Word of the Year

Word of the Year

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Radio Archive, Episode 211 , Segment 5

Episode: State of the Union, Dietary Guide, Service-Learning, David Bowie

  • Jan 13, 2016 10:00 pm
  • 13:36 mins

Guest: Ben Zimmer, Linguist, Language Columnist for the Wall Street Journal and Chair of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society  The Washington Post Style guide has already given approval to using “they” in singular situations. And now, the American Dialect Society has chosen singular “they” as its 2015 Word of the Year. It beat out popular phrases “thanks Obama” and “on fleek,” among others.

Other Segments

U.S. Population Change

23 MINS

Guest: Steve Murdock, PhD, Sociologist at Rice University and Former Director of the US Census Bureau  In his final State of the Union Address last night, President Obama laid out the reasons why we should be optimistic about where the country is headed. The United States, right now, he said, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world.  President Obama went on to mention increased automation, global competition, stagnant wages and an increasing gap between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of the population.  In the next fifty years, the United States will grow larger and more diverse, but we’ll also become poorer and less-educated as a nation. That will make us less competitive with other countries unless we address the factors dragging us down. Do nothing and Steve Murdock says we’re on a path to “inevitable socio-economic decline.”

Guest: Steve Murdock, PhD, Sociologist at Rice University and Former Director of the US Census Bureau  In his final State of the Union Address last night, President Obama laid out the reasons why we should be optimistic about where the country is headed. The United States, right now, he said, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world.  President Obama went on to mention increased automation, global competition, stagnant wages and an increasing gap between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of the population.  In the next fifty years, the United States will grow larger and more diverse, but we’ll also become poorer and less-educated as a nation. That will make us less competitive with other countries unless we address the factors dragging us down. Do nothing and Steve Murdock says we’re on a path to “inevitable socio-economic decline.”