The End of the Line (Literally)

Think you might be good at this lexicography racket? This episode will change your mind--or, at least, it should if you had any sense whatsoever. A good chunk of the job is mastering some of the most mundane publishing details imaginable, and that includes the subject of today's episode: the dots in the mid·dle of the head·words in your dic·tion·ary (or dic·tion·ar·y, depending on which of the damned things you're using). Steve and Kory discuss what those dots are and why they matter; Steve goes full nerdcore while dropping some head-smackingly obvious etymology; and Kory shares a major discovery which will alter the very fabric of lexicography as we know it!1 

1 Not really, but it sure is fun to think such a thing is both possible and interesting enough to merit an exclamation point.

BONUS FEATURES:

- What the hell is that weird logo we use on Twitter? Steve has all the answers and they involve the word "fricative." - Kory pretends to sing and it only sounds a little bit like a kazoo rendition of Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima. - Sick of political arguments? Here's a point-counterpoint you can invest in. - Mispronunciation Index: NONE, ABSOLUTELY NONE. Not even the one that Kory assumed was an error.