Best Linguistics Education Podcasts (2024)

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Episode 179: Defining Moments 1:26:04

1h ago1:26:04

1:26:04

In the early 1600s, several landmark events shaped the history of England and determined how and where the English language would be spoken in the centuries that followed. The period from 1602-1605 saw the end of the Elizabethan era, the unification of the crowns of England and Scotland, the authorization of the King James Version of the Bible, the…

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Yak Shaving (Rebroadcast) - 23 September 2024 53:45

1h ago53:45

53:45

There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little seven-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding — and all in Latin. A new book argues that this rigorous curriculum actually nurtured the creativity that later flourished in Shakespeare’s writing. Plus, why do we refer to an unpredictable person as a loose cannon? The ans…

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Lesson 42: What are you scared of? 14:42

5m ago14:42

14:42

In this lesson, you'll learn the following phrases: What are you scared of? / I'm scared of the dark. / Frankly speaking / Frankly speaking, I'm scared of flying. / As you already know / As you already know, she is scared of spiders. / I'm not scared of flying. / They are scared of clowns. / I was scared of telling him the truth.…

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Lesson 27: How often do you...? pt 2 10:21

4m ago10:21

10:21

In this lesson you'll learn the following phrases: How often do you write a letter? / I never write letters. / I write to my aunt every month. / I often read the newspaper. / I read the newspaper everyday. / I watch too much television.By LinguaBoost

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Easy as Pie - 16 September 2024 53:45

7d ago53:45

53:45

How hot is it? Well, poet Dylan Thomas found lots of memorable ways to describe a heat wave. In one letter to a friend, he wrote that it was so hot “My brains are hanging out like a dog’s tongue.” And: pestering country music stars for selfies is a big no-no in Nashville. In fact, the locals even have a word for it. Also, why do we say something’s …

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Lesson 20: How was the weather? 10:05

16m ago10:05

10:05

In this lesson you'll learn the following phrases: How was the weather yesterday? / It was cloudy yesterday. / The weather was horrible. It rained. / It rained all day. / It was cloudy and cold. / Today the weather is nice, but yesterday was horrible.By LinguaBoost

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Lesson 39: What do you need? 16:50

16m ago16:50

16:50

In this lesson you'll learn the following phrases: What do you need? / I need a taxi. / Do you need anything? / No, I don't need anything. / I need some time to think. / He needs help. / They need flowers for a wedding. / I needed this. / As far as I know / As far as I know, he doesn't need any help.…

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Cabin Fever (Rebroadcast) - 9 September 2024 53:45

8d ago53:45

53:45

The adjectives canine and feline refer to dogs and cats. But how does English address other groups of animals? Plus, cabin fever has been around much longer than the current pandemic. That restless, antsy, stir-crazy feeling goes back to the days when you could find yourself literally cooped up all winter in a cabin on the wild frontier. And, in Hu…

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Lesson 21: Where are you? 9:53

15d ago9:53

9:53

In this lesson you'll learn the following phrases: Where are you? / I am at the beach. / I am at home. / I am at work. / I am at the post office. / I am going to the post office. / I am at the bus stop with my wife.By LinguaBoost

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Toad in the Hole - 2 September 2024 53:45

16d ago53:45

53:45

An ambitious effort to install poetry in national parks around the United States features the work of beloved poets in beautiful spots. It’s a reminder that “Nature is not a place to visit. Nature is who we are.” Also, Google Translate has expanded its offerings with 110 more languages. And: what’s an oatsmobile? Hint: it has four legs. Plus, bushw…

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Lesson 12: How old are you? 8:14

23d ago8:14

8:14

In this lesson you'll learn the following phrases: How old are you? / I am 40 years old. / How old is he? / He is eighteen. / She is fifteen. / I am very old.By LinguaBoost

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Lesson 14: Travel and vacation 12:22

16d ago12:22

12:22

In this lesson, you'll learn the following phrases: I like to travel. / I want to visit Germany. / I enjoy visiting Italy. / Have you been to England? / I have never been there. / I was in France. / Have you ever been to Paris? / I went there on holiday last year.By LinguaBoost

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Singing Sand (Rebroadcast) - 26 August 2024 53:45

25d ago53:45

53:45

Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means “money.” In the same way, cat beer isn’t alcoholic — some people use cat beer as a joking term for “milk.” And imagine walking on a beach with a long stretch of shoreline. With each step, the ground makes a squeaking sound under your feet. There’s a term for the k…

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Lesson 8: Do you go out much? 12:11

30d ago12:11

12:11

In this lesson, you'll learn the following phrases: Do you go out much? / I prefer to stay at home. / I like to spend time with friends. / I like to spend time with family. / I go to the gym twice a week. / I don't have many friends. / I am very sociable.By LinguaBoost

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Lesson 29: Opinions 7:26

30d ago7:26

7:26

In this lesson you'll learn the following phrases: I think so. / Maybe. / Ok. / Really? / I don’t remember. / Of course. / Of course not.By LinguaBoost

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Make a Beeline - 19 August 2024 53:45

30d ago53:45

53:45

If you make a beeline for something, you’re taking the shortest route possible. You’re also mimicking bee-havior! After a bee has visited enough flowers to gather nectar, she flies straight back to the hive. And: Even a word like throttlebottom looks gorgeous if a calligrapher gets hold of it. Plus, the Oxford English Dictionary added the word baby…

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Lesson 36: Daily activities pt. 2 14:40

25d ago14:40

14:40

In this lesson, you'll learn the following phrases: I always eat lunch at twelve o'clock. / I often eat fish for lunch. / I return home at quarter past six. / When do you go to bed? / I go to bed at 11 o'clock at night. / I never get up early in the morning. / They get up early in the morning.By LinguaBoost

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Baby's Breath (Rebroadcast) - 12 August 2024 53:45

1M ago53:45

53:45

Have you ever googled your own name and found someone else who goes by the very same moniker? There’s a word for that: googleganger. Plus, the language of hobbyists and enthusiasts: If you’re a beekeeper, perhaps you call yourself a beek, and if you’re an Adult Fan of Lego you may refer to yourself as an AFOL. Also: what will you get if you order a…

1
Lesson 21: Where are you? 9:47

1M ago9:47

9:47

In this lesson you'll learn the following phrases: Where are you? / I am at the beach. / I am at home. / I am at work. / I am at the post office. / I am going to the post office. / I am at the bus stop with my wife.By LinguaBoost

1
Lesson 34: Travel and vacation pt. 2 14:47

1M ago14:47

14:47

In this lesson, you'll learn the following phrases: Where do you want to go on vacation? / This year I want to visit India. / Did you go to Egypt last year? / I went for one week. / I visited Rome last week. / How long did you go for? / I spent three weeks in New York in the summer. / I need a vacation.…

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Episode 178: Much Ado About Hamlet 1:17:00

1M ago1:17:00

1:17:00

In the first couple of years of the 1600s, several new Shakespeare plays appeared. ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘As You Like It’ were recorded in the Stationer’s Register, and a third play called ‘The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’ was likely performed on the stage for the first time. In this episode, we’ll look at those plays and examine ho…

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Pickled Peppers - 5 August 2024 53:45

1M ago53:45

53:45

Names don’t always mean what you think they mean. Main Street in San Francisco is named after businessman Charles Main, and Snowflake, Arizona, honors two guys named Snow and Flake. Plus, big words for small people: A colorful new book introduces kids to colossal words (including the word colossal!). And limber up those muscles — we have a trove of…

1
Lesson 15: Where is...? 12:56

1M ago12:56

12:56

In this lesson, you'll learn the following phrases: Where is the museum? / The museum is on the left. / Do you know where my keys are? / Your keys are on the table. / Have you seen my glasses? / Your glasses are on the chair. / Her office is in the center of town.By LinguaBoost

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Lesson 31: Have you eaten lunch yet? 15:47

1M ago15:47

15:47

In this lesson, you'll learn the following phrases: Have you eaten lunch yet? / No, I haven't eaten yet. / I ate lunch an hour ago. / What did you eat? / I ate fish. / Do you eat breakfast every day? / Yes, I eat breakfast every day. / I'm hungry. / I'm thirsty.By LinguaBoost

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Hog on Ice (Rebroadcast) - 29 July 2024 53:45

2M ago53:45

53:45

One secret to writing well is . . . there is no secret! There's no substitute for simply sitting down day after day to practice the craft and learn from your mistakes. Plus, childhood mixups around word definitions can lead to some funny stories. After all, if you didn't know any better, why wouldn't you assume a thesaurus is a prehistoric creature…

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Lesson 28: How was your week? 11:42

2M ago11:42

11:42

In this lesson, you'll learn the following sentences: How was your week? / It was good. / My friends arrived on Monday. / I worked in the office. / My sister visited on Thursday. / I walked my dog every day. / I bought a new phone a few days ago.By LinguaBoost

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Minor Planets - 22 July 2024 53:45

2M ago53:45

53:45

There are eight major planets, but more than a million minor ones, including asteroids. If you discover one, you get the honor of naming it. The Dictionary of Minor Planet Names includes minor planets named for rock bands, jazz musicians, poets, and more. Plus, if you’re waaaaaaaaaay interested in something, you can say so in writing: just add lots…

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Goody Two-Shoes (Rebroadcast) - 15 July 2024 53:45

2M ago53:45

53:45

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 become a famous 19th-century British paleontologist. Dubious perhaps, but the story of her rise from seaside salesgirl to renowned scientist is fascinating. Also: countless English words were inspired by Greek and Roman …

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Pinking Shears - 8 July 2024 53:45

2M ago53:45

53:45

When you’re distracted by trying to get the perfect photo at a wedding or fiddling with your camera during a solar eclipse, you’re missing out on some of the experience itself. There’s a term for this: It’s called overshadowing. Plus one of Lionel Hampton’s old bandmates recalls hearing him greet fellow musicians with “How you doing, gates?” It may…

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Baby Blues (Rebroadcast) - 1 July 2024 53:45

2M ago53:45

53:45

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 that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include Jody calls, rhyming verses about the mythical guy who steals your sweetheart while you’re off serving the country. But just who…

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Episode 177: Dressed for Success 1:24:52

3M ago1:24:52

1:24:52

In this episode, we look at clothing and fashion in the Elizabethan era, and we examine the connection between clothing, custom and language. We also examine Shakespeare’s plays about the lives of Julius Caesar and Henry V of England. Along the way, we also explore how Elizabethan clothing conventions influenced the structure and presentation of th…

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Sleeve Island - 24 June 2024 53:45

3M ago53:45

53:45

Language from inside a monastery. A Benedictine monk in the Episcopal Church shares terms from his world: For example, corporate prayer refers to praying as a group. And did you know there’s a term of art for those annoying add-on costs when you buy tickets online? It’s called drip pricing. Plus: Why do we hear the word Perfect! when we’ve answered…

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Walkie Talkie (Rebroadcast) - 17 June 2024 53:45

3M ago53:45

53:45

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 be one day. The word is endling, and it means “the last surviving member of a species.” The surprising story behind this word includes a doctor in a Georgia convalescent center, a museum exhibit in Australia, the Tasmania…

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Tiger Tail (Rebroadcast) - 10 June 2024 53:45

3M ago53:45

53:45

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 hopefulness and derives from Arabic for “God willing.” In Trinidad, if you want to ask friends to hang out with you, invite them to go liming. Nobody’s sure about this word’s origin, although it may in…

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Clever Clogs (Rebroadcast) - 3 June 2024 53:45

3M ago53:45

53:45

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 the book Home Ground: A Guide to the American Landscape. The book is an intriguing collection of specialized vocabulary that invites us to look more closely at the natural world — and delight in its l…

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Bug in Your Ear (Rebroadcast) - 27 May 2024 53:45

4M ago53:45

53:45

Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? No, not at all. The answer lies with politics and conquest rather than language itself. Plus: a new baby may be lovingly placed in a giraffe and spend time in the Panda room, but where is that? And: it’s …

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The Black Dog (Rebroadcast) - 20 May 2024 53:45

4M ago53:45

53:45

Books were rare treasures in the Middle Ages, painstakingly copied out by hand. So how to protect them from theft? Scribes sometimes added a curse to the first page of those books that was supposed to keep thieves away — and some were as vicious as they were creative! Also: if you spot a typo in a published book, should you contact the publisher? M…

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Animal Crackers - 13 May 2024 53:45

4M ago53:45

53:45

Images of birds flutter inside lots of English words and phrases, from “nest egg” and “pecking order,” to proverbs from around the world—including a lovely Spanish saying about how birds sense light just before dawn. Plus, how do you define “fun”? Outdoor enthusiasts divide fun into three distinct categories, the last of which is something you’ve t…

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Episode 176: All the World’s a Playhouse 1:19:37

4M ago1:19:37

1:19:37

Theaters were an important part of cultural life in Elizabethan England, and they contributed many words to the English language. Those words joined thousands of other words that were pouring into English from around the world. In this episode, we look at how distant cultures were contributing to the growth of English and how Shakespeare’s acting c…

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Beside Myself (Rebroadcast) - 6 May 2024 53:45

4M ago53:45

53:45

The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the vocabulary of the early 20th century? It may be jarring to hear the word swag, but it was already at least 100 years old. And no, it’s not an acronym. Also, a historian of science sets out to write a bo…

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Skookum (Rebroadcast) - 29 April 2024 53:45

5M ago53:45

53:45

So you’ve long dreamed of writing fiction, but don’t know where to begin? There are lots of ways to get started — creative writing classes, local writing groups, and books with prompts to get you going. The key is to get started, and then stick with it. And: which part of the body do surgeons call the goose? Hint: you don’t want a bite of chicken c…

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Electric Soup - 22 April 2024 53:45

5M ago53:45

53:45

When an international team of scientists traveled to a research station in Antarctica for six months, the language they all shared was English. After six months together, their accents changed ever so slightly — a miniature version of how language evolves over time. Plus, the esoteric lingo from another rarefied environment: the world of contempora…

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Life of Riley (Rebroadcast) - 15 April 2024 53:45

5M ago53:45

53:45

Unwrap the name of a candy bar, and you just might find a story inside. For instance, one chewy treat found in many a checkout lane is named after a family’s beloved horse. And: 50 years ago in the United States, some Latino elementary students were made to adopt English versions of their own names and forbidden to speak Spanish. The idea was to he…

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Blue Dolphin - 8 April 2024 53:45

5M ago53:45

53:45

How can you kick the verbal habit of saying you know and um so many times in a sentence? For one thing, get comfortable with pauses. There’s no need to fill every silence during a conversation. Also, a doctor who treats patients in Appalachia shares their colorful vocabulary. If you have a rising in your leader or a misery in your jaw, you may want…

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Off the Turnip Truck (Rebroadcast) - 1 April 2024 53:45

6M ago53:45

53:45

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about internet language says this disagreement is worth remembering when we talk about how greetings are evolving…

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Episode 175: The English of Romeo and Juliet 1:32:35

6M ago1:32:35

1:32:35

Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays and one of the most popular plays ever written. In this episode, we examine the language of the play to see how it reflects the English of Elizabethan England, and we identify evidence of emerging pronunciations that would become common over the following centuries. TRANSCRIPT: EPI…

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Gilded Age - 25 March 2024 53:45

6M ago53:45

53:45

In her sumptuous new memoir, Jamaican writer Safiya Sinclair describes her escape from a difficult childhood ruled by her tyrannical father. For Sinclair, poetry became a lifeline. Plus: that fizzy chocolate drink called an egg cream contains neither eggs nor cream — but why? And what do you call a cute dimple in someone’s chin? A listener calls it…

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Loaded For Bear (Rebroadcast) - 18 March 2024 53:45

6M ago53:45

53:45

One way to make your new business look trendy is to use two nouns separated by an ampersand, like Peach & Creature or Rainstorm & Egg or … just about any other two-word combination. A tongue-in-cheek website will generate names like that for you. And: In the traditions of several African countries, names for babies are often inspired by conditions …

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Bronx Cheer - 11 March 2024 53:45

6M ago53:45

53:45

What’s the best thing to say to someone who is grieving? Choosing the right words is far less important than just showing up. Also, a family from Russia shares their recipe for something they call hot tamales, that are very un-Mexican. And: if someone’s trying to be philosophical about a situation, they might say sometimes you eat the bear, sometim…

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Mrs. Astor's Horse (Rebroadcast) - 4 March 2024 53:45

6M ago53:45

53:45

“What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like a cat, but isn’t a cat?” Answer: a kitten! A 1948 children’s joke book has lots of these to share with kids. Plus: an easy explanation for the difference between immigrate with an i, and emigrate with an e. And: The ancient Greeks revered storks for the way they cared for each other. They ev…

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