Continuing last episode's discussion on copyediting dictionaries, Charles Nelson Reilly (played by Steve) and Brett Somers (played by Kory) talk a bit about how online dictionaries are edited and maintained. Steve mentions some of the edits to

Oakgarry, Oak Ross: Always Be Copyediting

Oct 18th, 2018 27m 1s

New word updates (like the one that American Heritage just announced!) are super sexy, but the real work that goes into your shiny new dictionary is invisible. Today, Steve and Kory take you down the meandering, Lovecraftian rabbithole of print

Friends with Words: More Jesse Sheidlower [EXPLICIT]

Oct 4th, 2018 23m 15s

Part two of our excellent interview with lexicographer, language expert, tailor/tinker/soldier and spy, Jesse Sheidlower. We continue our discussion about The F-Word and the f-word; touch on slang dictionaries; talk about verisimilitude in movi

Friends With Words: Jesse Sheidlower [EXPLICIT]

Sep 13th, 2018 28m 42s

Steve and Kory have a special treat this week: the first half of our interview with lexicographer, author, bon vivant, raconteur, and damn fine human being Jesse Sheidlower. He talks about how he was sucked into the gaping maw of lexicography b

Allsorts 1

Aug 28th, 2018 27m 26s

all·sorts ('ôl-ˌsôrts) noun plural : a mixture of assorted confections (such as licorice); often used figurativelyToday's episode is an assortment of colorful treats that, like licorice allsorts, stick unpleasantly to your teeth and coat your

I Want to Be A Dord

Aug 9th, 2018 30m 4s

If you've been listening to this podcast, you know that mistakes happen. In the case of this particular podcast, they happen often! And they happen in dictionaries, too. We hope you were sitting down when we told you that. This episode is allll

Beginnings, or, Ježíšmaria/Paskan marjat

Jul 26th, 2018 31m 27s

What kind of a person writes dictionaries for a living? It helps to have what Steve calls "an early awareness of language." It's Old Home Fortnight at Fiat Lex, where Steve and Kory talk about growing up around other languages, studying German

The End of the Line (Literally)

Jul 12th, 2018 23m 11s

Think you might be good at this lexicography racket? This episode will change your mind--or, at least, it should if you had any sense whatsoever. A good chunk of the job is mastering some of the most mundane publishing details imaginable, and t

My Blue God: Hard Words

Jun 28th, 2018 32m 13s

Lexicographers have a tweaked view of the language, and that includes hard words. No, not those hard words, like “koinonia” and “marocain” (Spelling Bee shoutout!). It's the small words are the ones that make lexicographers weep. Steve and Kory

Pronunciations, or You Say "Diaeresis" and I Say "Diaeresis"

Jun 14th, 2018 25m 36s

Lots of people use dictionaries not for the definitions--who cares about those?--but for the pronunciations. Steve and Kory talk about how those pronunciations came to be, and why the pronunciation editor gets to watch TV all day instead of get

Descriptivism and Prescriptivism

May 31st, 2018 23m 43s

If "irregardless" isn't a real word, then why the hell is it in my dictionary?!? It's a matter of philosophy. Steve and Kory give a primer on descriptivism and prescriptivism, two approaches to describing language, and how modern dictionaries a

Getting A Word Into The Dictionary

May 17th, 2018 27m 10s

Welcome to Fiat Lex, a podcast about dictionaries by people who write them! Yes, really.Meet Kory and Steve, your intrepid and nerdy lexicographer-hosts who will give you the drudge's-eye view of English and dictionaries in all their weirdness

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