Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg discusses watching words "head for obscurity."

Analysts wondered if Barack Obama's speech on race in Philadelphia last month was the beginning of a "national conversation" on the subject. Meanwhile, Fresh Air's contributing linguist Geoff Nunberg is wondering what, exactly, a "national conversation" is — and when we started talking about them.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the difference between irony and sarcasm.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg says that, regardless of the language they're written in, newspaper headlines demand a mastery of colloquialisms and pre-existing knowledge of current events--making them difficult for non-native speakers to comprehend.

Stanford linguist and author of Going Nucular Geoff Nunberg discusses the word entrepreneur.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the word "chastity."

It's been a busy couple of years for the law, from the controversy over gay marriage to nominations to the Supreme Court. From a linguist's point of view, dictionaries are crucial in the world of jurisprudence.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers recent claims about the relation between vocabulary size and social class.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers how new-age psycho-babble has made It's way Into the corporate room.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the use of gender-neutral pronouns.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the power of words.

Our linguist Geoff Nunberg doesn’t profess to know much about astronomy. But when astronomers changed the definition of the word planet, they entered his territory — language.

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg discusses choosing children's names.

From FDR's "New Deal" and LBJ's "Great Society" to Barack Obama's effort to create a "New Foundation", politicians (and their speech writers) have long used words to brand their ideas. Geoff Nunberg reflects on the politics of political phrasing.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on what it means to rename something.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the origins of the word "paparazzo."

Fresh Air's resident linguist has had some thoughts lately on the language of the recent string of debates among the various presidential hopefuls. On today's show, he talks to Terry Gross about the signifiers he sees encoded in political language. Geoff Nunberg's most recent book is Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show. His primary reaction to the debates?

Linguist Geoff Nunberg. He discusses the origins of the term, "slippery slope."

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg looks back on the long nights he spent in a private club in Rome where the only requirement for membership was that you be a native-English speaker. He reflects on how the language brought together people who otherwise had nothing in common.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg recently visited the Language in Art Since 1960 exhibit at New York's Whitney Museum. He says the work he saw revealed how words in art can create dynamic social commentary in a way distinct from text on a page.