and why we need word of the year at all.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 1, 2025 is: pseudonym • SOO-duh-nim • noun A pseudonym is a name that someone (such as a writer) uses instead of their real name. // bell hooks is the pseudonym of the American writer Gloria Jean Watkins. See the entry > Examples: “Edgar Wright, the filmmaker and genre specialist who has given the world modern gems like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Baby Driver, estimates he was around 13 years old when he read ‘the Bachman Books,' a collection of four novels that Stephen King published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman during the early years of his career.” — Don Kaye, Den of Geek, 9 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Pseudonym has its origins in the Greek adjective pseudōnymos, which means “bearing a false name.” French speakers adopted the Greek word as the noun pseudonyme, and English speakers later modified the French word into pseudonym. Many celebrated authors have used pseudonyms. Samuel Clemens wrote under the pseudonym “Mark Twain,” Charles Lutwidge Dodgson assumed the pseudonym “Lewis Carroll,” and Mary Ann Evans used “George Eliot” as her pseudonym.

Do ideas come to you while you’re out walking? There’s a unique connection between writers and walking – and in this episode, Belinda Castles shares the inspiration and experience in creating her new book, Walking Sydney. The book is a curated collection of talks had while on walks with authors around various parts of the city and exploring the concepts of nostalgia, change and a sense of place. 00:00 Welcome03:59 Writing tip: Dictionary of Australian Words06:11 WIN! Jack Reacher Book Pack Giveaway08:58 Word of the week: ‘Catenary’09:37 Writer in residence: Belinda Castles10:22 What Walking Sydney is about11:09 Inspiration for writing this book13:04 How the book came together18:18 The connection between writers and walking24:50 Writing and the connection to place28:57 Reader experience and audience31:18 Why there are no maps in this book32:31 The armchair travel experience34:12 Balancing writing with teaching36:06 The writing process and time management41:58 The book trailer and filmmaking experience44:56 A tip from Belinda for writers46:48 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show #2549 Show Notes: ‘Religion’: https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/religion Mark 7: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%207&version=KJV What is Sacerdotalism? https://www.answerthebible.com/what-is-sacerdotalism/ PPP Loans: https://www.au.org/the-latest/articles/ppp-aid-churches/ https://www.christianpost.com/news/televangelists-receive-millions-in-ppp-loans-catholic-church-got-billions.html Nick Fuentes video: https://www.facebook.com/61581732336481/videos/3514839428668572 Gen Flynn repost: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=25349086854718730&set=a.1155987794455307 46 Types of Christianity: https://www.bartehrman.com/christian-denominations/

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 30, 2025 is: iconoclast • eye-KAH-nuh-klast • noun Iconoclast originally referred to someone who destroys religious images or who opposes their veneration. It is now used to refer broadly to anyone who criticizes or opposes beliefs and practices that are widely accepted. // The comedian had developed a reputation as a contrarian and an iconoclast for whom no topic was off-limits. See the entry > Examples: “Chicago will be the only U.S. city to see the 92-year-old iconoclast Yoko Ono's new show. ... ‘Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind' goes back to the start of the artist's career in the mid-'50s, and the role she played in the creative worlds of New York, Tokyo and London.” — Carrie Shepherd, Axios, 1 Apr. 2025 Did you know? Iconoclast comes from the Middle Greek word eikonoklástēs, which translates literally as “image destroyer.” While the destruction wrought by today's iconoclasts is figurative—in modern use, an iconoclast is someone who criticizes or opposes beliefs and practices that are widely accepted—the first iconoclasts directed their ire at religious icons, those representations of sacred individuals used as objects of veneration. The Byzantine Empire's Iconoclastic Controversy occurred in the 8th and 9th centuries, but the word iconoclast didn't find its way to English until the 17th century. Figurative use came later still.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 29, 2025 is: exculpatory • ek-SKUL-puh-tor-ee • adjective Something described as exculpatory serves to prove that someone is not guilty of doing something wrong. // Their lawyer presented insurmountable exculpatory evidence at the trial. See the entry > Examples: “That agreement also requires prosecutors to implement new policies to prevent the misuse of informants, maintain records and audits, and to disclose exculpatory evidence to criminal defendants involving snitches.” — Salvador Hernandez, The Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025 Did you know? Exculpatory is the adjectival form of the verb exculpate, meaning “to clear from guilt.” The pair of words cannot be accused of being secretive—their joint etymology reveals all: they are tied to the Medieval Latin verb exculpare, a word that combines the prefix ex-, meaning “out of” or “away from,” with the Latin noun culpa, meaning “blame.” The related but lesser-known terms inculpate (“to incriminate”) and inculpatory (“implying or imputing guilt”) are antonyms of exculpate and exculpatory. A related adjective, culpable, describes someone or something deserving of blame. All of these words are found most often in formal speech and writing, but if you choose to drop them into everyday conversation, your dictionary exculpates you.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 28, 2025 is: sustain • suh-STAYN • verb To sustain someone or something is to provide what is needed for that person or thing to exist or continue. Sustain also means "to hold up the weight of," "to suffer or endure," or "to confirm or prove." In legal contexts, to sustain something is to decide or state that it is proper, legal, or fair. // Hope sustained us during that difficult time. // The shed roof collapsed, unable to sustain the weight of all the snow. // The athlete sustained serious injuries during last week's game. See the entry > Examples: "Pushing fallen leaves into garden beds to insulate plants and nourish the soil will also shelter hibernating insects that, in turn, will sustain ground-feeding birds. It's much better for the ecosystem—and easier for the gardener—than bagging them up and sending them to a landfill." — Jessica Damiano, The Chicago Daily Herald, 12 Oct. 2025 Did you know? The word sustain is both handy and hardy. Its use has been sustained since the days of Middle English (it traces back to the Latin verb sustinēre meaning "to hold up" or "to sustain") by its utility across a variety of consequential subjects, from environmental protections to legal proceedings to medical reports. The word is so prevalent and so varied in its application, in fact, that it enjoys sustained high ranking as one of our top lookups—evidence of our readers' sustained commitment to, well, sustaining themselves with information about words.

I read new words that were added to the Oxford (online) Dictionary in June of 2025, specifically from clerical assistant to Coptology.Use my special link https://zen.ai/thedictionary to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan.Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastrTheme music from Jonah Krauthttps://jonahkraut.bandcamp.com/Merchandising!https://www.teepublic.com/user/spejampar"The Dictionary - Letter A" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter B" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter C" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter D" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter E" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter F" on YouTubeFeatured in a Top 10 Dictionary Podcasts list!https://blog.feedspot.com/dictionary_podcasts/Backwards Talking on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmIujMwEDbgZUexyR90jaTEEVmAYcCzuqhttps://linktr.ee/spejampardictionarypod@gmail.comhttps://www.facebook.com/thedictionarypod/https://www.threads.net/@dictionarypodhttps://twitter.com/dictionarypodhttps://www.instagram.com/dictionarypod/https://www.patreon.com/spejamparhttps://www.tiktok.com/@spejampar917-727-5757

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 27, 2025 is: cornucopia • kor-nuh-KOH-pee-uh • noun A cornucopia, also known as a horn of plenty, is a curved, hollow goat's horn or similarly shaped receptacle (such as a horn-shaped basket) that is overflowing, especially with fruit and vegetables. The image of a cornucopia is commonly used as decoration and as a symbol of abundance, but the word cornucopia is today more often encountered in its metaphorical use referring to an overflowing abundance, or to a seemingly inexhaustible amount of something. // The zoo's new aviary is a veritable cornucopia of color and sound, with scores of different bird species swooping and squawking through the canopy. See the entry > Examples: “It was rather dark in there. ... However, the counters and their cornucopia of offerings were brightly lit. Want chocolate bars? Nasal sprays? Gummy bears? Bath bombs? Tinctures? Vapes? Mints? Jellies? Peanut butter cups? Lemonade? Fruit punch?” — Marla Jo Fisher, The Orange County (California) Register, 1 Sept. 2025 Did you know? Cornucopia comes from the Late Latin phrase cornu copiae, which translates literally as “horn of plenty.” A traditional staple of feasts, the cornucopia is believed to represent the horn of a goat from Greek mythology. According to legend, it was from this horn, which could be filled with whatever the owner wished, that the god Zeus was fed as an infant by his nurse, the nymph Amalthaea. Later, the horn was filled with flowers and fruits, and given as a present to Zeus. The filled horn (or a receptacle resembling it) has long served as a traditional symbol in art and decoration to suggest a store of abundance. The word first appeared in English in the early 16th century; a century later, it developed the figurative sense of “an overflowing supply.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 26, 2025 is: unabashed • un-uh-BASHT • adjective Someone who is unabashed is not embarrassed or ashamed about openly expressing strong feelings or opinions. // Unabashed by their booing and hissing, the artist continued with the musical performance. See the entry > Examples: “Take the melodramatic storyline of a telenovela and tell it through the unabashed mediums of opera and drag, and you'll have ‘Inebria Me,' the subversive experimental opera by San Cha ending its West Coast tour at REDCAT this month. Latin dance fuses with queer storytelling as the sounds of ... punk, classical and electronic make up the performance, which pulls from creator San Cha's 2019 album ‘La Luz de la Esperanza.'” — Katerina Portela, The Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2025 Did you know? To abash someone is to shake up their composure or self-possession, as illustrated by Charlotte Brontë in her 1849 novel Shirley: “He had never blushed in his life; no humiliation could abash him.” When you are unabashed you make no apologies for your behavior, nor do you attempt to hide or disguise it; but when you are abashed your confidence has been thrown off and you may feel rather inferior or ashamed of yourself. English speakers have been using abashed to describe feelings of embarrassment since the 14th century, but they have only used unabashed (brazenly or otherwise) since the 15th century (not that there's anything wrong with that).

In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Robert Louis Stevenson's Gothic classic, the tale that conjured the fog-shrouded London hellscape that has haunted the modern imagination ever since. Though written as a quick “Christmas crawler” to earn a bit of money, the novella has exerted an incalculable influence on art and literature. It also proved strangely prophetic, anticipating Freud and others who would soon make the fragmentation of the human psyche a defining concern of the new century. "The human is two" is a recurring refrain in the work of the scholar of religious thought, Jeffrey J. Kripal. References Dan Ericson, Severance Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde David Lynch (dir.), Mullholland Drive John Frankenheimer (dir.), The Manchurian Candidate Galen Strawson, British philosopher Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols Jeff Kripal, How to Think Philosophically Rouben Mamoullian (dir.), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Weird Studies, Episode 161 on “From Hell” Sigmund Freud, “The Ego and the Id” Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics Arthur Machen, “The White People” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 25, 2025 is: perdition • per-DISH-un • noun Perdition refers to hell, or to the state of being in hell forever as punishment after death—in other words, damnation. It is usually used figuratively. // Dante's Inferno details the main character's journey through perdition. // It's this kind of selfishness that leads down the road to perdition. See the entry > Examples: “AC/DC has been criticized for sticking to its straightforward musical formula for more than 50 staggering years, but there's little denying the appeal of the group's adrenalized and reliable approach. As Angus Young stated in the liner notes for a reissue of ‘The Razor's Edge,' ‘AC/DC equals power. That's the basic idea.' That energetic jolt is sometimes the perfect means to raise spirits and spread actual joy, even coming from a band offering the cartoonish imagery of plastic horns and travel down the road to perdition.” — Jeff Elbel, The Chicago Sun-Times, 25 May 2025 Did you know? Perdition is a word that gives a darn, and then some. It was borrowed into English in the 14th century from the Anglo-French noun perdiciun and ultimately comes from the Latin verb perdere, meaning “to destroy.” Among the earliest meanings of perdition was, appropriately, “utter destruction,” as when Shakespeare wrote of the “perdition of the Turkish fleet” in Othello. This sense, while itself not utterly destroyed, doesn't see much use anymore; perdition is today used almost exclusively for eternal damnation or the place where such destruction of the soul occurs.

I read new words that were added to the Oxford (online) Dictionary in June of 2025, specifically from Bengal cat to clergy person.Use my special link https://zen.ai/thedictionary to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan.Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastrTheme music from Jonah Krauthttps://jonahkraut.bandcamp.com/Merchandising!https://www.teepublic.com/user/spejampar"The Dictionary - Letter A" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter B" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter C" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter D" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter E" on YouTube"The Dictionary - Letter F" on YouTubeFeatured in a Top 10 Dictionary Podcasts list!https://blog.feedspot.com/dictionary_podcasts/Backwards Talking on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmIujMwEDbgZUexyR90jaTEEVmAYcCzuqhttps://linktr.ee/spejampardictionarypod@gmail.comhttps://www.facebook.com/thedictionarypod/https://www.threads.net/@dictionarypodhttps://twitter.com/dictionarypodhttps://www.instagram.com/dictionarypod/https://www.patreon.com/spejamparhttps://www.tiktok.com/@spejampar917-727-5757

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 24, 2025 is: amalgamate • uh-MAL-guh-mayt • verb Amalgamate is a formal verb meaning "to unite (two or more things) into one thing." // The school district has proposed amalgamating the two high schools. See the entry > Examples: "Ten years ago, there were 339 credit unions in Ireland, but that is down to 187, according to Central Bank figures. Part of the rationale for credit unions to amalgamate to create larger units is so they can expand their mortgage and business lending." — Charlie Weston, The Irish Independent, 28 Aug. 2025 Did you know? Today, one can amalgamate—that is, combine into one—any two (or more) things, such as hip-hop and country music, for example. The origins of amalgamate, however, have more to do with heavy metal. Amalgamate comes from the Medieval Latin verb amalgamāre, meaning "to combine (a metal) with mercury." It's been part of English since the 1500s, its introduction closely trailing that of the noun amalgam (from the Medieval Latin amalgama), which in its oldest use means "a mixture of mercury and another metal." (In dentistry, amalgams combining liquid mercury with powders containing silver, tin, and other metals are sometimes used for filling holes in teeth). The word amalgamate can be used either technically, implying the creation of an alloy of mercury, or more generally for the formation of any compound or combined entity.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 23, 2025 is: desolate • DESS-uh-lut • adjective Desolate describes places that lack people, plants, animals, etc., that make people feel welcome in a place; desolate places are, in other words, deserted or barren. Desolate can also mean “joyless” or “gloomy.” // We drove for hours along a desolate stretch of road until finally a lone gas station appeared in the middle of nowhere. See the entry > Examples: “... the great novelists were my guide, and none more so than my grandfather. I learnt from him complexity of motivation, a willingness to take risks with storytelling, and the vital importance of landscape. Like Thomas Hardy, my grandfather was able to make his readers see what he wrote, whether it be the beauty of Rivendell or the desolate landscapes of Mordor.” — Simon Tolkien, LitHub.com, 29 May 2025 Did you know? The word desolate hasn't strayed far from its Latin roots: its earliest meaning of “deserted” mirrors that of its Latin source dēsōlātus, which comes from the verb dēsōlāre, meaning “to leave all alone; forsake; empty of inhabitants.” That word's root is sōlus, meaning “lone; acting without a partner; lonely; deserted,” source too of the “lonely” words sole, soliloquy, solitary, solitude, and solo. Desolate also functions as a verb (its last syllable rhymes with wait rather than what) with its most common meanings being “to lay waste” and “to make wretched; to make someone deeply dejected or distressed.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 22, 2025 is: metonymy • muh-TAH-nuh-mee • noun Metonymy refers to a figure of speech in which a word that is associated with something is used to refer to the thing itself, as when crown is used to mean “king” or “queen.” // Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood are common examples of metonymy. See the entry > Examples: “The stick used to command the crowd is called a ‘brigadier.' A brigadier is usually used to describe one who commands a military brigade, yes, but does not a stage manager lead his theater brigade? That's the idea, according to organizers. It was a term used so often to refer to a stick-wielding stage manager that, through the magic of metonymy, the stick itself is now referred to as a brigadier.” — Emma Bowman, NPR, 6 Aug. 2024 Did you know? When Mark Antony asks the people of Rome to lend him their ears in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar he is asking them to listen to him, not to literally allow him to borrow their ears. It's a classic example of the rhetorical device known as metonymy, which comes to English (via Latin) from the Greek word of the same meaning, metōnymia: the use of a word that is associated with something to refer to the thing itself. Metonymy often appears in news articles and headlines, as when journalists use the term crown to refer to a king or queen. Another common example is the use of an author's name to refer to works written by that person, as in “They are studying Austen.” Metonymy is closely related to synecdoche, which is a figure of speech in which the word for a part of something is used to refer to the thing itself (as in “need some extra hands for the project”), or less commonly, the word for a thing itself is used to refer to part of that thing (as when society denotes “high society”).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 21, 2025 is: bloviate • BLOH-vee-ayt • verb To bloviate is to speak or write in an arrogant tone and with more words than are necessary. // The podcaster tends to bloviate endlessly on topics about which he is not particularly knowledgeable. See the entry > Examples: "While other characters bloviate about their lives, Barbara is a much more internal character, her quietness making her seem all the more an outsider in her hometown." — Kristy Puchko, Mashable.com, 13 June 2025 Did you know? Warren G. Harding is often linked to the word bloviate, but to him the word wasn't insulting; it simply meant "to spend time idly." Harding used the word often in that "hanging around" sense, but during his tenure as the 29th U.S. President (1921-23), he became associated with the "verbose" sense of bloviate, as his speeches tended to be on the long-winded side. Although he is sometimes credited with having coined the word, it's more likely that Harding picked it up from local slang while hanging around with his boyhood buddies in Ohio in the late 1800s. The term likely comes from a combination of the word blow plus the suffix -ate.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 20, 2025 is: gauche • GOHSH • adjective Gauche describes someone or something having or showing a lack of awareness about the proper way to behave. When describing a person or a behavior, gauche can mean “socially awkward” or “tactless”; when describing an object (such as a product with a vulgar image or slogan on it) it can mean “crudely made or done.” // Some people view giving cash in lieu of a wrapped present to be terribly gauche, but I like knowing that my friends and family will be able to pick out something they truly want. See the entry > Examples: “Ignorance of classical music, for many people, is no longer something to be ashamed of, as it was sixty or seventy years ago. If you are indifferent to it, no one will notice; if you hate it, you may even be praised for your lack of snobbery. Almost no one will be so gauche as to tell you that you are missing out on something that could change your life.” — David Denby, The New Yorker, 20 July 2025 Did you know? Although it doesn't mean anything sinister, gauche is one of several words (including sinister) with ties to old suspicions and negative associations relating to the left side and use of the left hand. In French, gauche literally means “left,” and it has the extended meanings “awkward” and “clumsy.” These meanings may have come about because left-handed people could appear awkward trying to manage in a mostly right-handed world, or perhaps because right-handed people appear awkward when trying to use their left hand. Regardless, awkwardness is a likely culprit. Fittingly, awkward itself comes from the Middle English awke, meaning “turned the wrong way” or “left-handed.” On the other hand, adroit and dexterity have their roots in words meaning “right” or “on the right side.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 19, 2025 is: serendipity • sair-un-DIP-uh-tee • noun Serendipity refers to luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for, or to an instance of such luck. // They found each other by pure serendipity. See the entry > Examples: “For new music, I rely on ... radio shows like ‘Late Junction,' straight-up luck and serendipity, and my wife, who has impeccable taste.” — Liam Brickhill, LitHub.com, 5 Dec. 2024 Did you know? The word serendipity did not come about by luck; rather, it was intentionally coined by 18th century author Horace Walpole, who was eager to share a happenstance discovery he had made while researching a coat of arms. In a letter to his friend Horace Mann he wrote: “This discovery indeed is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word, which ... I shall endeavor to explain to you: you will understand it better by the derivation than by the definition. I once read a silly fairy tale, called ‘The Three Princes of Serendip': as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of ...” Walpole's memory of the tale (which, as luck would have it, was not quite accurate) gave serendipity the meaning it retains to this day.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 18, 2025 is: eccentric • ik-SEN-trik • adjective Eccentric usually describes people and things that deviate from conventional or accepted usage or behavior, especially in odd or whimsical ways. It is also used technically to mean "deviating from a circular path" and "located elsewhere than at the geometric center." // He's an endearingly eccentric scientist whose methods are quite inventive. // The dwarf planet Pluto has an eccentric orbit. See the entry > Examples: "The film [Annie Hall] is considered one of the great romantic comedies of all time, with [Diane] Keaton's eccentric, self-deprecating Annie at its heart." — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Eccentric was originally a technical term at home in the fields of geometry and astronomy. It comes from the Medieval Latin adjective ecentricus, meaning "not having the earth at its center," and ultimately has its root in a Greek noun, kéntron, whose various meanings include "stationary point of a pair of compasses" and "midpoint of a circle or sphere." But its figurative use is long-established too: as far back as the 17th century the word has been used to describe people and things that deviate from what is conventional, usual, or accepted.

Remember being a teen and coming up with “cool” ways of spelling common words? Well, just like the teenager it was, the United States in the 18th century was annoying their mom, England, with the hip words that were being edited and added to their lexicon. The antagonistic pair of nations on the brink of the Revolutionary War were always competing to prove their superiority and independence in small cultural battles, and words themselves were no different. Fellow word-nerd Gabe Henry, author of Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell, joins Sarah as they chummily pun their way through the story of the 18th century Dictionary Wars, the story of the publishing battles fought between a handful of eccentric word-lovers in The US and England, all vying for the future supremacy of their own spellings. Digressions include crop circles from Unsolved Mysteries, dishonest detergent marketing, and old fashioned sock puppet accounts.More Gabe Henry:gabehenry.comEnough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to SpellProduced + edited by Miranda ZicklerMore You're Wrong About:linktr.ee/ywapodBonus Episodes on PatreonBuy cute merchYWA on InstagramSupport the show