The Word Nerds

Games and Wordplay: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd explore word games, games with words, and ways of playing with words.
Dave thanks Brad and Naoko for donations, and Naoko, Ralsen, Asa, Jason and Hossein for their emails. (1:59)
This show was inspired by a game published by Brad Chase, Orijinz. We play a couple of rounds. (Thanks, […]

Baby Talk: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd use their best adult vocabulary as they discuss baby talk.
Dave thanks Andy, Beverley and Jianxia for their support through the PayPal donation button. (2:00)
This is show #100. The recording date, March 21, is the third anniversary not only of The Word Nerds, but also of Schlaflos in München. […]

Rhetoric, part 2–Tropes and Schemes: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd continue their discussion of rhetoric by exploring tropes, schemes, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
Grimace from the Word Nerds Forum corrects us on our example of a syllogism. (2:31)
Content versus style; tropes and schemes defined; and some examples of tropes. (Note: despite what Dave says in […]

Body Words: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd put their noses to the grindstone and go toe-to-toe in a tete-a-tete, as they talk about body words.
Dave thanks Scott and Mary for their support through the PayPal donation button. (2:05)
This topic is, of course, the theme of Charles Hodgson’s book Carnal Knowledge. It was suggested […]

Rhetoric, part 1: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd explore the difference between rhetoric and dialectic. They invoke Plato, Aristotle, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore.
Dave thanks Michael, Tim, Emma, and Clint for their support through their PayPal donations to the show. (See the button on the right-hand navigation column of our web page.) (2:00)
Rhetoric, dialectic, […]

2008 New Year’s special edition: Dave Shepherd sends New Year’s greetings from the Word Nerds team, and responds to listener feedback.
Dave reads and responds to emails from Hillary, Idiosyncratic Idiot, Chris, Rob, and Donna. (3:10)
A bald-faced solicitation of your donations through our PayPal button. (See the right-hand navigation column on our website.) (15:47)
Shows […]

Silence and Speechlessness: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd sit in silence for a few seconds–and then find that they have something to say after all. They explore speechlessness and silence.
We are currently somewhat speechless because of overwork. (2:02)
Speechlessness: when words fail us. (3:33)
Music bumper from “Silence” by Caitlyn Smith. (10:29)
Silence: sometimes empty, sometimes […]

Religious Words: Barbara Shepherd and Dave Shepherd look deep within their souls–without proselytizing–as they talk about the connection between religious language and everyday language.
Religious words as they are re-appropriated into everyday life. Thanks to EJ for suggesting this topic, and letting us know about the technology evangelists. (1:58)
Howard Shepherd tells us about an interesting […]