Podcasts about Webster

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 14, 2025 is: immutable • ih-MYOO-tuh-bul • adjective Immutable is a formal adjective used to describe something that is unable to be changed. // It is hardly an immutable fact that cats and dogs are sworn enemies; over the years our golden retriever has grown both fond and protective of her tabby housemate. See the entry > Examples: “... by the 1800s, naturalists like Lamarck were questioning the assumption that species were immutable; they suggested that over time organisms actually grew more complex, with the human species as the pinnacle of the process. Darwin brought these speculations into public consciousness in 1859 with On the Origin of Species, and while he emphasized that evolution branches in many directions without any predetermined goal in mind, most people came to think of evolution as a linear progression.” — Ted Chiang, LitHub.com, 6 Mar. 2025 Did you know? Immutable may describe something that is incapable of change, but the word itself—like all words—is mutable, both capable of and prone to alteration. To put a finer point on it, if language were fixed, we wouldn't have immutable itself, which required a variety of mutations of the Latin verb mutare (“to change”) to reach our tongues (or pens, keyboards, or touchscreens—oh the many permutations of communication!). Other English words that can be traced back to mutare include mutate, transmute, and commute. Which reminds us—the mutability of language makes great food for thought during one's commute.

Kenny Webster interviews journalist Joseph Trimmer.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 13, 2025 is: calculus • KAL-kyuh-lus • noun Calculus refers to an advanced branch of mathematics that deals mostly with rates of change and with finding lengths, areas, and volumes. The word can also be used more broadly for the act of calculating—that is, estimating something by using practical judgment, or solving or probing the meaning of something. // By my calculus the more efficient air conditioner will have paid for itself within a span of five years. See the entry > Examples: “[Manager, Craig] Counsell said that all options are being considered, and the Cubs will wait to make a decision until they have to, as events between now and [Shota] Imanaga's official return to the active roster could change the calculus.” — Vinnie Duber, The Chicago Sun-Times, 21 June 2025 Did you know? Solving calculus equations on a chalkboard allows one to erase mistakes, and also hints at the word's rocky, and possibly chalky, past. Calculus entered English in the 17th century from Latin, in which it referred to a pebble, often one used specifically for adding and subtracting on a counting board. The word thus became associated with computation; the phrase ponere calculos, literally, “to place pebbles,” meant “to carry out a computation.” The Latin calculus, in turn, is thought to perhaps come from the noun calx, meaning “lime” or “limestone,” which is also the ancestor of the English word chalk. Today, in addition to referring to an advanced branch of mathematics, calculus can also be used generally for the act of solving or figuring something out, and as a medical term for the tartar that forms on teeth, among other things. Whichever way it's used, we think that calculus rocks.

Today on the Walton and Johnson Show, the boys talk about lame late night hosts trying to slander Trump for money, and Hollywood running out of jokes to tell about Trump.

Kenny Webster interviews Power the Future's Daniel Turner.

Today on the Walton and Johnson Show, the boys talk about the California land grab going on post-fires, and look back at the progress of how many illegal immigrants have been deported.

Today on the Walton and Johnson Show, the boys talk about post office illegal immigrants, and Travis Kelce's pivot into acting using his relationships.

Today on the Walton and Johnson Show, the boys talk about the White Houst renovations, sports news involving domestic abuse, and a Florida Man story involving an unruly brawl at the lake.

Today on the Walton and Johnson Show, the boys talk about nudity at the Olympics and the MMA White House fight confirmation.

Today on the Walton and Johnson Show, the boys talk about Texas democrats still stalling redistrict vote, and Kenny recounts a fight story that happened over the weekend at the comedy show with Jesse Peyton.

Today on the Walton and Johnson Show, the boys talk about Kenny's recent article in the Houston Chronicle about John Cornyn, and why liberals like Jasmine Crockett love him.

Today on the Walton and Johnson Show, the boys talk about how the everyday Joe can make Hollywood movies and look at how much Lina Hidalgo spends on security a year.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 12, 2025 is: ramshackle • RAM-shak-ul • adjective Ramshackle describes things that are in a very bad condition and need to be repaired, or that are carelessly or loosely constructed. // Toward the back of the property stood a ramshackle old shed. // The book had a ramshackle plot that was confusing and unbelievable. See the entry > Examples: "House of the Weedy Seadragon ... and Semaphore Shack sit side-by-side in the sand dunes. They're part of a cosy cluster of ramshackle residences, built in the 1930s by a Hobart family as weekenders for the extended tribe to fish, swim and while away sun-soaked days." — The Gold Coast (Australia) Bulletin, 4 July 2025 Did you know? Ramshackle has nothing to do with rams, nor the act of being rammed, nor shackles. The word is an alteration of ransackled, an obsolete form of the verb ransack, meaning "to search through or plunder." (Ransack comes from Old Norse rannsaka, which combines rann, "house," and -saka, a relation of the Old English word sēcan, "to seek.") A home that has been ransacked has had its contents thrown into disarray, and that image may be what inspired people to start using ramshackle in the first half of the 19th century to describe something that is poorly constructed or in a state of near collapse. Ramshackle in modern use can also be figurative, as in "a ramshackle excuse for the error."

Kenny Webster interviews Houston Firefighter Union Leader Marty Lancton.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 11, 2025 is: stipulate • STIP-yuh-layt • verb To stipulate is to demand or require something as part of an agreement. // The rules stipulate that players must wear uniforms. See the entry > Examples: “Nilsson's reputation preceded her. The New York Times wrote of her: ‘Christine Nilsson, the Met's first diva in 1883, could not only stipulate by contract her choice of roles, but could prohibit their performance by any other soprano in the same season.'” — Elise Taylor and Stephanie Sporn, Vogue, 20 June 2025 Did you know? Like many terms used in the legal profession, stipulate, an English word since the 17th century, has its roots in Latin. It comes from stipulatus, the past participle of stipulari, a verb meaning “to demand a guarantee (from a prospective debtor).” In Roman law, oral contracts were deemed valid only if they followed a proper question-and-answer format; stipulate was sometimes used specifically of this same process of contract making, though it also could be used more generally for any means of making a contract or agreement. The “to specify as a condition or requirement” meaning of stipulate also dates to the 17th century, and is the sense of the word most often encountered today.