Search the Fresh Air Archive

Close Search

Why Product Brand Names Don't Mean What They Used To.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the way brands are used now.

04:42
Queue

Contributor

Related Topics

Other segments from the episode on July 6, 1999

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 6, 1999: Interview with Scott Anderson; Review of Dave Douglas Quintet's album "Convergence"; Commentary on commercial brands and language.
Queue
40:04

"The Man Who Tried to Save the World."

Scott Anderson is author of the new book "The Man Who Tried to Save the World : The Dangerous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Fred Cuny ." (Doubleday) He talks about the life of disaster relief specialist Fred Cuny who went to war-torn regions of the world to help the people rebuild their communities. CUNY disappeared in April, 1995 while working in Chechnya. Anderson is also author of the novel "Triage" set in the Kurdish occupied region of Iraq.

Interview

Transcript

˛7

You May Also like

Queue
05:31

The Linguistics of Brands

Commentator Geoff Nunberg considers brand names. They make up a significant proportion of the average person's vocabulary. Nunberg says the English language is being privatized.

Commentary
Queue
08:38

Ironic, Informal And Expressive, 'New Rules Of Language' Evolve Online

With all our texting, tweeting and social media posting, billions of people are using typed words for the kind everyday communication that used to happen more often in conversation. A new book argues that we’ve created a unique new language to reproduce the shades of meaning that we used to convey verbally. Our linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the new rules of language that he calls chat-speak.

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Learn How
Advertisement

Recently on Fresh Air Available to Play on NPR

52:30

Riz Ahmed is his own worst critic. His show 'Bait' explores that

(1.) Actor, writer, and producer RIZ AHMED. He’s nominated for an Emmy for his starring role in the Prime Video series “Bait” in which he plays a British Pakistani actor auditioning to be the next James Bond. AHMED is also a writer and creator of the series.

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

44:35

Dolly Parton lived her motto: 'More is more'

We remember DOLLY PARTON, singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. PARTON died yesterday in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80 years old. Dolly Parton made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry in 1959 when she was just 13. Since then, she wrote thousands of songs, including "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," which was later a hit for Whitney Houston. PARTON was one of the few performers who was successful enough to start her own theme park.

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

See All Recent Segments

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue