Word Matters

Written by: Merriam-Webster New England Public Media
  • Summary

  • Word Matters is a show for readers, writers, and anyone who's curious about the English language. Join Merriam-Webster editors as they challenge supposed grammar rules, reveal the surprising origins behind words, tackle common questions, and generally geek out about the beautiful nightmare that is our language.

    © Copyright 2021
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Episodes
  • Episode 100: How did we get here?
    Aug 3 2022

    It’s our 100th episode, which seemed like a good occasion to answer a listener question of a more personal type: how did we—that is, we three editors—get here?

    Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

    Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

    Transcript available here.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    22 mins
  • Do we repeat ourselves? Very well then, we repeat ourselves.
    Jul 27 2022

    A listener questions a tautology in one of our definitions and starts us off on a discussion of all types of repetition and redundancy.


    Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

    Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

    Transcript available here.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    14 mins
  • Hackneyed Phrases, Both Old and New
    Jul 20 2022

    Writing advice often includes hackneyed phrases we’re supposed to avoid. The phrases we're warned against today are different from the ones of yesteryear. We'll explore both.


    Hosted by Emily Brewster, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.

    Produced in collaboration with New England Public Media.

    Transcript available here.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Show More Show Less
    15 mins

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