Colliding words

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Inside Language | Disinterested or uninterested? Honing in or homing in? Kate Burridge and Peter Clarke look at the shades of meaning that might have had their day

Kate Burridge & Peter Clarke 12 February 2016 59 words

Homing in: Steven Pinker speaking at New York’s Strand Bookstore. jmm/Flickr

When Harvard cognitive scientist and linguist Steven Pinker listed fifty-eight commonly misused words in his latest book, The Sense of Style, he set off a renewed debate about language and its evolution. But is he trying to hang on to distinctions most of us no longer recognise, ask Kate Burridge and Peter Clarke.

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Duration: 9 minutes 50 seconds

Kate Burridge is professor of linguistics at Monash University. Peter Clarke is a Melbourne-based broadcaster, writer and educator who pioneered national talkback on Australian radio as the inaugural presenter of Offspring (now Life Matters) on ABC Radio National.

Topics: Inside Language | language | podcast