Peter Sokolowski's guest appearances

Peter Sokolowski

The Michael Harrison Interview

Canguro English

Pardon Me – Another Damn Impeachment Show

Cindy Adams

Adam Gopnik

Daniel Everett

Steve Kaufmann

Jim Jordan

Benjamin Wittes

Susan Hennessey

Dave Eggers

Fidget Spinners

Ev Fedorenko

Adele Goldberg

Marek Kiczkowiak

David Crystal

Steven Piantadosi

Ellen Jovin

Mark Forsyth

OwlTail

Peter Sokolowski joined Merriam-Webster in 1994 as the company's first French-language editor, and has since written definitions for many of the company's dictionaries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Sokolowski joined Merriam-Webster in 1994 as the company's first French-language editor, and has since written definitions for many of the company's dictionaries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

Dr. Peter Sokolowski - 04-16-23 

People are passionate about language, especially language change, and words matter. And nobody knows this better Peter Sokolowski, who is an editor at the Merriam-Webster dictionary, one of the most famous and most trusted dictionaries in the world. Peter has spent his life immersed in words and their meanings, and all the complications that come along with that work.  In this interview we talk about the role of the dictionary, standard and non-standard English, language and culture, how to learn English with a dictionary, and how dictionaries are a sign of human agreement, and sometimes profound disagreement.

People are passionate about language, especially language change, and words matter. And nobody knows this better Peter Sokolowski, who is an editor at the Merriam-Webster dictionary, one of the most famous and most trusted dictionaries in the world. Peter has spent his life immersed in words and their meanings, and all the complications that come along with that work.  In this interview we talk about the role of the dictionary, standard and non-standard English, language and culture, how to learn English with a dictionary, and how dictionaries are a sign of human agreement, and sometimes profound disagreement.

Learn English with a dictionary (with Peter Sokolowski)

Peter Sokolowski, lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, fears we're currently having a crisis of meaning in our cultural understanding and use of words. How do we understand phrases like "fake news?" Does it mean news that has no relationship to reality or is it how President Trump refers to truth-based news he doesn't like? What is an "alternative fact?" How can the phrase "drug deal" be used to refer to an illegal business transaction -- or in its use by former National Security Advisor John Bolton, an illegal government transaction -- and as a smear against the Navy's former top civilian leader, Richard Spencer, for trying to uphold professional standards? How can we communicate with one another if we don't agree on the basic meaning of words? This is our full interview with Sokolowski. It's about half again as long as the version that aired in Episode 4 of Pardon Me. It has been lightly edited for clarity but not for time or content. GUEST:   Peter Sokolowski - A lexicographer and editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster; he's also a musician and public radio jazz host at NEPR, and he's the author of a chapter in The Whole World in a Book  Email us your questions at pardonme@ctpublic.org. Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peter Sokolowski, lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, fears we're currently having a crisis of meaning in our cultural understanding and use of words. How do we understand phrases like "fake news?" Does it mean news that has no relationship to reality or is it how President Trump refers to truth-based news he doesn't like? What is an "alternative fact?" How can the phrase "drug deal" be used to refer to an illegal business transaction -- or in its use by former National Security Advisor John Bolton, an illegal government transaction -- and as a smear against the Navy's former top civilian leader, Richard Spencer, for trying to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/24/us/politics/navy-secretary-richard-spencer-resign.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">uphold professional standards</a>? How can we communicate with one another if we don't agree on the basic meaning of words? This is our full interview with Sokolowski. It's about half again as long as the version that aired in <a href="https://www.wnpr.org/post/god-may-forgive-you-i-wont" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 4 of Pardon Me</a>. It has been lightly edited for clarity but not for time or content. GUEST:  <ul> <li>Peter Sokolowski - A lexicographer and editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster; he's also a musician and public radio jazz host at NEPR, and he's the author of a chapter in The Whole World in a Book</li> </ul> Email us your questions at <a href="mailto:pardonme@ctpublic.org">pardonme@ctpublic.org</a>. <a href="https://www.wnpr.org/pardonme" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pardon Me</a> is a production of <a href="https://www.wnpr.org/colin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> on Connecticut Public Radio.<a href="https://www.wnpr.org/donate" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate</a>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Peter Sokolowski: We're Living In A Crisis Of Meaning