Fiat Lex: A Dictionary Podcast
1) Allsorts 2: "Match Game" Wednesday [EXPLICIT]
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 main...Show More
2) Oakgarry, Oak Ross: Always Be Copyediting
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 ...Show More
3) Friends with Words: More Jesse Sheidlower [EXPLICIT]
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 dic...Show More
4) Friends With Words: Jesse Sheidlower [EXPLICIT]
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 ...Show More
5) Allsorts 1
all·sorts ('ôl-ˌsôrts) noun plural : a mixture of assorted confections (such as licorice); often used figuratively Today's episode is an assortment of colorful treats that, like licorice allsorts, sti...Show More
6) I Want to Be A Dord
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 ...Show More
7) Beginnings, or, Ježíšmaria/Paskan marjat
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...Show More
8) The End of the Line (Literally)
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 ...Show More
9) My Blue God: Hard Words
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 t...Show More
10) Pronunciations, or You Say "Diaeresis" and I Say "Diaeresis"
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 ed...Show More