Lexicon Valley

A podcast about language, from pet peeves to syntax.

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About the Show

If you’ve ever had curious thoughts and questions about the ways we speak, read, and write, Lexicon Valley is the show for you. Hosted by linguist John McWhorter.

Host

Coronavirus: Isolation and Aspiration

Can strongly aspirated consonants increase transmission of COVID-19?

Our Indigenous Languages

A luxuriance of long words, baroque case endings, and irregular everything—the Native American tongues!

I Just Can’t!

Host John McWhorter shares some of his longstanding language peeves—yes, linguists have them too!

The Many Meanings of Too

Host John McWhorter finds linguistic inspiration in an 80-year-old musical performance of Rubber Dolly.

Sicko, Whacko, Weirdo

The -o suffix traces back to old comic strip characters with names like Knocko and Groucho. Neato!

Chinese Has No Grammar, Right? Wrong!

Mandarin might not have gender or case endings, but there’s more to grammar than conjugations.

From Uptalk to Vocal Fry, Women Are Prolific Language Innovators

Want to hear what English will sound like in the future? Talk to a woman.

In What Order Did Languages Arrive in Europe?

DNA analysis is revealing which speakers traveled where and when.

Digging Up the Past

Let’s talk about how we talk about that which already occurred.

Verbs on the Move

Coming and going in languages around the world.

Does Processes Rhyme With Knees?

How our idea of formality can affect the way we say certain words.

A Bisl Yiddish

Add to German a large helping of Hebrew and a dollop of Slavic. Stir. Let marinate. Enjoy!

Private Parts

What does a rooster have to do with male genitalia anyway?

The Soft Power of Like

Terms such as like and sort of are ways for English speakers to sound more polite.

Men, Women, and Children

What is it with people and animals and irregular plurals?

Zombie English

From vocabulary to grammar, long-dead elements of the language still haunt our everyday speech.

Let’s Do Lunch

Come table-hopping as we discuss the linguistic quirks of some mealtime terms.

How to Think Like a Linguist

Never mind those 26 letters—the English language has 44 unique sounds.

Has English Gotten Less Complex?

English has shed many of its nuances over the centuries. Take pronouns, for example.

S–t, Hell, and Darn

Dissecting three common curse words.