Erin McKean

A lexicographer makes the case for why it's necessary to have a place to look up every single word in use, even ones like "farecast" and "roomnesia."

First, a discussion of what it means to "jerry-rig" something with Erin McKean of Wordnik.com.

Then, on the website for Tuesday's BL Show, we used a picture from the Department of Defense's website of a soldier in Afghanistan. See picture to the left. Richard Hanlin of San Francisco contacted ...

Today is the launch of Windows 7, and the release of Wornik's API. Erin McKean, co-founder of wordnik.com and former editor-in-chief for American Dictionaries at Oxford University Press, discusses some of the more confusing tech terms out there.

Listener word challenge! We know about "initialisms" (API) vs. ...

Yesterday on the program Erin McKean, co-founder of wordnik.com and former editor-in-chief for American Dictionaries at Oxford University Press, discussed some of the stranger baseball terms out there. There simply wasn't enough time to get to them all, so she follows up on what exactly a "can of ...

Erin McKean, co-founder of wordnik.com and former editor-in-chief for American Dictionaries at Oxford University Press, returns to discuss more buzz-worthy words you hear in the news and on the street.

Today: Baseball lingo.

Erin McKean, co-founder of wordnik.com and former editor-in-chief for American Dictionaries at Oxford University Press, returns to discuss more buzz-worthy words you hear in the news and on the street.

Today: H1N1 related words

Over the next week Erin McKean, co-founder of wordnik.com and former editor of the Oxford American Dictionary, will discuss the buzz-worthy words you hear in the news and on the street.

Today: How "to sanction" and "to impose sanctions" can mean two opposite things. Plus, it's World ...

Over the next week Erin McKean, co-founder of wordnik.com and former editor of the Oxford American Dictionary, will discuss the buzz-worthy words you hear in the news and on the street.

Today: The difference between blackmail and extortion and where the two words come from.

This week we 1) expose the myth of the tambourine man, 2) question the viability of veganism when you're eating from a dumpster, 3) encourage marriages to dissolve and, 4) once and for all, explain Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Our first show of the year 2003 CE will change ...

Some very persuasive arguments about why you should vote, from people who should know - Mario Cuomo and Aunt Alice, among others. Plus a walk around the rock and roll block with record producer Jim Dickinson, and another round of "What's Your Word" with word diva Erin McKean.
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We are visited by all kinds of unusual voices — from sound artist Miranda July, who makes up strange dialogues for ordinary people, to Jonathan Katz, who steals the show - literally. Also, the voices of women throughout China who, in the 1990s, dared to call and write daily talk ...

We remember first crushes, 1980s style and vibe on the street, the lost minutes of September 11, and some lesser known moments in the life of Stephen Jay Gould. Plus another episode of "What's Your Word" with Erin McKean.

Back in the Days
In the 1980's, ...