Brow BeatOct. 10 2017 7:33 AMCivil War Correspondence Suggests the Phrase “Kick Ass” Might Be a Century Older Than We ThoughtBen Zimmer
Brow BeatAug. 7 2017 2:24 PMUtah Sen. Orrin Hatch Says Republicans “Shot Their Wad” on Health Care. Wait—He Said What?Ben Zimmer
Brow BeatJuly 27 2017 8:03 AMA Podcast About Profanity Goes Deep on “the C-Word”Ben Zimmer
Brow BeatFeb. 13 2017 2:36 PMA Hero for Our Time: We Found the Man Behind the Priceless Trump Insult “S---gibbon”Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleySept. 12 2016 11:36 AMWhere Did Hillary Get a Phrase Like "Basket of Deplorables"?Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyMay 17 2016 11:33 AMWhy Some People Call Rock-Paper-Scissors RoshamboHow an American Revolutionary War figure spawned a new name for a very old game.Bob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyApril 19 2016 11:25 AMRed Herring: A Wild Goose Chase That Stinks From FishHow did Clupea harengus come to signify a diversionary tactic?Bob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyMarch 8 2016 11:08 AMTake It With a Grain of Salt! But Why a Single Grain? And Why Salt?A phrase with roots in Ancient Rome has confounded English speakers for centuries.Bob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyFeb. 15 2016 2:27 PMStudies in Sweary SyntaxBen Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyDec. 29 2015 4:08 PMDid Bob Dylan Pioneer the Phrase “Can’t Even” Back in 1966?Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyNov. 16 2015 12:05 PMWoody Guthrie’s Folk Etymology. It’s a Hootenanny!Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a word that was popularized during the 1940s folk movement with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.Bob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleySept. 23 2015 6:17 PMYogi Berra Turned Linguistic Vice Into Virtue With His Cockeyed TautologiesBen Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyAug. 5 2015 2:46 PMAssessing Jeb Bush’s BilingualismBen Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyJune 29 2015 2:52 PMLinguaFile XIII: Don’t Be a Clown!Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a mystery word or phrase with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.Bob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyJan. 5 2015 12:41 PMHow Stuart Scott Made Booyah His OwnBen Zimmer
Brow BeatAug. 9 2017 7:33 AMWhy Do We Call White House Happenings “Palace Intrigue”? The Intriguing Explanation.Ben Zimmer
Brow BeatJuly 27 2017 1:25 PMA Georgia Congressman Thinks the Senate Needs Someone to “Snatch a Knot in Their A--.” Um, What?Ben Zimmer
Brow BeatMay 19 2017 3:15 PMRick Wilson Says People Are Afraid of Trump Going “Rips--- Bonkers” on Them. What Does That Mean?Ben Zimmer
Brow BeatFeb. 9 2017 5:42 PMThe Surprising Rise of the “S---gibbon”Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyAug. 3 2016 11:51 AMCan Mel Gibson Pull Off a Portrayal of OED Editor James Murray?Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyMay 10 2016 8:30 AMHow Hamilton Centers the Power and Pleasure of LanguageBen Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyMarch 30 2016 12:25 PMPrimeval ProfanityBen Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyFeb. 22 2016 1:14 PMThe Trumpian ConditionalBen Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyJan. 11 2016 11:55 AMThe Origins of In Cahoots: Four TheoriesBob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyDec. 14 2015 9:23 AMSo You Just Got Eighty-Sixed From a Bar. Why That Number?Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the early-20th-century origins of a bizarre food-industry code with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.Bob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyOct. 19 2015 10:47 AMA Drone, a Bell, and a Suffix. It’s a Real Humdinger!The panelists discuss a piece of old American slang.Bob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleySept. 21 2015 9:46 AMAn Ambitious Enterprise, Quixotic and UnavailingBob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a very wasteful word with lexicographer Ben Zimmer.Bob Garfield, Mike Vuolo, and Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyAug. 5 2015 10:35 AMA Non-French Speaker Won the French Language Scrabble Championship. How Is That Possible?Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyMay 11 2015 10:16 AMDid Bill Simmons Get Fired for “Testicular Fortitude”?Ben Zimmer
Lexicon ValleyNov. 7 2014 1:58 PMCan John Leguizamo Put a Pretty Face on Fugly?Ben Zimmer