Episodes
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Is Bluey Giving Your Kid Australian Accent
S4 E11 - 6m 21s
In 2019, when the children’s show Bluey hit American tv and streaming services, parents started noticing something strange. Their kids were suddenly looking for the “rubbish bin", asking what’s for “brekky”, and getting excited about going to the “ehport”. But was this family of cartoon dogs really changing how children speak? Which leads us to ask the question: how much does TV play a role in ho
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Is English a Creole?
S4 E10 - 6m 51s
We already know that English borrows from everybody, but can it really be considered a Creole language?
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A Brief History of the Reading Wars?
S4 E9 - 8m 35s
When we read our eyes skim the print, we notice the length of the word and maybe the first letter, then our brains use context clues to deduce what the word should be.But is that really how reading works? Believe it or not, this question is at the heart of a decades-long battle in the English-speaking world–a battle that's been raging amongst educators, politicians, and scientists.
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Why Is English Awash in Sailors Jargon?
S4 E8 - 8m 11s
The English language is chock full of sailing jargon like even the term “chock full’ but why is that?
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Is Body Language Really A Language?
S4 E7 - 8m 58s
Verbal communication covers what we say, the words we’re saying, whether spoken or signed. So, is body language a language? Short answer: no. Body language is not a standalone language in the linguistic sense, however it is an important and necessary form of communication that supplements and emphasizes the verbal communication it's paired with.
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How Cult Leaders Use Language
S4 E6 - 10m 58s
What do Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hitler have in common? They were all obsessively studied by Jim Jones, the cult leader who convinced and coerced more than 900 members of his "People's Temple" to commit suicide in the Jonestown Massacre. All these figures are known as "charismatic leaders," people who inspire intense devotion or emotional attachment in their followers through their com
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Why Do Some Names Fall Out of Fashion
S4 E5 - 7m 14s
When linguists in Georgia published a study showing that young Georgians have different accents than their parents, headlines sprung up all over declaring that the drawls and y’alls of the Southern American dialect are on their way out. But is it really possible for an accent to vanish? And what’s causing younger southerners to change the way they speak?
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Why Do We Use Cringey Words for Loved Ones?
S4 E4 - 9m 11s
Why do we use such unusual words for the people we love? From baby to bunny, two thirds of American adults refer to their romantic partners by a pet name. And we’ve been doing this for a long time—the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary traces terms of endearment over a thousand years. But where do all these pet names come from?
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Is the Southern Accent Disappearing?
S4 E3 - 7m 33s
When you hear names like Gladys or Herbert or Doris, you probably automatically think of old people, but why is that? Linguists have been studying the science of first names for a long time, and though what's behind a particular parent's choice is deeply personal and often opaque, there are certain trends in baby naming that can reveal a lot about the values and direction of a society.
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Why Do These Words Get Mispronounced So Much?
S4 E2 - 8m 32s
We all love language but still sometimes we pronounce certain words wrong, and everyone does it. We’re not talking about speaking too fast or jumbling letters. We’re talking about good ol’ fashioned mispronunciations–things you didn’t know you were saying wrong. But how do they happen? And why are they not as wrong as people think?
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How Language Nerds Solve Crimes
S4 E1 - 8m 59s
The fact that we all have our own unique way of speaking is a beautiful thing. It's at the core of personal expression and contributes to the wonderful tapestry of language. But it also means that no form of expression can be 100% anonymous. Linguists use language everyday to solve crimes. As the famous Miranda warning goes: "anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
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