Ben Zimmer's latest interviews and other media appearances.
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Slate’s Lexicon Valley podcast, “Why Do Latin Americans Call English Speakers Gringos? (Aug. 24, 2015)

Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield discuss the etymology and history of the word gringowith Wall Street Journal language columnist Ben Zimmer. For more on the word, visit Zimmer’s Word Routes column on Vocabulary.com.

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Interview on NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered about the controversial appearance of “slave mistress” in the New York Times obituary for civil rights leader Julian Bond. (Aug. 22, 2015)

The New York Times apologized this week for using the term “mistress” to describe the great-grandmother of the late Julian Bond. Linguist Ben Zimmer explains the controversy surrounding the word.

(Show page, audio)

Observer, “A Word’s-Eye View of the First GOP Debate” (Aug. 7, 2015)

Following the first debate in the 2016 Republican primary contest, aired on Fox News last night, Vocabulary.com has released a rapid-response survey of the candidates’ vocabulary, showcasing the most relevant words for each candidate and the debate overall…

By seeing how the candidates’ vocabulary stacks up to our corpus, we can clearly determine which words take on special significance for each speaker, whether those words relate to policy initiatives or simply add some rhetorical power to the candidates’ debate performance.

Read the rest here.

Slate’s Lexicon Valley podcast, “The Jittery History of a Very Nervous Phrase” (July 27, 2015)

Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield discuss the etymology and history of the phrase heebie-jeebies with Wall Street Journal language columnist Ben Zimmer. For more on the phrase, visit Zimmer’s Word Routes column on Vocabulary.com.

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Neal Pollack, “Question Of The Day: Grammar Help Needed, Please!” (Yahoo Autos, July 22, 2015)

Historically, according to Ben Zimmer, executive editor of Vocabulary.com and language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, “on” was used for pre-carriage conveyance, as in “on a horse” or other animal. Then came vehicles that were basically open platforms, which you would also sit “on.”

“Once this use of ‘on’ was established,” Zimmer says, “it came to be used for riding any large vehicle even if it’s enclosed, like ‘bus,’ ‘train,’ or ‘plane.’ You can blame the inertia of English speakers that this usage of ‘on’ lingered for those big vehicles, even while ‘in’ came to be used for ‘carriage,’ ‘coach,’ and eventually ‘car.’”

Read the rest here.

Interview on NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered about the expression “It’s all Greek to me.” (July 5, 2015)

Shakespeare lovers are well aware this phrase comes from the Bard — or, well, partly. Ben Zimmer, a language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, says that Shakespeare is probably responsible for the popularity of the phrase.

“It appears in his play Julius Caesar,” he says. “There’s a character who’s describing the speech of Cicero, who is a learned scholar; he actually knew Greek. But this character didn’t really understand what Cicero was saying, and he says, ‘For mine own part, it was Greek to me.’ ”

But Shakespeare didn’t actually come up with the phrase “it’s all Greek to me.” The phrase appeared in a translation of an Italian play decades earlier.

(Show page, audio, related Word Routes column)

Slate’s Lexicon Valley podcast, “LinguaFile XIII: Don’t Be a Clown!” (June 29, 2015)

Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield discuss the etymology and history of a mystery word with Wall Street Journal language columnist Ben Zimmer. For more on the word, visit Zimmer’s Word Routes column on Vocabulary.com.

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Seema Mody, “Emojis: The Death of the Written Language?” (CNBC, June 24, 2015)

The growing use of these icons could potentially lead to further miscommunication. Ben Zimmer, executive editor of Vocabulary.com, says it’s the emoji’s ambiguous meaning that could lead to confusion because users can look at an emoji and take different things from it.

Here’s one example Zimmer provided: the emoji that illustrates two folded hands. According to Zimmer, this emoji started in Japan where the symbol represented salutation or gratitude. Other cultures interpret this emoji to symbolize prayer, while millennials often see this symbol belonging to two different people giving each other a high five.

Read the rest here.

Interview on CBC’s “Q with Shad,” “Should We All Just Chillax About the Death of English?” (June 9, 2015)

WTF is in the dictionary. Can we guess your reaction?

The informal abbreviation of “what the f–k” joins words like “clickbait”, “photobomb” and “emoji” as new entries in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

The latest additions have journalist Barry Saunders shaking his head. He says syntax and grammar sticklers may as well hand in their weapons. The battle is lost.

Ben Zimmer, on the other hand, says Saunders may be overreacting a touch. The Vocabulary.com editor and language columnist says neologisms like “clickbait” just demonstrate how English, a living language, continues to reinvent itself.

Both join Shad to discuss social media’s effect on slang-slinging youth culture and the real work of lexicographers.

(Show page, audio)

Slate’s Lexicon Valley podcast, “Guess the Mystery Word!” (June 1, 2015)

Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield discuss the etymology and history of a mystery word with Wall Street Journal language columnist Ben Zimmer. For more on the word, visit Zimmer’s Word Routes column on Vocabulary.com.

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