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Home > Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing > Finding the true history of words, with Ben Zimmer


	Podcast:		Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
	Episode:		Finding the true history of words, with Ben Zimmer
	Category:		Education
	Duration:		00:26:52
	Publish Date:		2025-10-30 09:00:00
	Description:		1129. This week, we talk with Ben Zimmer about the linguistic detective work of antedating words — finding earlier usages than those published in dictionaries. We look at the surprising origins of "Ms.," "scallywag," and the baseball history of "jazz." Find Ben on his website: Benzimmer.com Vietnam Graffiti Project at Texas Tech's Vietnam Center: https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/graffiti/ The interface for searching the text on the canvas bunk bottoms: https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/#graffitiSearch Ben's post that includes the Daily Orange article where Helen Herman’s claims she coined "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." March 10, 1931: https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/tracking-down-the-roots-of-a-super-word/ Share your familect recording in a WhatsApp chat or at 833-214-4475. Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. Subscribe to the newsletter. Take our advertising survey. Get the edited transcript. Get Grammar Girl books. Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. \| HOST: Mignon Fogarty \| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475). \| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian \| Theme music by Catherine Rannus. \| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook.Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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