HeyJaredWords for Granted - An etymology and linguistics podcast
Words for Granted is a podcast that looks at how words change over time. Host Ray Belli uses linguistic evolution as a way of understanding larger historical and cultural changes.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 3
- Latest publication
- Sep 13, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 27, 2026
Latest episodes
How Do New Words Get Added to the Dictionary? | Interview with Fiona McPherson (opens the original)
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In this episode, Ray and OED editor Fiona McPherson examine the tension between linguistic change and lexicographical authority. Rather than treating the dictionary as a static canon, they explore how expanding archives, quarterly updates, and human editorial judgment continuously reshape our understanding of a word's "first use." The conversation also unpacks the illusion of linguistic novelty, showing how seemingly modern terms often carry deeper histories built on classic patterns of English
A 5,000 Year History of Punctuation: Interview with Florence Hazrat (opens the original)
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Today, we live in a world where text is, by default, punctuated. But the ubiquity of punctuation is a surprisingly recent development. Florence Hazrat traces its evolution from early writing systems, where individual words weren't even separated by spaces, to the Renaissance, when most of the punctuation marks in our modern repertoire emerged. The conversation explores punctuation's roles in religion, education, printing, and literature, from ancient Alexandria and medieval manuscripts to Emily
The Oxford Comma Debate: Interview with Jay Stookesbery (opens the original)
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In this episode, Ray and Jay discuss the question first raised by the 2000s indie rock band, Vampire Weekend: Who gives a f*** about an Oxford comma ? Their conversation covers the history, usage, and widespread cultural obsession surrounding the most controversial of all commas . Jay debunks many myths surrounding the Oxford comma's alleged usefulness while acknowledging many of the reasons why "Oxfordnistas" advocate for it . Ultimately, the discussion highlights how stylistic choices in writi
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