Words That Began as Metaphors

While the famous Merriam-Webster.com online dictionary is constantly being updated, creating a new edition of our Collegiate Dictionary print book is a different matter. We'd been updating it regularly since its publication in 2003, but it wasn't until fall of 2025 that we releas ...  Show more

Part three of a three-part interview with John Morse, former president and publisher of Merriam-WebsterHosted by Emily Brewster and Peter Sokolowski.Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media, with much gratitude to John Voci.Transcript available here.See Privacy Pol ...  Show more

In Blonde Roots, Bernardine Evaristo imagines a history where “Aphrikans” enslaved “whytes.” What systems would be different, and what would remain similar? In this episode, John Green and Rosianna Halse Rojas discuss what it means to reframe historical narratives and the difficu ...  Show more

Valerie Fridland (Like, Literally, Dude) is a professor, sociolinguist, and author. Valerie joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why people dislike the word "moist" so much, how accents are a part of social identity, and where modern English developed from. Valerie and Dax talk a ...  Show more

Emily is a therapist turned comedy writer who has been through more change than most of us experience in five lifetimes. If you've ever wondered what it's like to take a big (or little) leap when it comes to changing your life, this conversation with Emily is for you. How to conn ...  Show more

Robert Frost, born March 26, 1874, San Francisco, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/California-state" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blan ...  Show more