‘Aquavit,’ ‘Zebroid,’ and ‘Haole’ | Interview: Stefan Fatsis

The Remnant is proud to bestow its newly formed, not-really-endowed chair of lexicography upon Scrabble legend and word nerd Stefan Fatsis. For his first act as chair, Stefan joins Jonah Goldberg to talk about the role of professional lexicographers, whether dictionaries should be normative or descriptive, how dictionaries handle controversial words, and the threat that the digital age poses not only to the dictionary, but to knowledge itself. Show Notes:—Unabridged The Thrill of and Threat to the Modern Dictionary—Stefan in Slate: “What Does 'Unabridged' Even Mean Anymore?”—John McWhorter’s most recent Remnant appearance—Fatsis’ book on competitive Scrabble—Mencken - The American Language: An Inquiry Into the Development of English in the United States The Remnant is a production of ⁠The Dispatch⁠, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—⁠click here⁠. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠by clicking here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices