Podcasts about word the secret life

Hello! Happy New Year! Welcome to season 3!!! Thanks for joining us for another season of this bookish podcast that us four three friends love making so much. And even though Emily's gone and literally moved to France on us, Becky, Kayla, and Libby are excited to be back in “the studio” recording another season for you all. Today, we're chatting about what meal we would choose to eat if we could only eat one meal (for every meal) for the rest of our lives. This of course spirals into whether or not Becky is eating too much raw tuna (the answer is yes). Then we're chatting about some great books, so stick around for another fantastically chaotic season

This hour we investigate the ways words change when they enter our discourse and how they acquire new meanings, or sometimes even lose their meanings. We look at specific examples, discuss how the internet is influencing language, and learn about how dictionaries interact with the evolving nature of words. GUESTS: Sylvia Sierra: A linguist and the author of Millennials Talking Media: Creating Intertextual Identities in Everyday Conversation Peter Sokolowski: Editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster and co-host of the Word Matters podcast Kory Stamper: A lexicographer and the author of Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired May 16, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Veronica Erb is the author of Finding Out, an email newsletter for people who do and use UX research. Previously, she led UX research at NPR and consulted with a variety of companies. In this conversation, we discuss Veronica's reading and note-taking practices.Since we recorded this, Veronica published a post with photos and screenshots of her notes. The link is in the show notes, in case you want to see what she's talking about.Show notesVeronica ErbScreenshots and photos of Veronica's notesVeronica Erb on LinkedIn@verbistheword on Twitter@verbistheword on InstagramFinding Out, Veronica's newsletter@howwefindout on InstagramFinding Out on TwitterNPRThe Boxcar ChildrenGrinnell Collegedanah boydBad Feminist: Essays by Roxanne GayThe Foundations of Social Research: Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process by Michael CrottyWord by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory StamperMethod of loci (Memory palace)Microsoft OneNoteSubstackJane AustenReadwiseGoodreadsDEVONthinkGoogle SurveysGoogle SheetsThe Informed Life episode 8: Trip O'Dell on DyslexiaAdvanced chess (Centaur chess)Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Join Indiana University English Department Chairman and word nerd Michael Adams to talk about a recent acquisition of an enormous collection of dictionaries and associated material by the Lilly Library. The Kripke Collection is a lexicographer's dream, full of books on slang, pirate terms, erotic language, obscenities, regional terms, as well as ephemera, pamphlets, archival material about making and selling dictionaries, and much more! Michael talks about the history of early dictionaries and the behind-the-scenes drama that arose as passionate experts tangled over words and attribution. We also discuss the politics of dictionaries, how decisions about what is included and how it is defined are made by people (for better or worse), and how dictionaries present a moment in time in a particular cultural context. Michael explains what criteria could be used to evaluate the quality of a professional dictionary and shares his enthusiasm for lay dictionaries and glossaries and how those represent the human engagement and creativity that underlie efforts to share what we know about the words we use. Jennifer tells a story about finding herself creating a Wardaman-English dictionary for an Australian aborigine rock art study. A fun and lively episode.An article about the acquisition:https://libraries.indiana.edu/lilly-library/KripkeCollectionAcquiredThe bilingual dictionary collection Michael mentioned:https://collections.libraries.indiana.edu/lilly/exhibitions_legacy/shorttitle/dictionary.htmlSome books he recommended:The Professor and the Madmanhttps://bookshop.org/books/the-professor-and-the-madman-a-tale-of-murder-insanity-and-the-making-of-the-oxford-english-dictionary/9780060839789The Making of the Oxford English Dictionaryhttps://bookshop.org/books/the-making-of-the-oxford-english-dictionary/9780198826163The Word Detectivehttps://bookshop.org/books/the-word-detective-searching-for-the-meaning-of-it-all-at-the-oxford-english-dictionary/9781541697218Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionarieshttps://bookshop.org/books/word-by-word-the-secret-life-of-dictionaries/9781101970263Thoughts? Comments? Potshots? Contact the show at:https://www.discreetguide.com/podcast-books-shows-tunes-mad-acts/Follow or like us on podomatic.com (it raises our visibility :)https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/books-shows-tunes-mad-actsSupport us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/discreetguideJennifer on Twitter:@DiscreetGuideJennifer on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferkcrittenden/Discreet Guide Training:https://training.discreetguide.com/

We're joined by Kory Stamper, professional lexicographer and author of the book Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, who chose a modern retelling of Beowulf for us to read. We consider how the epic poem translates to the contemporary American suburbs, and also why Beowulf has been so enduring in the first place. We also talk to Kory about her former job at Merriam-Webster's dictionary, the politics of language, and why we're right to roll our eyes at people who correct our grammar. You can learn more about Kory's book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/530504/word-by-word-by-kory-stamper/ You can find Kory on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/korystamper If you like our podcast, and would like to get access to two bonus episodes a month--including our ongoing hunt for the worst book of all time--please consider joining our Patreon, for just $5/month: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight  

The fifth episode of The Coaching Agile Teams Mini-Series features special guest Kory Stamper. The conversation with Lyssa Adkins, Kory Stamper and Leslie Morse twists and turns through a variety of topics all inspired by the ah-ha moment Lyssa had when listening to Kory’s Women in Agile 2020 keynote. It caused her to take a step back and really look at the words she used in the “Coaching Agile Teams” book. Lyssa had already taken note of how militaristic language showed up in her 2010 descriptions of what it took to successfully deliver value, and Kory’s session opened her eyes to an entirely new set of considerations. Spoiler alert, nothing really changed in the book.  Enjoy the dance between moments of lightness and serious inquiry within this episode. You’ll learn more about parts of speech, be exposed to new vocabulary, and be challenged to get curious about how you use language.   About the Featured Guest Kory Stamper is a Philadelphia based Lexicographer, Author, Speaker, and Speechwriter. She was the keynote for the 2020 annual Women In Agile conference, has been a prior guest on the Women in Agile podcast series, and is globally recognized as an expert on language and the way it evolves.  Follow Kory on LinkedIn Follow Kory on Twitter @KoryStamper Follow Kory on Instagram @harmless_drudge Reference(s) “Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries” by Kory Stamper Watch Kory’s Keynote from the 2020 Women In Agile Conference (begins at 22:30) Listen to Kory on the Women in Agile Podcast Series: Why Changing Language is an Agile Process  You can learn more about this series of episodes by visiting www.womeninagile.org/cat.  The Women in Agile community champions inclusion and diversity of thought, regardless of gender, and this podcast is a platform to share new voices and stories with the Agile community and the business world, because we believe that everyone is better off when more, diverse ideas are shared. Podcast Library: www.womeninagile.org/podcast Women in Agile Org Website: www.womeninagile.org  Connect with us on social media! LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/womeninagile/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/womeninagile/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/womeninagileorg    Please take a moment to rate and review the Women in Agile podcast on your favorite podcasting platform. This is the best way to help us amplify the voices and wisdom of the talent women and allies in our community! Be sure to take a screenshot of your rating and review and post it on social media with the hashtag #womeninagile. This will get you entered to a monthly drawing for a goodie bag of Women In Agile Org swag!

Word up! Words have meaning, and behind every great definition is a pale, emaciated lexicographer melting away under the fire of language. What does "take" mean in "to take a nap," and how is that "take" different from "take" in "taken aback" or "take a meeting" or "take a poop." With sharp wit and a terrifying large vocabulary, one writer busts wide open the complex, obsessive world of lexicography. The seemingly dullest profession in the world is painted like a new branch of the Marvel universe thanks to her keen knack for honest storytelling and her passion for logophilia. In the end, three things are clear: our language is constantly changing, the people who define it are insane, and no matter how hallowed you consider its page, the dictionary is not a holy book. The lexicographer: Kory Stamper. The book: Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper. . .Find Alexis and Kari online: Instagram — www.instagram.com/litsocietypod/; Twitter — twitter.com/litsocietypod; Facebook — www.facebook.com/LitSocietyPod/; and our website www.LitSocietyPod.com. Get in on the conversation by using #booksanddrama.

"Anything worth studying and aligning yourself with is going to be complicated and, hopefully, evolving all the time as culture and language evolve." - Amanda Montell Amanda Montell is a writer, linguist, and author of the critically acclaimed book Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language, published by HarperCollins in 2019 and available now in paperback. Wordslut has been praised by Time Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Kirkus Reviews, Publisher's Weekly, and the New York Times. Amanda lives in Los Angeles where she is currently developing Wordslut for television with FX, while working on her second book, which is about the language of cults. In her spare time, Amanda enjoys learning impractical languages, doting upon her spoiled pets, and volunteering as a crisis counselor for LGBTQ youth. Connect with Amanda on her website or Instagram. Amanda's book recommendations: Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T. Kira Madden Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West   Shop all our authors' books and book recommendations on our Bookshop.org page! -- We donate 5% of all our sales to a different feminist organization each month. Our July charity is Soul Fire Farm. Get $5 off your Feminist Book Club Box with the code PODCAST at feministbookclub.com/shop. Our July book of the month is WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH by Elizabeth Acevedo.   --   Website: http://www.feministbookclub.com Instagram: @feministbookclubbox Twitter: @fmnstbookclub Facebook: /feministbookclubbox Pinterest: feministbookclub Goodreads: Renee // Feminist Book Club Box and Podcast Email newsletter: http://bit.ly/FBCemailupdates Bookshop.org shop: Feminist Book Club Bookshop -- This podcast is produced on the native land of the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples.   Logo and web design by Shatterboxx  Editing support from Phalin Oliver Original music by @iam.onyxrose

Today’s episode focuses on how to raise your rates. Raising your rates is not about if you should raise them, but when and how. On episode 28 of Deliberate Freelancer, my guest Pam Capalad talked about the need to take the emotion out of raising your rates. I thought that was so smart—and easier said than done. Pam recognized that a lot of issues tend to pop up when we talk about raising our rates: imposter syndrome, fear of rejection, wanting to be liked. All of that is emotion. I wish I could help you instantly channel the confidence of a successful businessman who was born into privilege and never questions how much he charges his customers. But I can’t, so let’s talk about how to raise rates for your freelance business. Start by eliminating your hourly rate. Start charging by the project. If you work fast, you are penalized for charging an hourly rate. And, an hourly rate doesn’t recognize the value you’re bringing to a project. Instead, create a secret hourly rate. Aim to earn way more than your secret hourly rate. This is where project rates shine. Don’t underestimate that nagging, resentful, frustrated feeling. Don’t agree to rates that you don’t feel good about! Take a beat every time you come up with a rate—right before you send the proposal off—and gauge your feelings on it. This is where it’s OK for emotion to come into play. And if the potential client comes back to your proposal with a counter-offer, take another pause and make sure you are comfortable with the lower rate they are suggesting. All clients are not created equal. One mistake a lot of freelancers make in the beginning is having one rate for everyone. Don’t. You may have rates that are higher for corporations that have more money than what you charge a small nonprofit in your community. You may charge more for more technical projects or projects that are a pain in the butt or have challenging clients. There are a million reasons you might charge differently. Look at each client and each project on a case-by-case basis. Raise your rates for all new clients. Create project rates based on your new secret hourly rate for all new clients. Raise your rates for existing clients. Start by making a list of all your clients and how much you charge them. Go down the list—treating each client differently—and ask yourself how much you could raise the rate. Once you decide on the new rates, you need to email your clients and inform them of the new rates. Don’t ASK them if the new rate is OK. TELL them what your new rate is. Track your time on specific projects. Time-tracking specific types of projects you do often will give you a sense of how much time certain types of projects will take you. You might be surprised to learn you are underestimating or overestimating how long a project takes. Be sure to include your research, all that emailing back and forth, any phone conversations. It all adds up.   Biz Bite: Stop talking. The Bookshelf: “Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries” by Kory Stamper   Resources: Episode #28 of Deliberate Freelancer: Take Charge of Your Finances, with Pamela Capalad Episode #22 of Deliberate Freelancer: How to Create a Better Work-Life Balance, with Laura Poole Episode #28 of Deliberate Freelancer: Spotting Red Flags and Scope Creep Toggl time-tracking app

Episode 16So what is evolution exactly? How would you explain it to someone who doesn't think they are "good at science"? Can we see evolution happening today? Should we be worried about mutant Vikings and hybrid coyotes? Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/   produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis Show Notes  Kleptoplasty Sea Slug:   https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/biological/aquatic-plants-and-algae/structure-and-function/weird-science-kleptoplasty   Al regel achat: while standing on one foot--story explanation (and how it is used in modern Hebrew) https://www.haaretz.com/word-of-the-day-al-regel-akhat-1.5318459    Elephants adapting to be tuskless https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/11/wildlife-watch-news-tuskless-elephants-behavior-change/    Peppered Moths of London http://www.mothscount.org/text/63/peppered_moth_and_natural_selection.html    Chicken or Egg…first the egg! https://www.science.org.au/curious/earth-environment/which-came-first-chicken-or-egg    We don’t understand big numbers https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/11/1000000-grahams-number.html    Coywolf (or wolfoyte if preferred) https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/animal-behaviour/is-this-coyote-wolf-hybrid-taking-over-north-america/    Worm composting http://www.franklincountywastedistrict.org/vermicomposting.html  Zack's Worm Bin https://amzn.to/330caxl   Lactose tolerance or intolerance, who’s the mutant now? https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/27/168144785/an-evolutionary-whodunit-how-did-humans-develop-lactose-tolerance  And this one has a map: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27938-everything-you-need-to-know-about-lactose-intolerance/   Reading up on evolution https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/resourcelibrary.php  https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-evolution    Video on natural selection (Crash Course):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTftyFboC_M&list=PL3EED4C1D684D3ADF&index=14   Video on evolution (Crash Course)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3GagfbA2vo&list=PL3EED4C1D684D3ADF&index=20    History of language evolution http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=axx  Or a TED-ed short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWDKsHm6gTA    Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper (Kindle Edition) https://amzn.to/2O4ekYo Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch (Kindle Edition) https://amzn.to/33YQN0G   A forest of language trees, showing their relationships:  https://eurotalk.com/blog/2015/06/03/the-language-forest-how-are-world-languages-related/    Darwin https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin    

As a creative entrepreneur and just a person, there are a lot of things fighting for your attention. There’s family, marketing, sales, and [fill in your own list of tasks]. It doesn’t take long to feel overwhelmed by it all. Enter Kim Christensen from Talk Wordy to Me. She’s a freelance writer, journalist, and a book-loving mama. She mixes writing and mindfulness for a really unique perspective that every entrepreneur can benefit from. Kim started journaling at the age of five, which sparked a love for writing that she has held onto ever since. She’s the co-founder of Loom Journal which helps to inspire the parent-child connection. She also shares great book recommendations online and loves using social media and technology for good. In this episode you will learn: • A mindfulness definition for the everyday mom and creative • The benefit of journaling and putting pen to paper instead of only using technology • What any person can do to improve their writing skills • The importance of reading what you are writing out loud • Three places to look when you want to outsource your writing • The importance of not taking advantage of your friends’ skills and not letting them do the same to you • Tips on being a mindful entrepreneur • Tips to improve your content LINKS http://www.talkingwordy.com/about/ Find Kim on Instagram Loom Journals BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS • Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert • The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield • Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper • Hello, My Name Is Awesome: How to Create Brand Names that Stick by Alexandra Watkins QUOTES One thing that I’ve learned is that ‘balance’ can become just another form of perfectionism, and we’re not seeking balance necessarily. We’re seeking to understand that things will be imbalanced and just trusting ourselves to put our effort and time into the things that are important to us at that time. Because what’s important will change. When you talk about feeling balanced, what you’re really feeling is acceptance of your life being out of balance. We have to become ok with letting some things go. We can do anything we want, but we can’t do everything. Mindfulness isn’t this new trend even though it’s a buzzword now. Mindfulness is in each of us already. It’s not like it’s some new thing you have to learn… it’s just refamiliarizing yourself with yourself. And with the things that help you slow down and feel like yourself and feel whole. It’s just bringing back awareness into what you do and what you think. When we are engaging with technology we are disconnecting from ourselves, intuition, and the people around us. So mindfulness teaches us to be fully present. Mindfulness can go a long way to living the life you want instead of letting life just happen to you. In order to improve your writing, you write. That’s all. It doesn’t even matter where you start or what you write. It’s not about being a good writer or not. It’s about expressing yourself. So, if you can be true to what those feelings are and expressing those, that’s all you need to be a writer. The grammar and all that stuff, that’s so secondary to being a good writer. It’s just being unafraid to express your true self and your true thoughts. Just be you. People can tell when you’re being you or when you’re being a brand in the boring salesy sense of the word. Don’t take advantage of your friends who have a skill set just because they love it and are succeeding in it. Be okay with imperfection and start before you are ready and before you think you have it all together. Starting is the hardest part. You just have to start where you are with what you have and give what you can. It doesn’t have to be everything.  

Combining a love of engineering with a love of words, Jenny List (@Jenny_Alto) is a contributing editor at Hackaday (@Hackaday). Jenny’s writing at Hackaday including Debunking the Drone Versus Plane Hysteria and Ooops, Did We Just Close An Airport Over a UFO Sighting? Previously Jenny worked for Oxford English Press working on computational linguistics software. While there she wrote post about the word “hacker”. Elecia has been secretly dreaming of being a lexicographer since reading Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper.

Octopis, grocers, garages, & .GIFs, with Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries author Kory Stamper.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries author Kory Stamper makes the case against clinging to language pet peeves. Pronouncing "nuclear", phonemic guides, dialects vs. accents, & defending "irregardless".Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Watch the video here. A lexicographer for the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Kory Stamper discusses the subtleties of the English language in the venerable volume's popular ''Ask the Editor'' video series. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and The Guardian, among other periodicals. A medievalist by training, Stamper knows a number of dead languages, has lectured on lexicography around the world, and was notably responsible for explaining Merriam-Webster's recent addition of the term ''F-Bomb'' to the dictionary. In Word by Word, she opens up the complicated, obsessive, and fun world of dictionaries and the quirky people who shape the way we communicate. (recorded 3/27/2017)

Lexicographer Kory Stamper and playwright Lucas Hnath join interviewers Emily Morris and Andrew Borba in this packed episode featuring conversations with two presenters who helped shape the opening week of the 2018 Chautauqua Institution season, themed "The Life of the Written Word." For nearly two decades at Merriam-Webster, Kory Stamper was responsible for altering definitions of old words and creating definitions for new ones. Her book, Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, cracks open the obsessive world of dictionary writing, from the agonizing decisions about what to define and how to do it, to the knotty questions of ever-changing word usage. In this converation, Kory and Emily discuss her book, how words find their way into the dictionary, and the hot-button issues you may be surprised to learn that lexicographers face. Follow her on Twitter at @KoryStamper, and read The Chautauquan Daily's recap of her Amphitheater lecture here: http://chqdaily.com…. Lucas Hnath is the author of more than a dozen plays, including The Christians and Red Speedo. He made his Broadway debut in 2017 with A Doll’s House, Part 2, his brilliant interpretation of what happens to Nora after the shocking ending of the original play by Ibsen. When he isn’t writing award-winning plays, he serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Dramatic Writing at his alma mater, NYU. Listen on (conversation begins at 30:32) as Andrew and Lucas discuss the playwright's process, his inspirations, and why he doesn't make a point to see his plays performed. Read The Chautauquan Daily's recap of Lucas' Amphitheater conversation here: http://chqdaily.com… Emily Morris is Chautauqua's vice president of marketing and communications and chief brand officer. Andrew Borba is Chautauqua Theater Company's artistic director.

Welcome to Fiat Lex, a podcast about dictionaries by people who write them! Yes, really. Meet Kory and Steve, your intrepid and nerdy lexicographer-hosts who will give you the drudge's-eye view of English and dictionaries in all their weirdness. In our first episode, we: - blow your minds by telling you that "the dictionary" doesn't exist;- talk about how new words get into dictionaries (not by petition, so STOP ASKING) and how that's not as straightforward a process as you would think; - explain how lexicographers find new words, which sometimes involves beer and diapers;- touch on how words get taken out of dictionaries, and how that's not as straightforward a process as you would think, either. Assuming you think about such things. (Who are we kidding here?) BONUS FEATURES!- Kory spells a word aloud correctly, which will probs never happen again;- Steve channels Chumley the Walrus and then goes right into fancy linguist talk about velars and coronals;- Tennessee represents! TRANSCRIPT BELOW ----more---- Steve:   Hi, I'm Steve Kleinedler Kory:     and I'm Kory Stamper. Steve:   Welcome to Fiat Lex, Kory:     a podcast about dictionaries by people who write dictionaries. Steve:   We're so glad you're here listening to us talk about this. So we've been thinking about doing this for while. Kory:     Yeah, and we just want to give you a little intro. What's the whole point of doing a podcast about dictionaries? Well, dictionaries have lots of interesting information in them and everyone uses them. Steve:   And who are we, you might be wondering? Why should you be listening to us as opposed to anyone who has a concrete thought about anything under the sun? Kory and I have both worked on a dictionaries for several years. I was on staff with the American Heritage Dictionary for over 20 years, Kory:     and I was on the staff of the Merriam-Webster dictionaries for over 20 years. Gosh, we've probably got 50 years of editing experience between us. Steve:   Yeah. Especially if you count all the stuff we did beforehand. I worked on a lot of dictionaries for a company that was called National Textbook Company that has since had been eaten and subsumed by other media conglomerates. They might be part of Tronc now for all I know. Kory:     TRONNNC Steve:   The Tribune group. And my background is I have a degree in linguistics. I took a lexicography course at Northwestern and I started getting freelance work from my professor after I graduated, and one thing led to another, as they say. Kory:     And I have no degree in linguistics. I have a degree in medieval studies and I fell into this job-- literally, almost tripped on a newspaper which had the want-ad for the Merriam Webster position. Steve:   Well, medieval studies though, are hugely important in this field from the standpoint of etymology or just understanding how words work. Kory:     Yeah, that's true. There are a lot of medievalists in dictionary companies. We could run our own Ren Faire. Steve:   Yes. And that ties in also--we have both written books. I have written a English textbook called "Is English changing?" published by Routledge and the Linguistic Society of America, Kory:     And I have written a not-textbook, regular-book, called "Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries," which is out in paperback this year. Steve:   And in that book you can find out how Kory literally tripped over a newspaper and ended up in the position that she did. Kory:     So to speak. All right, so again, dictionaries. What are they? Why are they? Who uses them? Who cares? Steve:   Everyone uses them to some extent, whether-- Even though people may not use print ones as much as people used to, certainly people look up words all the time, whether they enter terminology into a search bar or look it up in print. That content comes from somewhere. Kory:     And we are the people who write that content. One of the questions we get all the time and we thought would be a great question to address today in our inaugural podcast, is how words get into the dictionaries that you use Steve:   and how they get out of them. Kory:     Yes. Yeah. Let's talk about--let's talk about how words move in and out. Steve:   Well, it's important to note that some people-- you hear people refer to "The Dictionary" as if there were only one in one authority, kind of like the Bible--which is also laughable because there's multiple versions of the Bible as well. Dictionaries are still in the process of being written, compiled, dictionary entries are being drafted, edited, written, and existing ones change over time. Kory:     Yeah. And not only do they change, but different dictionaries serve different purposes. So different definitions are going to look different depending on who the audience is, who's--which companies writing those dictionaries. You know, Steve and I wrote for different dictionary companies though everyone assumes that we wrote "The Dictionary." Steve:   Everyone also assumes that we're constantly at war. Kory:     We're not, we're buddies. Steve:   We are. We're friends. Kory:     Yay, friends forever! Steve:   And as Kory mentioned, there are different audiences for dictionaries, not just different companies. So you could, for example--there are several different legal dictionaries out there and they are going to take a more ingrained approach to the legal defining than a general purpose dictionary will. And you will find all sorts of dictionaries. Slang dictionaries, for example. Kory:     Yep. So, so with that in mind, we'll just talk about general dictionaries, which are dictionaries that we've both worked on. So how do words get into the dictionary? Steve:   The answer is not whimsy. Kory:     Sadly. So quit asking me to put your damn word in the dictionary Steve:   Oh, actually: we're talking about how words don't get put in dictionaries, but a good way to not get a word included in a dictionary is to write to a dictionary company and say, "Hey, I invented this word," or "I think we should add this word." Even if you are a third grader who writes a very cute, plaintive letter. Sorry, but that's not how it works. Kory:     Those are the worst letters, too, because we have to write back and say "no,: which is, you know...I mean. Steve:   Who wants to to shatter the dreams of a third grader? Kory:     Yeah. We are basically just autonomous thesauruses, but we still do have feelings. We don't like hurting other people's feelings. The way that words get in generally is through usage. Not usage as in, like, "I'm writing a dictionary and I've used the word now in print once, and so, enter it," but sort of sustained and widespread usage. And, generally, written usage, which is kind of a bugbear, but that's what we got. Steve:   It also depends on the kind of word: you know, what realm it is, what category it falls into. Some words--and these are in the vast minority--have a very easy path. So if you are a scientist who has a synthesized a new chemical element, you and your team get to name that, and as long as the governing board approves it, that's the name. And you know what? In it goes, because the people in charge said so. So tennessine, for example, which was synthesized by researchers in several universities in the state of Tennessee, [they] named element 117 that. And uh, there you go. That's all you need. Kory:     Tennessine? Steve:   Tennessine. Kory:     T-e-n-n-e-s-s-i-n-e? How do you spell it? Steve:   [Chumley the Walrus voice] That's right, Charlie. Kory:     [laughter] The amazing thing is that I just spelled that aloud, and I can't actually spell aloud. Steve:   And that was a Chumley the Walrus imitation. I'm dating myself there. [Chumley the Walrus voice] Sorry, Tennessee. Kory:     Alright, so usage. I said "written usage" and this is a bugbear. But the reason that we use written usage is it's a standard way that we can do it. So why don't we take spoken usage? Because that's actually that's how words get created first, is usually in speech. They usually don't get written down first. Steve:   The words that are used in the spoken vernacular are completely 100 percent valid. And there are outfits out there that track this type of thing. Corpuses, which are large collections of words. There's some corpuses that compile a written documentation and other ones that compile samples of recorded speech. Dictionaries, however, tend to focus on words that have been written. Generally, but not always, and more so in the past than now. Not just written, but from edited sources. Kory:     Yeah. Edited, prose sources. So poetry doesn't really count, because you can use a word with a really nonstandard meaning in poetry--or with no meaning in poetry, you can just use it for sound. But the part of the reason that's difficult is because we now have access to more transcripts of spoken English, and the problem with that as a lexicographer is, it's really actually hard to transcribe a word you've never heard before from speech into print. You can misspell it, you can mishear it. You can not understand the context. So. That's one of the reasons why we focus on written, edited English. Though the "edited," even that's kind of going away these days. Steve:   More and more, you will see references to things in blog posts which aren't always edited, or even, you know, the comment section, or that kind of thing. And as to the spoken ones, you can phonological determine the phonemes that are used. But if you were transcribing-- it's the same problem that newspaper journalists have in quoting people. Usually the quoted English in newspaper articles is written out in standard English. Even though when you speak informally, you're changing the velar "-ng" at the ends of words like "going" to the coronal "-n," like "going" to "goin'", and you're probably not going to write "g-o-i-n-apostrophe" in most examples of written transcriptions. However, that is what is being said. So, would you include that? Would you not? In the past when you had the finite print page, that limited what you could put into a book. Especially when there's a regular phonological change like that velar to coronal nasal pattern that I mentioned. Kory:     Right. So the other thing that's interesting about this is, this is how all words get in, and the way that you find new words to put into the dictionary has also--I think it's changed over even the last 10 years. Steve:   Absolutely. In the past, when I first started, you had boxes and boxes of note cards on which someone had dutifully typed or printed out and pasted onto that note card, a usage of that word, also known as a "citation." But even in the nineties when I started, that shoe box of cards was already supplemented with returns from what we call a KWIC concordance. This program that overlays on top of a large corpus. You can search on a specific word and it will show you every instance of that word with five or 10 or 12 words, whatever you decide on either side of it, to get some context by it. So even in the nineties--and before then, I just wasn't working before then-- you're juggling these cards and these citations in your concordance. Kory:     But even the way that we got citations I think has changed. It used to be--so at Merriam Webster, it used to be that all of the editors read for at least an hour, maybe two hours a day. We had a source list that was a list of magazines, journals, books--not just journals and magazines, but trade journals, specialty journals. And we would go through as an editorial floor and divvy stuff up and say, "You're going to be the one who's reading _National Review_ and _The Nation_, and you would read-- I mean, ideally you read every issue that got delivered to you, and you read looking specifically for words that caught your eye, which were generally new words or new uses of old words. And that's how we used to get citations. This was before these, these big corpora were available. I mean, not just available for purchase, but just available, period. Steve:   The first edition of the American Heritage Dictionary back in the sixties used a corpus called the Brown Corpus, from Brown University. But in addition to these collected citations. So corpus material had always been used. However, editors still read in the manner Kory described and collected citations well into the mid-2000s, by which time, you know, much like every other corporation in the world, outside pressures meant more people were doing more things. And that was one thing that, because information was so much more easily obtainable, reading time for markup decreased over the years. But it wasn't just books or periodicals that you were assigned to. I remember once when we were discussing what the proper plural of "pierogi" is--is "pierogi" a plural? You know, those little Polish potato dumplings? Is the singular "pierog," which is what it would be in various Slavic languages, but not in English? I took a box of Mrs. T's Pierogies and cut the carton and pasted that onto a note card as citational evidence. And you will find in the files, not just handwritten stuff from way back when or, taped or glue- on photocopies. But sometimes you will find like portions of boxes or whatnot appended to these note cards. Kory:     Oh yeah. I used to bring in things. At Merriam Webster, we had a filing cabinet where you put all of your marked materials, and we had a typists room--these poor women, their whole job was to type up citations and put them in our database and put them on cards. And I remember one day coming in--it was really early, early on in my time--coming in and someone had put like a Lean Cuisine box in the marking pile, and I went to go throw it away because I thought it was trash, and I saw someone had marked it. And then I went crazy. I think I've marked beer bottles and left them there. I remember marking diaper boxes when my kids were little. People mark menus, take-out menus-- Steve:   What's with the focus on food that we're all marking? Kory:     I'm really hungry. Yeah. Steve:   Speaking of those poor women, we had a poor intern in the early 2000s--for some reason we had our main citation file, but there was also a separate one that had been started for a separate purpose. And it was annoying because you'd always had to check in two places. So over the course of three summers with three different interns, they had to alphabetize this smaller set of cards into the main ones--which, not only putting it in the right place, but then that of course forces everything back. Kory:     Right. Steve:   So it was, for three summers, this is basically what a college student did. Kory:     That's life skills right there. I'm sure that's worth some kind of college credit. Steve:   Yeah. And so through examining these citations, you find evidence of how long a word might have been used, how widespread it is. We generally don't enter terms that are hyper-specific to one, you know, one occupation or one location. It's a general purpose dictionary. So there's usually some type of general frequency. By the time a specialized term has also reached the general public, that's one indication that it's time to go in. Kory:     Yeah. And I think the rate at which some specialized terms sort of become widespread is different. So I remember, both "AIDS" and "SARS" got into Merriam-Webster dictionaries really quickly, because it was, just sort of--all of that evidence was there right away. You knew that these were syndromes and diseases that were not going to go away. Steve:   Ditto with us for "Zika." Kory:     Yep. But the other thing that's really interesting is that, when you've got sort of this big body of words in front of you, you also see these really weird patterns of usage. Like, sometimes you'll have a word show up in print once every couple of years or once every five or 10 years, and then boom. And other times you have a word that shows up and booms right away, and then drops out of use really quickly. And particularly in the old days, when everything was dead-tree publishing, you couldn't justify entering a term that was brand-new unless you could justify that it was going to be around for another 10 years, because that was the lifecycle of a dictionary revision. And I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but in print publishing, you can't afford two or three lines on a page for a word that is just not going to be common in five years. Steve:   It's this test of ephemerality that used to be very important. Of course, nowadays you can just add a term online, and it won't necessarily make it into print. I remember one of the very last words we entered for the fourth edition of the American Heritage College Dictionary was "dotcom," and it was, this was still in the late '90s. It was, I think, right before or during the bubble. It was probably a little sooner than we normally might have, but it was like, "all right, this is now or never. This word is probably going to stick around." In that case, it's like, let's err on the side of caution and put it in. But even at that point, the writing was on the wall, as they say. Kory:     Yeah. And often, I mean, I don't know if it was like this for you, but I often found whenever we did revisions and we started looking through the citational evidence, I would always find more and more and more words to enter. And then you have to do this very weird--you have to get very choosy in weird ways. Steve:   Or, if you're working on a printing--and again, this refers back to the day of... Did I just use "refer back" right? Is someone going to ding me on that? Kory:     Sure, I don't care. Steve:   I don't care either. Ding me if you want. Kory:     Sense two! Sense two of "ding." Steve:   yes. Uh--what were we talking about? Referring back? What am I referring back to? Kory:     To print. Steve:   Oh, right. So if you're doing a new printing and, say, someone has died and you have to "open that page" to fix the death date, then you can go anywhere on that page! It's like, "oh, I can add this, I can add this." So just by the sheer alphabetic accident of where the word falls, it's like, "This page is open, I can insert this word." Whereas if it was spelled slightly different and fell on a different page, you might not have been able to do that. Kory:     Right. And which kind of--so, this underscores something that's really interesting too about dictionaries: that nobody realizes dictionaries are a commercial proposition. Everything is driven by how much will it cost, how much time will it take, will we recoup our expenses? And that's just, you know, that just doesn't happen very much with language. Steve:   Here's an anecdote. The fourth edition of the American Heritage Dictionary was in full color. Kory:     oh ho ho Steve:   Which of course was expensive, but one thing it did: because the headword was in its own color, it meant that you didn't have to reverse-indent the entry. Kory:     Ooooh. Steve:   And because of that, the entries could be flush on the left margin, which gained us, like, two characters for every line of an entry after the first line. The Savings in space by getting those extra two characters aligned was one of the things that offset the cost of going into color. But of course, then we ate it up by just cramming that much more into it. The amount of space--I mean, when people...And this ties into our next bit about how do words come out of a dictionary (and the short answer is, not often), when we talked about all the new words that were added to the Fifth Edition that weren't in the Fourth Edition, and people said, "Where'd the space come from, it's the same length?" A lot of it was interesting design choices. Oh-- I'm sorry, that was between the Third and the Fourth. The fact that you didn't have to take up that space for the indent saved us, you know, allowed us to keep thousands of words. I mean, when you, look at two characters per line, over 2000 pages, that really adds up. Kory:     And you know, when people ask about getting a word into the dictionary, one of the other parts of the commercial bit that no one realizes is that, you know, we are _never going to be caught up_ with getting words into the dictionary. We are always, always, always behind, always having to make these weird editorial choices that are half-based on, is this page going to be open? Or if you're going online, even, how many people can we get on staff who are going to be able to do this kind of defining quickly? And then we need to have someone proofread it, and we have to have someone copy edit it, and then the pronunciation editor needs to go through it, and then the etymologist need to go through it. It's not just me farting around at my laptop saying, "I'm going to enter the word 'CRISPR' today!" That doesn't happen. It still needs to go through, you know, anywhere from five to 10 other sets of eyes before it makes it online. Steve:   "CRISPR" the gene editing? Kory:     Oh yeah. Naturally. Steve:   Shout out to Carl Zimmer. We can tweet at him after this podcast now. Kory:     So, so that's how words get in. It's through written usage. That's not historically always been how it is. The earliest English dictionary, the word lists were just sort of... In the 1600s and early 1700s, they were mostly just words that the single author thought of. So whatever they thought was worth entering, whatever they thought was worth studying. So early dictionaries were hard-word dictionaries mostly, and they were written mostly by wealthy white dudes. Steve:   And then, we're, of course, talking about living languages. If you are writing a dictionary of a dead language, it is possible to include every word. Because, you know, again, I always go back to Tocharian B. We know what words were used and unless there's another archaeological find where they find more inscriptions, the words that we have are the words that are there. And so you can have that finite list. Kory, how do words come out of a dictionary? Kory:     With difficulty. So I don't know what the criteria at American Heritage is, but generally speaking, once a ,word gets into the dictionary, people keep using that word or people feel like they now have license to use that word more. They feel like the word has been made official even though that is not at all what the dictionary does. Steve:   And like you said earlier, just that test for ephemerality. Because we're not adding words until we think they're going to stick around, there's, there's less chance of a word having to come out because it hasn't stuck. And you never know when it's going to come back to life. Kory:     Oh God. "Snollygoster"! Steve:   Oh yeah--you do "snollygoster" and then I'll do mine. Kory:     "Snollygoster!" So very quickly, the way that we determine whether a word is eligible to be removed from the dictionary at Merriam-Webster is, you need to prove that it has had no significant historical written usage, and that it has no current written usage. And that's within a timeframe of, it really depends, but I think when we were doing the Collegiate, we were aiming for 50 years of no written use. Which, that's actually impossible to find now that everything is digitized. Now you can go on Google Books and you can find one dude in 1956 who has used this word consistently in every article he's written and...so now it breaks it. So, actually, we enter far more words than we end up taking out. And when we do take words out, it has to be well considered. Enter "snollygoster." So "snollygoster" is a word that's a noun, it refers to a shrewd or unprincipled person. And it was removed from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dictionary for the 10th edition, I believe. So that would have been '93. And at that point, you know, they reviewed the evidence and said, eh, has a lot of use back in the forties and fifties, but not really much since. And we need the space. You always need the space. So they pulled it out and then it turns out that William Safire _really_ loved the word "snollygoster" and began using it in his columns. And then Bill O'Reilly_really, really_ loved "snollygoster" and began using it on his TV shows. And so for the 11th edition, pretty recently, we had to put "snollygoster" back in, because now people are using it again. Steve:   And the example I like to use about the danger of removing words: in the late nineties when we were finishing up work on the Fifth Edition and we needed space on this one page, we talked about dropping the sense of "chad" associated with punch cards. Because usually when we do drop things for space, they tend to be geographical entries that are suburbs of Los Angeles or Chicago or something that's encyclopedic information. The space is much better used for a vocabulary word. But obsolescent technology is-- Kory:     Oh yeah, that's a big one-- Steve:   It's a fertile ground for possible deletions. And we almost deleted "chad." And then I remembered when it was going back and forth among the editors, I remembered that there were still some states that used punch cards for voting, and we're like, oh, well we should keep it in then. And lo and behold, one year later, right after the book came out, uh, _Florida_. And it's good that we kept it in, because suddenly "chad" was on everyone's lips. Kory:     Yeah. Hanging chads, pregnant chads-- Steve:   all those chads. Oh Chad. Kory:     _Chad._ Steve:   So, it's about that time. We hope that you have found this entertaining. Kory:     Yeah. And if you want to tweet at us, you can tweet at us. We are @FiatLexPodcast, F-I-A-T-L-E-X podcast. One of us will answer you. If you have things you want to hear on the podcast, let us know. Actually,both of these questions, how do words get in and how do words get taken out, were suggested by faithful Twitter followers. Steve:   Don't tweet at us that "FiatLex" is combining Greek and Latin. We know that and we'll talk about that in a later podcast. Kory:     Yeah, you'll have to get over that. So thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time. Steve:   Bye.  

It takes a special kind of person to be a dictionary editor. You need an instinctive understanding of language, a sharp, ever-listening ear, and the ability to laugh off death threats (really). In this very special episode, Merriam-Webster's Kory Stamper and Macquarie Dictionary's Alison Moore discuss both the drudgery and the delights of their work, as we journey into the secret heart of the dictionary editor.    Kory Stamper's book is Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

This week we look at the science, art, and craft of lexicography as we go backstage into the process of how dictionaries are made. We spend the hour with Kory Stamper, a lexicographer at Merriam-Webster and author of the book "Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries", to learn more about the history of dictionaries, what their purpose is, and how defining words isn't as straightforward as you might think.

What do lawyers and lexicographers have in common? The main job of both is to argue over the meaning of words. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles talks with Kory Stamper about her work as a lexicographer and editor for Merriam-Webster; her new book, “Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries”; and her position as chief defender of the word "irregardless." We explore the difference between the prescriptivists—whose champion, Bryan A. Garner, writes a column for the ABA Journal—and the descriptivists, and why using the dictionary definition of a word should not end all arguments. We also find out what goes on behind the scenes to produce the newest edition of a Merriam-Webster dictionary.

What do lawyers and lexicographers have in common? The main job of both is to argue over the meaning of words. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles talks with Kory Stamper about her work as a lexicographer and editor for Merriam-Webster; her new book, “Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries”; and her position as chief defender of the word "irregardless." We explore the difference between the prescriptivists—whose champion, Bryan A. Garner, writes a column for the ABA Journal—and the descriptivists, and why using the dictionary definition of a word should not end all arguments. We also find out what goes on behind the scenes to produce the newest edition of a Merriam-Webster dictionary.

In Part Two of this file the associate editor and lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, and acclaimed author of the book Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, Kory Stamper, paid me a visit to talk about being a celebrity word nerd, how she manages her time between the dictionary and her own writing, and the pending “pencil apocalypse.” Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting. Start getting more from your site today! In addition to writing and editing for the oldest dictionary in the U.S., Kory gained notoriety when she appeared in Merriam-Webster’s popular “Ask the Editor” video series, short video blogs that tackle topics of “lexical contempt” like irregardless. Her non-fiction debut is titled Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, and it “… cracks open the complex, obsessive world of lexicography, from the agonizing decisions about what to define and how to do it, to the knotty questions of usage in an ever-changing language.” Publishers Weekly called it a “… witty, sly, occasionally profane behind-the-scenes tour aimed at deposing the notion of real and proper English.” The New Yorker called it “illuminating,” and “An unlikely page-turner.” Kory also blogs about language and “defining the words that define us” on her own website, and her writing has appeared in The Guardian and The New York Times, and on Slate.com. If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. If you missed the first half you can find it right here. In Part Two of this file Kory Stamper and I discuss: The importance of boredom, procrastination, deadlines, and staring into space Secrets on how lexicographers stays sane Why you should rethink your definition of creativity How to counteract the “tyranny of the alphabet” Her tendency to hoard rare pencils Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes If you’re ready to see for yourself why more than 201,344 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — swing by StudioPress.com for all the details. How Merriam-Webster Lexicographer and Author Kory Stamper Writes: Part One Kory’s blog – KoryStamper.wordpress.com Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries – Kory Stamper Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster’s “Ask the Editor” video series on YouTube The Case Against the Grammar Scolds – The Atlantic Kory Stamper on npr’s Fresh Air Kory Stamper on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter

The associate editor and lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, and acclaimed author of the book Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, Kory Stamper, paid me a visit to talk about being a celebrity word nerd, how she manages her time between the dictionary and her own writing, and the pending “pencil apocalypse.” Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting. Start getting more from your site today! In addition to writing and editing for the oldest dictionary in the U.S., Kory gained notoriety when she appeared in Merriam-Webster’s popular “Ask the Editor” video series, short video blogs that tackle topics of “lexical contempt” like irregardless. Her non-fiction debut is titled Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, and it “… cracks open the complex, obsessive world of lexicography, from the agonizing decisions about what to define and how to do it, to the knotty questions of usage in an ever-changing language.” Publishers Weekly called it a “… witty, sly, occasionally profane behind-the-scenes tour aimed at deposing the notion of real and proper English.” The New Yorker called it “illuminating,” and “An unlikely page-turner.” Kory also blogs about language and “defining the words that define us” on her own website, and her writing has appeared in The Guardian and The New York Times, and on Slate.com. If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. In Part One of this file Kory Stamper and I discuss: How a want ad in a print newspaper led to her writing career The viral video blog that catapulted her into the spotlight Why your high school English teacher lied to you How Kory’s book will make you feel better about your frustrations with usage Why writing a book is also a full-time job Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes If you’re ready to see for yourself why more than 201,344 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — swing by StudioPress.com for all the details. How Merriam-Webster Lexicographer and Author Kory Stamper Writes: Part Two Kory’s blog – KoryStamper.wordpress.com Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries – Kory Stamper Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster’s “Ask the Editor” video series on YouTube Kory Stamper on npr’s Fresh Air The Case Against the Grammar Scolds – The Atlantic Kory Stamper on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter

Lexicographers write and edit dictionaries, and while they're becoming a rare breed, language—ever evolving—is a growth industry. There are only some fifty full-time lexicographers in the U.S. They spend their time reading, writing, and synthesizing the words we use, eschew, and transform. Lewis Lapham talks with Kory Stamper, lexicographer at Merriam-Webster and the author of Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Thanks to our generous donors. Lead support for this podcast has been provided by Elizabeth “Lisette” Prince. Additional support was provided by James J. “Jimmy” Coleman Jr.