The Word Nerds

Dave Shepherd, Barbara Shepherd, and Howard Chang talk about their summer reading. (2:14)
Dave’s recent favorites:

The Word Nerds Discussion forum
Online fora related to magic
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Baseball as America, by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Dai Vernon: A Biography, by David Ben
The Secret Art of Magic, by Eric Evans and Nowlin Craver

Barbara’s […]

Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang talk about endings–of conversations, relationships, jobs, etc. (NOT of podcasts; we are not leaving!)
Linguistic cues for endings (1:56)
Music bumper from “My Living Will,” by The Finale (10:05)
Non-verbal and non-oral cues: body language, “the thin envelope” (10:50)
Song: “Last to Leave,” by Hot Rod Cadets (17:49)
Rude word of the week: […]

Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang ponder a plethora of orotund expressions. That means they are talking about extravagant ways of expressing yourself. (Thanks to Michael Buchko for the topic suggestion.)
What we mean by fustian language: pompous, bombastic ways of saying very little by using a lot of syllables; some quotations from fustian speakers […]

Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang talk about jokes and humor. (What a bunch of chuckleheads!)
The philosophical underpinnings of humor (2:01)
Music bumper from by “The Corner of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Shibboleth (11:20)
Categories of humor (11:57)
Song: “Inside Joke,” by Little Thom (22:51)
Rude word of the week: “bombing” (or shall we say, this segment is […]

Dave Shepherd, Howard Shepherd, and Howard Chang discuss the rules, etiquette, and media of everyday conversations.
Various ways the Word Nerds audience can converse with us, and with each other (1:59)
Face-to-face conversation (4:59)
Music bumper from by “Conversations” by Saurab Bhargava (14:43)
Conversing on the telephone (15:21)
Song: “Cool Conversation,” by Dminor (20:51)
Rude word of the week: “loudmouth” (25:13)
Music […]

Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang talk about failure and success, having recently seen many students succeed (and some fail) at the end of the school year.
Metaphors for success and failure in sports (3:46)
Success and failure in school (11:06)
Music bumper from “Loser Blues” by Electrobuddha (19:46)
Euphemisms for losing (20:24)
Song: “Nothing to Lose,” by Clip (26:07)
Rude word […]

Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang discuss greetings and partings at the end of the school year, when they must say good-bye to a lot of people.
The functions of greetings and partings (1:50)
Music bumper from by “Goodbye, Good Luck, Good Riddance” by The Joel Lightman Band (18:26)
Idioms of greeting and parting (19:03)
Song: “Turn Around and Say […]

Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang try to recall why they settled on the topic of Memory and Language. (2:11)
Storytelling (4:19)
Music bumper from “Remember” by Bob Kirkpatrick (10:40)
Attribution of words (11:25)
Song: “Future Memory,” by Heth and Jed (17:21)
Rude word of the week: “special” (21:11)
Music bumper from “She Hates Love Songs by Katie Davis (25:05)
Memory loss (25:33)
Do […]