Words for Granted - An etymology and linguistics podcast

Jan 01 2024 126 ep. 24 mins 5.1k
Words for Granted - An etymology and linguistics podcast artwork

Words for Granted is a podcast that looks at how words change over time. Host Ray Belli uses linguistic evolution as a way of understanding larger historical and cultural changes.

  Education
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Lessons on Language with the Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogerty)

Jan 01 2024 31 mins  
In this episode, Ray chats with Mignon Fogerty, aka the Grammar Girl. "Good grammar" may seem like the epitome of prescriptivism, but when it comes to her "Quick and Dirty Tips", Mignon leans on a more ideologically neutral approach. Might you even call "good grammar" ... a style choice?

The Marvels of Translation: Interview with Keith Khan-Harris

Jul 07 2023 37 mins  
What can we learn about the nature of translation by reading a warning message in hundreds of different languages? In this episode, Keith Kahn-Harris discusses his latest book, The Babel Message, in which the mundane, multilingual warning message found inside Kinder Surprise Eggs ignites profound observations about the nature of language and the written word. To buy The Babel Mess

The Power (and Omnipresence) of Rhetoric: Interview with Guy Doza

May 20 2023 56 mins  
Rhetoric has a bad reputation. We tend to think of it as a linguistic tool used by polticians and marketing execs to maipulate the masses. While this stereotype is true, rhetoric is more than just snake oil––we use it in apologies, negotions, and love letters, all without even realizing it. In this episode, speech writer and author Guy Doza takes through a wide range of rhetori

A Defense of "Bad" English: Interview with Valerie Fridland

Apr 26 2023 50 mins  
Instead of criticizing deviations from Standard English as "wrong," what if we celebrated them as expressive lingusitic innovations? In this conversation with Valerie, we take a look at some of the quirky features of English that our language teachers taught us to avoid, and in true Words for Granted fashion, we attempt to understand how and why they emerged. To buy Valerie's new

Learning New Languages: Interview with Rob Paterson

Mar 19 2023 33 mins  
What goes into building a language learning curriculum? How do designers choose features within a language learing app? Are some approaches to language learning better than others, or is it up to the indiviudal? In this episode, I explore these questions and more with Rob Paterson, Content Production Manager at Memrise. To get 50% off an annual plan with Memrise, go to: https://m

Combatting Bias in Linguistic AI: Interview with Courtney Napoles

Jan 22 2023 30 mins  
As Lead of Language Research at Grammarly, Courtney Napoles is building systems to better help people from around the world communicate. In this episode, we discuss things such as the fundamentals of linguistic machine learning and how AI learns linguistic biases––not to mention how those biases are undone. To get 50% off an annual plan with Memrise, go to: https://memri.se

Origins of Place Names: Interview with Duncan Madden

Dec 19 2022 42 mins  
Place names are not random––behind the name of every country is a story of how it came to be. From stories of invasion and rebellion to the fantastical and mundane, author Duncan Madden takes us on a journey across the world in his latest book, Found in Translation: The Unexpected Origins of Place Names. To order or pre-order the book, go to https://www.duncanmadden.com/.

Grammatical Gender: Interview with Danny Bate

Nov 06 2022 58 mins  
In this interview with linguist Danny Bate, we go deep on all things gender––grammatical gender, that is. Why do some languages have gender while others don't? Where does gender come from? What is the function of gender? To get 50% off your first month of Lingoda courses, follow this link: https://try.lingoda.com/Words_Nov

Episode 109: Trivia

Sep 13 2022 21 mins  
Trivia refers to obscure or useless information, but this definition is a far cry from the word's etymology. Trivia, or tri-via, literally means "three roads," and in Ancient Roman times, it referred to three-way intersections. These heavily trafficked intersections were places where common people would chat, trade, gossip, and bicker, and it is in this context that the seeds of ou

African American English: Interview w/ Tracey Weldon

Aug 01 2022 38 mins  
In this episode, I speak with Tracey Weldon, linguist and board advisor on the Oxford Dictionary of African American English project. We discuss the origins of AAE, the role of code switching within its speech community, AAE's contributions to mainstream English, and more. For $25 off your Lingoda Sprint Challenge enrollment, use this link: https://try.lingoda.com/Ray_Sprint