It’s that time again, when people start thinking about a new or resurgent word or phrase that best captures the spirit of the past year. And what a year! We heard the words bailout and lipstick more times than we’d ever dreamed, and saw also the rise of invented words like staycation and recessionista. What are your nominations for 2008’s Word of the Year? This is part of a complete episode.
Episode Archives
Goody Two-Shoes (episode #1543) 02/24/2020: She sells seashells by the seashore. Who is the she in this tongue twister? Some claim it's the young Mary Anning, who went on to... [more]
Baby Blues (episode #1542) 02/10/2020: A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn't about "suffering." It's from a Latin word... [more]
Walkie Talkie (episode #1541) 01/27/2020: One of the most powerful words you'll ever hear — and one of the most poignant — isn't in dictionaries yet. But it probably will... [more]
Tiger Tail (episode #1540) 01/20/2020: You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojalá is especially handy for expressing... [more]
Clever Clogs (episode #1539) 12/23/2019: Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won't find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers in... [more]
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