The Words of 2011

The Leonard Lopate Show | Dec 9, 2011

Wordsmith Ben Zimmer talks about the year in words—from "occupy" to "supercommittee" to "bunga bunga" to "tiger mother." He'll also look at some of the phrases, like "leading from behind" and "win the future" to tell us what the national vocabulary reveals about 2011. Ben Zimmer writes a biweekly language column for the Boston Globe and is the former "On Language" columnist for The New York Times Magazine. He's also executive producer of VisualThesaurus.com and Vocabulary.com.

Let us know what your words of the year are! Leave a comment below!

Top Stories

One Refugee’s Journey Through ICE Detention

How an Empire of Craft Stores Pushed an Agenda of Christian Nationalism

Flood Watch issued for NYC as rain and storms move in after picture-perfect weekend

Exploring an Olympics Bid for New York

YOU ARE ONLINE