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Small Talk (90)

Published

on August 4, 2007

. 8 Comments

Small talk: Howard Chang and Dave Shepherd, who haven’t seen each other for several months, make and discuss small talk.

We encourage you to check our our friend Charles Hodgson’s book Carnal Knowledge. (2:22)

The inspiration for this show was the book How to Talk to Anybody About Anything by Leil Lowndes. (3:21)

In response to a voice message, we explain our system of rating our shows. (7:41)

Small talk: what is it, who uses it, and when is it used? (12:18)

Music bumper from “Talks in Circles” by Threeleggeddog (21:50)

Forms of small talk, and small-talk danger zones (23:04)

Song: “We Talk About Cars” by Ric Seaberg (29:09)

Rude word of the week: “gossip” (33:48)

Music bumper from “Essence” by Evan Stone (36:33)

When speakers move beyond small talk (36:56)

Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network

Theme music by Kick the Cat

Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone

time: 43:09

size: 39.5 Mb

rating: PG (Just a tiny hint of rudeness in our discussion.)

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Synonyms (89)

Published

Dave

on July 16, 2007

in dave, howard s. and podcast

. 15 Comments

Synonyms: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd discuss, chat, and talk about a plethora, a bundle, a whole bunch of ideas about synonyms.

Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company left us an audio comment via our MyChingo button. (1:55)

It was Dave’s turn to travel to German-speaking Europe this past month. (3:04)

The inspiration for this show was our recent experience trying to express fine differences in meaning in a second language. Synonyms yield these subtle distinctions. (4:42)

Music bumper from “Just Looking” by The Jerrys (13:29)

Regional variations in sets of synonyms, and their applications (14:14)

Song: “The Same One” by Little Mack Simmons (19:18)

Rude word of the week: “dullard” (23:54)

Music bumper from “Necessary Rain” by Emile Westergaard. (26:58)

Age and experience and the ability to make subtler distinctions (27:30)

Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet

Theme music by Kick the Cat

time: 34:02

size: 31.2 Mb

rating: PG (Only a tiny, mild bit of borderline rudeness in our audio feedback.)

Download “The Same One” (mp3)
from “The PM+Simmons Collection 1971-1982″
by Little Mack Simmons
Electro-Fi Records

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster

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Abridgment (88)

Published

Dave

on June 24, 2007

in dave, howard s. and podcast

. 11 Comments

Abridgment: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd leave out all the unimportant parts as they talk about abridgment. We feature the masters of abridgment, the Reduced Shakespeare Company.

We’ve been away. While we were gone, the Nerd Number died. But now you can leave an audio message with our MyChingo button. (1:52)

Definitions of “abridge,” plus some related words (4:16)

Music bumper from “Trifle 3″ by Fuzzy Logic (10:16)

In April, Dave interviewed the RSC (that’s the Reduced Shakespeare Company, not that “Royal” bunch). (10:58)

Song: “Left Out” by A Void (19:28)

Rude word of the week: “half-assed” (22:53)

Music bumper from “Make Me Understand” by Matt Thorpe. (25:21)

Intentions and functions of abridgment (26:13)

Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network

Theme music by Kick the Cat

time: 32:54

size: 30.2 Mb

rating: PG (Our Rude Word is about as rude as we get this week.)

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Okay, it’s fixed.

Published

Dave

on June 6, 2007

in blog and dave

. 4 Comments

After some frantic posting and emailing to several knowledgable people, including fellow podcasters on the Yahoo Podcasters group, I think I have fixed our site.

You should now be able to directly download our shows. I have not tested it yet, but I believe you also should be able to download via your podcatcher’s subscription (i.e., with iTunes, Juice, or another podcatching client).

Thanks for your patience.

Podcast problems

Published

Dave

on June 5, 2007

in blog and dave

. 0 Comments

A listener posted a comment alerting me to the fact that our media files seemed to be unavailable for download.

I don’t know what has happened to our blog or feed to cause this, but I have a couple of inquiries out.

I apologize for this unexpected glitch that has temporarily taken The Word Nerds off the Internet for downloading or listening. I will post a notice here as soon as things are fixed–I hope sometime today.

Where did we go?

Published

Dave

on May 29, 2007

in blog and dave

. 8 Comments

More than one person has asked us this question lately, via email or the forum.

We have not died and gone away. The Word Nerds does continue to live. We just have not been able to record a new show in the past three weeks or more.

The reason for this is quite simple: there is no place in my house right now where I can set up a microphone. As I mentioned in that last show (Spring Break [87A]), the bottom floor of our house is being renovated. This means it is out of commission for several more (three to four) weeks. Not only do I not have my usual recording/production area, but my family is living together in half the space (plus boxes and extra furniture) that we had before.

So no, the Word Nerds have not podfaded. Our hiatus is just taking longer than planned. Please don’t unsubscribe from our podcast feed!

Spring Break (87A)

Published

Dave

on April 22, 2007

in dave and podcast

. 4 Comments

Spring Break Edition: Dave Shepherd does not have a linguistic topic, nor a Rude Word, nor a song–but he does respond to your emails and voicemails, and announces a new feature to the website.

The Virginia Tech shooting touched us–but not directly. (2:20)

We have a new feature on our blog site, a MyChingo button. Leave us a high-quality audio comment. (4:15)

The Word Nerds studio is being remodeled. The next couple of shows will come from another place! (5:51)

We received a voicemail on the Nerd Number, 206-600-6373 (206-600-NERD), from Darren at the Hak5 video podcast. (7:09)

We received email from Michael Buchko and Christian Scholze, among many others. (7:48)

Check out these threads on the Word Nerds Forum: (10:29)

We will be back with a full show within the next three weeks. (15:40)

Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network

Theme music by Kick the Cat

Closing music from “Grapes” by Evan Stone

time: 18:36

size: 17.1 Mb

rating: PG (I bleeped out one rude word in a voicemail.)

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Expletives (87)

Published

Dave

on March 31, 2007

in dave, howard s. and podcast

. 7 Comments

Expletives, both rude and non-rude: Howard Shepherd and Dave Shepherd have a rollicking good time, filling out the time of the show by talking about expletives. (NOTE: This show contains some of the rudest language we have every explicated on The Word Nerds. Not work-, school-, or family-safe!)

This week’s show will have a forum thread in the Rude Words category, since it deals with really rude language. Please bring us your favorite expletives (both rude and non-rude). (3:02)

This show was inspired by an email suggestion from a listener. Thanks to Katherine Pennavaria. (3:40)

Defining “expletive”; grammatical categories of expletives (4:45)

Music bumper from “Baja Taxi” by Brain Buckit (12:20)

Attributive expletives and infixes: filling out words and sentences with rude words, both for rhythmic effect and for shock value (13:06)

Song: “C’est la F**king Vie” by Ginny Clee (24:10)

Rude word of the week: “f**king” (as an attributive expletive) (28:34)

Music bumper from Essence by Evan Stone. (31:59)

Curses, extended curses, and interjections (32:23)

Music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network

Theme music by Kick the Cat

time: 42:28

size: 38.9 Mb