词汇大师-- You Say LOLL, I say LOHL; Either Way

AA: I'm Avi Arditti and this week on WORDMASTER: we're back with linguistics professor Pamela Munro, editor of the latest edition of a dictionary of slang used at the University of California, Los Angeles. Some of the terms may be exclusive to the ca

词汇大师-- More to a 'Buck' and Less to a 'Bromance'

AA: I'm Avi Arditti and this week on WORDMASTER: we talk with Pam Munro, a linguistics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, about the latest slang on campus. It's in U.C.L.A. Slang, a dictionary that she and her students have publi

词汇大师-- The Declining Happiness in Song Lyrics

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: a happiness meter built on word choice. We continue our conversation with Chris Danforth, a mathematician at the University of Vermont. He and his colleague Peter Dodds did a comp

词汇大师-- Getting a Read on World Happiness

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: using bloggers as a measure of the world's happiness. How does that add up? Just ask Chris Danforth, an applied mathematician at the University of Vermont. CHRIS DANFORTH: A colle

词汇大师-- You Do Not Have to Watch 'Star Trek'

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: we talk about invented languages. RS: These are the subject of a new book by linguist Arika Okrent. ARIKA OKRENT: For most of the history of invented languages, they've been tryin

词汇大师-- Drink the Corporate Kool-Aid?

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: we're back with Ralph Keyes, author of the new book I Love It When You Talk Retro. RS: He explores the origins of terms that Americans use even if they are too young to remember w

词汇大师-- Some Terms That Have Outlived Their Roots

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: our guest is author Ralph Keyes (kize). His newest book about language has a mouthful of a title. RS: It's called I Love It When You Talk Retro: Hoochie Coochie, Double Whammy, Dr

词汇大师-- Exploring 'Myths and Misconceptions'

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: we're back with Pat O'Conner, co-author of the new book Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language. RS: For instance, consider English's lack of --

词汇大师-- What Are Your Agenda for the Meeting?

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: we talk with Pat O'Conner, co-author with her husband Stewart Kellerman of a new book called Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language. RS: But fir

词汇大师-- Small Talk, American-Style

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: language in action. We have two reports. RS: We start with a program in the International Business School at Brandeis University near Boston, Massachusetts. It helps introduce for

词汇大师-- Training Teachers in Places With Few Resources

AA: I'm Avi Arditti and this week on WORDMASTER: another interview from this year's convention of the group TESOL, for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. ABOUBAKAR OUEDRAOGO: I'm Aboubakar Ouedraogo. I'm a teacher-educator from Burki

词汇大师-- How to Write an Essay?

AA: I'm Avi Arditti and this week on WORDMASTER: what a teacher and a student have to say about writing a persuasive essay. DANNY SHEFFIELD: My name is Danny Sheffield and I teach in Bentonville, Arkansas, at Northwest Arkansas Community College. AA:

词汇大师-- Communicating by Hand

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- the language of non-verbal communication. Two writers, Melissa Wagner and Nancy Armstrong, have put together a book of one-hundred-eight gestures and their various, and sometime

词汇大师-- A Busy Shopping Day for Sure

AA: I'm Avi Arditti and this week on WORDMASTER: With the national observance of Thanksgiving Day coming up this Thursday, we turn to a linguistic mystery about the day after, which traditionally opens the Christmas holiday shopping season in America

词汇大师-- With E-mail, a Few More Keyboard Taps

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: e-mail etiquette. RS: Wendi Eldh [pron. ell'd] conducts business training programs. One of them focuses on helping clients communicate by e-mail, which is harder than you might th

词汇大师-- Terms That Janus Would Have Loved

I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: two-faced words, also known as Janus words after the Roman god with two faces looking in opposite directions or contronyms. RS:We are talking about a word that has developed two oppos

词汇大师-- the Most Important Part of Being Cherokee

In 1838, the Cherokee Indians were forced to give up their land in the eastern United States and migrate to what is now Oklahoma. Over 4,000 died on the journey known as the Trail of Tears, but some Cherokee remained behind, hidden in the mountains o

词汇大师-- What Terms Annoy You in Conversation

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: We talk about a recent poll taken to find out which words or phrases annoy Americans most in conversation. Here were the five choices. RS: Whatever, anyway, you know, it is what i

词汇大师-- Which Makes the Better Writer

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: we talk with an expert on children and handwriting. RS: Virginia Berninger is an educational psychology professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. She tells us about a

词汇大师-- Remembering William Safire

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble and this week on WORDMASTER: We remember William Safire, who died Sunday of pancreatic cancer at the age of 79. RS: Readers of the New York Times knew him not only from his years as a conservative political co