This afternoon we welcome Stanford University professor Seth Lerer.
He is the author of Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language.
If you are a fan of William Satfire and love to learn the etymology of words, this show is for you. My boyfriend is a big fan of words and wordplay. I had to beg him last night to cease anagramming words outloud-it’s driving me crazy. He’s the kind of word nut that will excitedly tell anyone who will listen how awful and awesome once meant the same thing, and will get very heated when discussing how he believes people misuse the word myriad.
If you have the same tendancies (or if you are just driven mad by people who do), join us today. We’ll be talking about how the English language has developed, and some of the people who had the biggest influence, like William Shakespeare. Did you have any idea how many words he invented? Apparently, I have him to thank for my name.
-Jessica
