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Lexicon Valley

Age, Color, Origin, Material

Lexicon Valley

Lexicon Valley

Society & Culture, Education

4.8611 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2023

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this favorite from the archives, John discusses some unwritten rules of English that can be remarkably difficult for a learner of English to master. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lexicon Valley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. A Booksmart Studios production. Episode 95: "Age, Color, Origin, Material." With John McWhorter. Produced and edited by Mike Vuolo. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, I'm Ryan Eggled from TV shows like New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, and of course, leave it to Beaver. You're on that? I was the Beaver. Didn't know. And I'm Adam Rose, an actor on TV, blue cardigan guy on your social medias, and Avid Speedwalker. We're the hosts of Small Stupid Stuff, an important new podcast from Studio 71. Ryan and I talk about the big issues, the heavy questions, pressing topics.

0:21.9

Like coffee date etiquette?

0:23.4

Best time to eat cereal.

0:24.9

And of course, whether you put your toilet paper over or under or around.

0:29.5

I don't know what around is.

0:30.9

I don't either, but I'm definitely an over man.

0:32.7

Yeah.

0:33.1

Every episode, we're joined by a celebrity guest who gives us their hottest takes on the stupidest,

0:38.7

smallest stuff.

0:39.6

Jocco Sims, Michelle Carrey, Alex Breckenridge, Pete Haversberger, Amber Childers.

0:46.6

Our goal is to solve the world's problems by finally figuring out the truth about crap that doesn't

0:51.8

matter.

0:52.3

So listen to Small Stupid Stuff on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:57.8

And watch us on YouTube, new episodes every Tuesday.

1:00.9

Stop.

1:04.8

From New York City, this is Lexicon Valley, a podcast about language.

1:13.3

I'm John McWhorter at Columbia University.

1:15.7

I teach linguistics, among other things.

1:18.3

And my book out this September is Words on the Move, Why English Can't, and Won't Sit Still, Like Literally.

1:25.7

Today, I want to do a solo episode where I want to discuss a quirky

1:32.2

issue that has always fascinated me. And it starts with the fact that people often say that

1:37.7

our language English doesn't have as much grammar as other languages. And it certainly seems like

...

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