Word Matters Podcast

A show for readers, writers, and anyone who ever loved their English class. Hosted by Merriam-Webster editors and lexicographers.

The Political 'Dog Whistle': Loud and Clear

Word Matters, Episode 50

Is 'vice versa' changing?

Word Matters, Episode 49

The Story of a Trending Word

Word Matters, Episode 48

A Totally Original History of 'Stereotype'

Word Matters, Episode 47

Is it 'pled' or 'pleaded'?

Word Matters, Episode 46

What does the date in a dictionary entry mean?

Word Matters, Episode 45

Doable vs Feasible, Different Words for the Same Thing

Word Matters, Episode 44

The Words We Mispronounce

Word Matters, Episode 43

The Language of Spy and Detective Stories

Word Matters, Episode 42

Is it 'further' or 'farther'?

Word Matters, Episode 41

A 'Wicked' Good Episode

Word Matters, Episode 40

A Lexical History of 'Jazz'

Word Matters, Episode 39

What exactly is a 'learner's dictionary'?

Word Matters, Episode 38

Is it okay to end a sentence with a preposition?

Word Matters, Episode 37

Listener Questions: From Jane Austen to Dystopia

Word Matters, Episode 36

The Controversial Cases of 'Fewer' vs. 'Less' and 'Uninterested' vs. 'Disinterested'

'Fewer' vs. 'Less'

Retronyms & Ampersands

Word Matters, Episode 34

Tracing the Origins of Famous Phrases

Word Matters, Episode 33

The Backward Index

Word Matters, Episode 32

Why is it called an 'adam's apple'?

Word Matters, Episode 31

How to Write a Bilingual Dictionary

Word Matters, Episode 30

The Dictionary Does Not Exist

Word Matters, Episode 29

The Onomatopoeia Episode

Word Matters, Episode 28

The Longest Word

Word Matters, Episode 27

On the Pronunciation of 'Often'

Word Matters, Episode 26

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Word of the Day

urbane

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Test Your Vocabulary

Challenging Standardized Test Words, Vol. 2

The business’s new computer system proved not to be a panacea.

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