Words for Granted - An etymology and linguistics podcast

In this episode of Words for Granted, Ray Belli speaks with historian Steven H. Jaffe about the history of profanity in America and what changing attitudes toward vulgar language reveal about the country's broader cultural and social evolution. From the shifting boundaries of public speech to the influence of religion, class, politics, and popular culture, the conversation explores how Americans have defined—and continually redefined—what counts as offensive language. To order Stephen's new book, click here.   To follow the show on Youtube, click here.   00:00 Podcast Goes Video 00:56 Intro to Stephen Jaffe 01:43 What Counts as Profanity 04:44 Why Taboo Words Persist 06:55 Colonial Profanity Landscape 09:26 Religious Oaths and Blasphemy 12:15 Swearing Versus Cursing 14:24 Punishments for Bad Language 15:10 Sex Words Before They Were Taboo 20:37 When Shit Became an Insult 24:36 Sexual Slurs and Defamation Suits 26:51 Founders and Profanity 29:44 Washington Loses His Temper 32:22 Monmouth and Damned Poltroon 35:10 Von Steuben Drills and Curses 37:24 Sex and Scatology Rise 40:36 Victorian Taboos and Euphemisms 44:10 Civil War Swearing Archive 47:57 Modernity and Dirty Words 50:57 Hemingway Fights Censors 52:44 Watergate Expletive Deleted 58:31 Unfiltered Politics Today 59:27 Wrap Up and Book Plug

How does someone "invent" a language? And why invent a language in the first place? In this episode, Ray chats with George Corley (Conlangery) about the world of constructed languages, or conlangs. From Esperanto to Tolkien's Elvish and Klingon and beyond, they explore the history of language invention, what distinguishes a fully fledged language from a simple code, and how conlangers build grammatical systems that evolve like natural languages. George also lays the foundation for what it takes to get started on creating one's own language from scratch.  00:00 - What Is a Conlang? 02:28 - "Real" Conlangs vs Fake Ones 11:34 - Early Conlang History 14:01 - Auxlangs and Esperanto 17:45 - Tolkien's Influence on Conlanging 23:12 - Conlangs in Film and TV 26:47 - Modern Conlang Community 28:36 - How to Start Conlanging 33:59 - How to Emulate Natural Language Evolution in Conlangs 36:21 - Irregularity and Exceptions 40:35 - Conclusion

In this episode, Ray and OED editor Fiona McPherson examine the tension between linguistic change and lexicographical authority. Rather than treating the dictionary as a static canon, they explore how expanding archives, quarterly updates, and human editorial judgment continuously reshape our understanding of a word's "first use." The conversation also unpacks the illusion of linguistic novelty, showing how seemingly modern terms often carry deeper histories built on classic patterns of English morphology. Also - did Henry Thoreau invent "brain rot"? (Spoiler: yes he did.) 

Today, we live in a world where text is, by default, punctuated. But the ubiquity of punctuation is a surprisingly recent development. Florence Hazrat traces its evolution from early writing systems, where individual words weren't even separated by spaces, to the Renaissance, when most of the punctuation marks in our modern repertoire emerged. The conversation explores punctuation's roles in religion, education, printing, and literature, from ancient Alexandria and medieval manuscripts to Emily Dickinson and modern texting. To buy Florence's excellent book On the Mark, click here.  To support Words for Granted and gain access to ad-free episodes, click here. 

In this episode, Ray and Jay discuss the question first raised by the 2000s indie rock band, Vampire Weekend: Who gives a f*** about an Oxford comma ? Their conversation covers the history, usage, and widespread cultural obsession surrounding the most controversial of all commas . Jay debunks many myths surrounding the Oxford comma's alleged usefulness while acknowledging many of the reasons why "Oxfordnistas" advocate for it . Ultimately, the discussion highlights how stylistic choices in writing are largely driven by personal preference rather than strict grammatical rules. You can buy Jay's book here. You can support Words for Granted on Patreon.

We all know English spelling is inconsistent, but some people have actually tried to change it. In this episode, Gabe Henry, author of Enough is Enuf, explores the historical crusade to make English spelling more "rational." The conversation highlights the reform efforts of figures like Noah Webster and Ben Franklin, alongside eccentric movements like the 19th-century "Phunny Phellows" and the Mormon Deseret Alphabet. Ultimately, they dive into why these phonetic revolutions fail and how our spelling shapes our cultural identity. To buy Gabe's book, click here. To support this podcast, click here.

In this episode, Ray chats with author Laura Spinney about Proto-Indo-European, the ancestral language of hundreds of modern languages spoken by billions today ranging from Western Europe to India. They explore how linguists reconstruct this unwritten language through comparative methods, what its vocabulary reveals about ancient society, and why its story remains relatively unknown despite its global importance. The conversation highlights the interdisciplinary nature of Indo-European studies—drawing on linguistics, archaeology, and especially recent breakthroughs in ancient DNA—which strongly support a migration of steppe pastoralists around 5,000 years ago as a key driver of language spread.  To buy Laura's excellent book Proto, click here.

In this episode, Ray talks with linguist Valerie Friedland about accents—what they are, where they come from, and why everyone has one. They explore how accents begin in early childhood, how regional speech patterns change over time, and why certain pronunciations carry such strong social meaning. From accent bias to the myth of "accentless" speech, the conversation reveals how deeply language shapes identity and perception. Use this link to buy Valerie's new book, Why We Talk Funny: https://www.valeriefridland.com/  

In this episode, author Danny Bate walks through the alphabet's evolution from its origins in Egyptian hieroglyphs to the letters of the English alphabet familiar to us today. He explains why English spelling became so irregular, while also arguing that non-phonetic spelling can preserve meaning and help unify diverse English dialects. The conversation also highlights memorable letter histories, including an answer to the question: Why does Q need U?  To learn more about Danny and order his new book, use this link: https://dannybate.com/        

In this episode, Ray chats with Mignon Fogerty, aka the Grammar Girl. "Good grammar" may seem like the epitome of prescriptivism, but when it comes to her "Quick and Dirty Tips", Mignon leans on a more ideologically neutral approach. Might you even call "good grammar" ...  a style choice?